Famous photographer Yan Dobronosov published photographs of graves with numbers in a cemetery in Kramatorsk, which caused a wave of erroneous assumptions and manipulations in Russian and pro-Russian media. In the comments to his post, various assumptions about the purpose of these graves began to appear. Some users asked whether these could be the graves of unidentified local residents. This is written by KramatorskPost.

The publication's journalists claim that these burials have nothing to do with the war. As Ihor Yeskov, head of the information policy department of the Kramatorsk City Council, explained, the first burials in this sector appeared back in 2020, and it was specially designated for homeless people whose names and surnames cannot be established at the time of burial. Usually, these are the graves of people without a permanent place of residence, who are often impossible to identify due to the lack of documents or connections with relatives. Yeskov explained that from time to time, deceased homeless people are found in the city, and finding their relatives can be extremely difficult, even for the police, but burial is still necessary. Such people hide in a certain area of the cemetery, their data is entered into a special card index, which has been maintained since Soviet times. They are assigned a burial number, and if relatives are subsequently found, this number can be used to find the place where the person is buried.

Additionally, a special section for honorary burials of fallen soldiers, known as the Alley of Heroes, was created in Kramatorsk, with clearly defined rules about who can be buried there. In addition to the comments, there were also opinions that these burials may belong to unidentified people, possibly military personnel, medical workers, or volunteers who are difficult to identify due to a lack of documents or witnesses to the events. Unfortunately, similar burials exist in other regions of Ukraine, especially in areas where fighting took place.

The spread of manipulative messages about graves with numbers in Kramatorsk was aimed at creating a negative emotional background around Ukraine and sowing distrust in the Ukrainian government. Due to the distortion of facts, such disinformation is used to present Ukraine in an unfavorable light, to generate fears and suspicions among the population, and to strengthen narratives about the abuse of its citizens.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told the German newspaper Pioneer that Ukraine had allegedly been a disputed territory for centuries. During the conversation, the correspondent tried to draw parallels between the events in Budapest in 1956 and Russian aggression against Ukraine. Orban said that the situation in Ukraine is completely different and that Hungary was never part of the Soviet Union. “There has never been a Russian-speaking community in Hungary on our territory. Ukraine is a territory that has been a subject of dispute for centuries, which makes it significantly different from Hungary”. He also added that Europe, acting as if aggression against Ukraine is its problem, allegedly ends up in a losing situation. However, this is a manipulation of historical facts.

The history of Ukraine testifies to its long existence as a separate state and its struggle for independence. Although Ukraine has experienced interference from various empires - Russian, Austro-Hungarian and others - this does not cancel out its own historical burdens and aspiration for self-determination. The Ukrainian people have been fighting for their freedom and sovereignty for centuries, and modern Ukraine is a state recognized by the international community with clear borders, secured by international agreements.

Hungary, like Ukraine, was part of the Soviet bloc and was heavily influenced by the USSR. The events in Budapest in 1956 were a consequence of Soviet repressive policies, which were similarly manifested in Ukraine. Therefore, emphasizing the differences between Ukraine and Hungary is artificial, since both countries experienced Soviet pressure and fought for real independence.

Orban’s claim that the “conflict” in Ukraine is moot because of historical disputes distracts attention from the fact