Ukrainian refugees who fled due to the large-scale war unleashed by Russia and, besides found refuge in European countries, are haunted by Russian propagandists. On July 2, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and mass media exploded with many reports: "Great Britain, Belgium, Slovakia, Poland are tired of Ukrainians and will drive forced migrants out into the street."

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmytro Medvedev, compared Ukrainian refugees and Poland to a crisis in marital relations: "It seems that the stormy romance between Europeans and Ukrainians is coming to an end. They no longer want them; they are tired of them. Crazy Poles remembered their crazy nationalism. And now they are shouting to almost four million Ukrainians who have settled in their country that they are in Poland." He believes that "fading feelings should not be rekindled by any promises of a future slow and unequal marriage (mythical accession to the EU)" and that Ukrainians should "for their own happiness to break this marriage union forever."

Anonymous channels on Telegram shared a video with a woman who called to throw Ukrainians out of Poland with their bare hands because, they say, they got a swelled head. In other materials in the Russian media, it is described that Ukrainians in Europe "look at bread as garbage" and "demand luxury." Moreover, Europeans and Britons are outraged by the drunkenness and rudeness of Ukrainian refugees. And they must emphasize that from July 1, the Polish government will no longer pay aid to Ukrainian refugees.

Fact-checkers from Mythdetector reported that from July 1, aid would stop only for those Ukrainian refugees who have lived in Poland for 120 days; the aid payment will continue for the rest of the refugees. The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, the Government Commissioner for Refugee Affairs, Pavlo Schefernaker, noted that four months after the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Polish government moved to a new stage of helping refugees. He said that among Ukrainian refugees, about 1.2 million people received PESEL (identification number), of which more than 500,000 are currently of working age. The Polish government will help them to adapt and work. According to Schafernaker, more than half of the non-disabled refugees have already started working.

According to UN data, as of June 28, 4,312,612 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Poland since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As part of the assistance from Poland, a regulation came into force on March 16, 2022, according to which the Polish government will help residents who provide housing and food to Ukrainian refugees at the rate of 40 zlotys per day per adult. Aid is valid for 120 days.

It was stated by the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Oleksandr Lukashenko, at a meeting on the occasion of the country's independence, Belta reports.

"The goal is to deal with Russia and Belarus in one fell swoop. They are allegedly worried; they declare from Ukraine that they would not like Belarusian troops to invade Ukraine through the northern border. Don't listen to them! They would be happy," Lukashenko said.

He believes that the invasion of Belarusian troops is necessary for Ukraine so that Ukrainian politicians and Volodymyr Zelensky can "shout" more about the atrocities of fascists from Russia and Belarus.

"Once again, I repeat what I said a year or more ago: we do not seek to fight in Ukraine," - Lukashenko. In June of this year, Lukashenko assured us that the West is trying to involve Belarus in the war in Ukraine and that Belarus should not get involved "in this conflict and not create a "military group." In fact, Lukashenko is deceiving.

On May 26, he announced that Belarus would create a new operational command in the southern direction, that is, on the border with Ukraine. The next day, May 27, Lukashenko ordered the formation of a people's militia, which was supposed to strengthen the country's security and defense capabilities.

At the end of May, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine announced that the Belarusian military began removing tanks and combat vehicles stored from the bases. In addition, Belarus is working on the creation of strike groups.

In early June, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus suggested that Belarusian troops may have to fight for Western Ukraine so that it is not "pulled away by the West."

On July 3, Oleksandr Lukashenko once again reminded us, "Belarus is the only country that supports Russia in the fight against Nazism, and it will continue to do so." It is worth noting that as of May, since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Belarus, 633 rockets have been launched in Ukraine; such data was made public by the "Belarusian Gayun" initiative.

On June 25, about 30 missiles were fired at the Zhytomyr region from Belarus.

At the end of June, the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced that Russia was increasing its military presence in Belarus.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Belarus is being drawn into the war more actively than at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and "everything has been decided" in the Kremlin.    

The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine refuted fakes regarding canceling the visa-free regime with Russia.

The Ukrainian government banned the entry of Russian citizens into Ukraine. As of July 1, the agreement between the Government of Ukraine and the Russian government on visa-free travel signed on January 16, 1997, in Moscow became invalid. So, the visa regime began to operate for citizens of Russia.

Now Russian citizens need to have an invitation from Ukraine, a valid Russian passport, a Ukrainian visa, a photocopy of the passport data of the receiving party, and also need to provide an amount of at least 20 subsistence minimums per month - UAH 52,000.

Citizens of Russia who are in the territory of third countries can apply for Ukrainian visas to foreign diplomatic institutions of Ukraine in these countries.    

It was said by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, speaking at the celebration of the 100th anniversary of illegal Russian intelligence. In this way, he said, the "collective West" is trying to maintain its dominance and restrain the development of Russia based on "traditional values."

This statement was made at the same time as statements by world leaders about increasing military aid to Ukraine after the G7 summit. In particular, US President Joe Biden announced that more than 50 countries would provide Ukraine with a new military aid package. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also expressed support for Ukraine and confirmed the intention to supply a large number of modern weapons, particularly heavy weapons according to NATO standards, including modern Western equipment. It is not the first attempt by the Russian president to convince Ukrainians of the hostility of the actions of the "collective West" and Russia's "loyalty" to Ukraine. However, while Russia launches missile strikes on the civilian population daily, the world is united in helping Ukraine.    

In social networks, an alleged order of the State Migration Service of Ukraine is spreading, according to which the territorial divisions of this Service must create lists of Belarusians of military age in Ukraine. However, this "document" is fake.

According to Ukrainian legislation, forced conscription of foreigners is impossible. Foreign citizens can voluntarily go for military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine under a contract. The unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, "Kastus Kalinouski Regiment," is a union of several volunteer organizations, the members of which are Belarusians. All of them voluntarily signed a contract to serve in the Ukrainian army. The essence of the "order" contradicts Ukrainian legislation, and the format does not meet standard formatting requirements. What is more, the document has many spelling errors. The fake order also has a seal of the State Administrative Service of Ukraine, which has not been used in similar documents since 2017. StopFake fact-checkers verified the "document." 

Russian propaganda media spread such information. In particular, the publication "RIA Novosti" spread the news that the British were allegedly angered by "Zelensky's plan" to end Russian aggression against Ukraine.

According to StopFake, it refers to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky's speech at the G7 summit, where he called on partners to send more weapons to Kyiv and strengthen anti-Russian sanctions. The propaganda publication writes that this statement was not liked by the British, who allegedly favor ending military aid to Ukraine. However, it is not true. As StopFake writes, the publication of RIA Novosti refers to individual comments criticizing Volodymyr Zelenskyi's speech left by anonymous readers of the British publication Daily Mail. These personal comments may not represent the views of all UK citizens. Moreover, the conclusions of RIA Novosti do not correspond to sociological surveys since, according to a recent YouGov survey, 74% of respondents from Great Britain support sending military aid to Ukraine.

Such a thesis is spread in the Russian-speaking and Georgian-speaking segments of Facebook. In particular, a post with such a message appeared on the "Global Politics" page.

The post refers to the words of NATO Deputy Secretary General Dan Mircea Geoana regarding Ukraine. According to the post, Geoana said in an interview with "European Truth" on June 27 that NATO's task is not to help Ukraine, so the Alliance is not obliged to do so.

According to the post, Geoana also refuted Kyiv's accusations of insufficient aid, noting that the Alliance is doing everything possible to prevent war with Russia. However, it is manipulation. According to fact-checkers from Myth Detector, the information spread by Global Politics is partly false. In fact, Mircea Geoana did state that the Alliance's priority is to avoid escalation with Russia, adding that various forms of assistance to Ukraine remain NATO's responsibility and that this process will continue. Commenting on the criticism of the Ukrainian leadership, Geoana said that he would probably have done the same in their place.

Information about this is spreading in the Russian-speaking and Georgian-speaking segments of Facebook. Reports say that against the background of the recent successes of Russian troops in Ukraine, Boris Johnson offered Zelensky political asylum in Great Britain.

The material also claims that Johnson said he would consider inviting the president of Ukraine to visit Great Britain on an official visit. However, it is not true. According to fact-checkers from Myth Detector, the Prime Minister of Great Britain only made a statement about the official visit of the President of Ukraine and not about political asylum. Johnson noted that it would be an honor for Great Britain to receive the president of Ukraine when he considers it necessary, and members of the British government will consider Zelensky's invitation not now but in October.

The Kremlin media grabbed a quote from the Ukrainian president's statement and picked a clickbait headline. It is about the conversation on June 27 with the President of Moldova, Maia Sandu. Zelensky said: "If there is [an attack on Ukraine from the territory of the PMR], I believe it is a global mistake. Some or other signals we receive are unpleasant. But these people in Transnistria should know: for us, it is not a blow but a slap. And we will definitely respond with a blow... I believe that, first of all, we should all do so that there is no destabilization in the region. We demonstrate it in every way. We are currently at war with Russia on our land, although you have seen that there have been repeated missile strikes from the side of Belarus as well."

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security Council, as confirmation of their thesis, the Kremlin media cite the Financial Times article concerning the words of the Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ihor Zhovkva. However, in this material, Zhovkva did not state that Ukraine refuses to join NATO. The text states that NATO should recognize Ukraine as a "cornerstone" of security arrangements on the European continent. Zhovkva also emphasized that the Alliance "rejected the aspirations" of Ukraine to join, and "we will not do anything else about it."

The so-called "deputy head of the military-civilian administration" of the temporarily occupied Kherson region, collaborator Kyrylo Stremousov, told the Russian propagandist publication "Ukraine.ru" about this. He is wanted on charges of treason. His statement that the EU is allegedly considering the possibility of deporting all-male Ukrainians who are on the territory of the EU to help Kyiv with mobilization into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, almost all leading Russian mass media spread.

"Now the European Union is considering the possibility of deporting all Ukrainian men to Ukraine to replenish the ranks of "mobilization." Not mobilization, but "mohylyzation," Stremousov said. It is not true! There must be legal grounds for deportation, as well as a court decision, which provides for the deportation or voluntary departure of the violator. The reason for deportation may be the following violations: unpaid fines, overdue visa, invalid invitation, a criminal record not specified at the time of visa issuance, violation of public order, or illegal stay in the country.

None of these points envisages the "deportation" of male Ukrainians for their mobilization into the ranks of the Armed Forces.

In June, the Russian mass media already spread a fake that Ukraine allegedly asked Poland to deport all men from the country to send them to the front. For greater credibility, Russian propagandists published a forged letter from the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Dmytro Kuleba, to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland.

The Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine refutes fakes about Ukraine's candidacy for the European Union. EU candidacy for Ukraine is not just a formal decision. The status of a candidate for joining the EU opens up access for Ukraine to new grants and investments from EU states.

To become a full member of the EU, Ukraine must take several steps:

- continue the reform of the judicial system;

- strengthen the fight against corruption;

- ensure compliance with anti-money laundering legislation with FATF standards;

- implement the anti-oligarchic law;

- bring media legislation to EU standards;

- improve the legislation on national minorities.

Such messages are distributed on pro-Russian Telegram channels. In particular, propagandist Anatoliy Shariy, whose party is also banned in Ukraine, claims this. However, ше is manipulation. Ten pro-Russian political parties have been prohibited in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. As for seven, the ban process is still ongoing.

However, as StopFake writes, banned parties can be called left-wing only partially. Most of them did not identify themselves as leftists before and came up with this argument after the ban. Furthermore, the reason for the ban is their anti-Ukrainian activities. "The grounds for restricting the activities of these political forces are anti-Ukrainian political and organizational activities, war propaganda, public statements and calls to change the constitutional order by violent means, the threat of violation of the territorial integrity of the state, actions aimed at illegal seizure of power, demonstration of manifestations of cooperation with the enemy, spreading information regarding the justification or recognition of the legitimacy of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine," the Security Service of Ukraine reports. Therefore, those parties that worked against Ukraine were banned, and the ban will in no way affect the accession to the EU.

With such statements, pro-Russian Telegram channels reacted to Ukraine's obtaining the status of a candidate country for joining the EU. In fact, such a message is a development of manipulation on this topic. At first, Russian propagandists spread the idea that Ukraine would never be accepted into the European Union. "European leaders do not need Ukraine as part of the European Union," propagandist Solovyov said. Further, before the official decision of the EU leaders appeared, the Russian media was convinced that the candidate status did not guarantee anything for Ukraine because it was unknown when after that it would be able to join the European Union and whether it would become a member of the union at all. Propagandists have now emphasized that other countries felt "pity" for Ukraine because of the Russian invasion, although Russian politicians deny the "invasion" and call it a "special operation."

Messages of this content are actively spreading on the network after the news that the European Parliament adopted a resolution supporting granting Ukraine and Moldova the status of candidates for EU membership. The final decision on this has not yet been made.

However, many reports on the network have already written that resolution would not guarantee anything for Ukraine. Because it is unknown when it will be able to join the European Union and whether it will become a member of the union, such reports cite as an example Turkey, which has been a candidate for EU membership for over 20 years. He wrote that the same situation could be with Ukraine. Turkey really received the status of a candidate for joining the EU back in 1999. Currently, the status of a candidate for joining the European Union is held by: North Macedonia (since 2005); Montenegro (since 2010); Serbia (since 2012); Albania (since 2014). However, they are still quite far from the goal of joining the EU. In the case of Turkey, in 2018, the EU General Affairs Council stated that "Turkey is moving further away from the European Union.

Therefore, negotiations on Turkey's accession have effectively reached an end, and further chapters for opening or closing, as well as further work on the modernization of the EU-Turkey Customs Union, cannot be considered. That is, we can say that Turkey's accession to the EU has been going on for more than 20 years because the country does not fulfill the requirements set before it as conditions for accession. It is too early to talk about how long Ukraine's candidacy may last, and there is no reason to assume that the process may drag on for more than 20 years, as in the case of Turkey. However, obtaining the status of a candidate for EU membership is a significant step for Ukraine on the way to European integration.

Russian propagandist mass media write about it. For example, the publication "RIA Novosti" claims that the sanctions allegedly forced Austria to return to the "coal age" and reduce the use of gas. In their messages, the propagandists refer to Bloomberg, but the headline says the opposite.

Fact-checkers from StopFake found out that Austria's decision was not caused by sanctions against Russia but by the desire to minimize the risks provoked by Russia. As StopFake writes, Austria is not "returning to the coal age." However, it is only diversifying its sources to protect itself if, due to the fault of Russia, gas supply interruptions may begin in the country. The reason for this decision of the Austrian government is not sanctions against Russia, as propagandists write about it, but Russia's unilateral decision to limit the supply of natural gas to European consumers to blackmail and intimidate Europeans to force the European Union to lift sanctions against the Kremlin.

The fake about the Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orban, who allegedly said that he "does not care about the situation in Ukraine, because he is Hungarian," is being spread to foreign audiences.

In the Russian segment of social networks, a photo was shared with a quote from Hillary Clinton that negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are impossible until Russia is defeated and that "the United States should transfer part of its nuclear arsenal to Ukraine because there is a war in Ukraine, they say "all or nothing." Later, the same photo of Clinton appeared with a slightly different caption: "As it turned out, [Clinton] explained to the whole world that Russia is not at war with Ukraine, but with the United States." However, all these quotes are fake. As researched by Georgian fact-checkers from Myth Detector, there is no information in any open source that the Former US Secretary of State called on the USA to hand over part of its nuclear arsenal to Ukraine. Regarding Clinton's position about negotiations with Russia, in an interview with Radio France on June 11, she stated that she agrees with the position of the Ukrainians regarding the resolution of the conflict as a result of the defeat of Putin and the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine.

Russian propaganda spreads an article by the Chinese political scientist Minxin Pei, talking about the "powerlessness" of the West in front of the "union of Russia and China." In this way, Russia tries to create the impression that it has strong support in the international arena.

However, it is fake. According to the Anti-Disinformation Center, Minxin Pei's op-ed piece published by Bloomberg does say that China and Russia maintain a "strategic unity" that is a geopolitical challenge to the West. He also notes that China and Russia share "similar nationalistic values ​​and deep antipathy to the West." However, in the material, the author does not mention the "powerlessness" of Western countries before the union of Russia and China. In other publications, the author believes that Putin wants to involve China in a military conflict. However, China is trying to support Russia without directly participating in the war and crossing the "red lines" of the United States.

According to Minxin Pei, China is in a difficult situation due to the statement on the strategic partnership with Russia signed on February 4, 2022. At the same time, Russian propaganda uses an exclusively beneficial part of the Chinese political scientist's statements to form the image of China as its reliable partner, rejecting part of the statements about China's efforts to maintain neutrality.

This thesis, referring to an article in The Washington Post, is spread by pro-Russian Telegram channels and media. In fact, it is manipulation. On June 17, The Washington Post published an article titled "With limited options in Ukraine, the US and allies are preparing for a protracted war." The authors of the article wrote that "the US and its allies are preparing for a long war in Ukraine, although the Biden Administration is trying to prevent Putin from winning by sending military aid to Ukraine while trying to reduce the impact of this war on world hunger and the global economy." . Therefore, in terms of "preparation for a long-term conflict," according to the context of the article, it is more about preparing a plan in case of one of the possible variants of the development of events. Furthermore, this is quite logical from the view of responsible state leadership. However, it is the context that Russian propaganda leaves out of the discussion.

The same applies to the "dead-end for Ukraine" issue. The article does include the following sentence: "But analysts say that despite the surge in foreign aid and the strong morale of Ukrainian troops, Kyiv and its supporters can hope for little more than a stalemate with Russia's much larger, better-armed army." And again Russian propaganda took the sentence out of context. In this case, we are talking about the battles in Donbas essentially in "real-time." That is, the assumptions of experts relate to the state of affairs on the part of the front at a certain point in time and do not generalize the opinion about the war as such. Also, the events in Donbas are compared with the Ukrainian army's successes in the Kyiv battle. So, it is generally about certain successful actions of both warring parties.

The Russian propaganda media spread such a statement concerning the words of the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmitry Peskov. The report says that Great Britain has decided to recognize the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" because London will appeal the death sentence handed down by the court of the so-called DNR to two Britons who fought on the side of Ukraine.

Propagandists claim that in this way, the leadership of Great Britain will have to recognize the jurisdiction of the so-called LDNR and start a dialogue with them. Instead, as the StopFake fact-checkers write, the Foreign Ministry of Great Britain stated that the decision of the "court" of the so-called "DNR," which passed the death sentence to British citizens, is fictitious and "has no legal force." "The people whom the Kremlin propaganda calls mercenaries are servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - according to the Geneva Conventions, the legal status of combatants (participants in military operations) applies to them. "Foreigners who have been captured have the right to be treated as prisoners of war," the fact-checkers write.

Russian propaganda media spread such information. Reports say that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is allegedly tired of Ukraine, as evidenced by his words in one of the interviews.

"The world is tired of Ukraine. (…) The topic of Ukraine is getting boring; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said about it in an interview with Sky News," the propagandists write. However, this is manipulation. In fact, the Prime Minister of Great Britain expressed his full support for Ukraine in the war with Russia and warned against "a little fatigue" that began to appear in the world around the topic of Ukraine.

As StopFake writes, Johnson also emphasized how important it is now to show that "we are with Ukraine for the long term" and to ensure the "strategic stability" that Kyiv needs. He added that even a theoretical success of Russia in the war against Ukraine would be a disaster.

Citing an article in The Economist, Russian media tell their audience that even Western experts admit that Russia has increased its oil exports despite sanctions. However, this is manipulation. In fact, as the Center for Combating Disinformation writes, economists emphasize that Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia have increased their purchases of Russian oil. At the same time, according to the same experts, Russia is forced to sell the surplus at huge discounts and, therefore, to its detriment.

The use of certain theses in the Western media creates a false impression among the Russian population about Russia's successes on the economic and military fronts. They are trying to convince Ukrainians of the same, spreading such messages through social networks and messengers. It should be noted that this is not the first time Russian propaganda has tried to convince its citizens and the outside world that the imposed sanctions are not working, although it is not true.

This statement was issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia. They claim that Russia demands Lithuania cancel the ban on the transit of goods to Kaliningrad, and in case of refusal, they threaten "actions to protect national interests." Much Russian propaganda media wrote about it.

Such a statement arose as a reaction to Lithuania's ban on rail transit of several goods subject to sanctions. As Zaxid.net writes, this concerns the transportation of construction materials, cement, and metal. In turn, Putin's press secretary Dmytro Peskov called such a decision by Lithuania a "blockade" and added that before making any decision, the Russian authorities would "analyze in detail" the ban. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia also stated that they consider Lithuania's decision "provocative and hostile" because it violates international legal obligations.

That is, this time, Russia is almost openly threatening Lithuania with war, hinting that it will solve the issue with the ban in any way. In particular, Andriy Klimov, the head of the Federation Council Commission for the Protection of State Sovereignty of the Russian Federation, said this, and Andrey Klimov, ​​the head of the Federation Council Committee on Constitutional Legislation, promised in response, "tough and legal actions on the part of Russia." Remind you that the Russian authorities consider the war in Ukraine completely legal and call it only a special military operation, not considering their actions aggressive and violating international law.

Russian propaganda media wrote that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is settling with Western countries to supply weapons for museum exhibits. Reports claim that even at the beginning of this year, until February 24, exhibits were being prepared for evacuation in Kharkiv, Mykolaiv, and Odesa museums. Such messages are illustrated by a photo showing workers taking the painting out of the museum.

The authors of the texts associate such a museum evacuation with the payment of a debt for weapons. However, it is not true. According to fact-checkers of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, museum exhibits are not transported abroad to pay for weapons. Works of art are "evacuated" to protect them from Russian bombing and destruction. "Actually, it is a frame taken from a report about protecting museum exhibits from Russian shelling. After all, the Russian occupiers are shelling Ukrainian cities and destroying Ukrainian museums. Moreover, they have recently taken exhibits away, as with the paintings of Arkhip Kuindzhi in Mariupol," write fact-checkers.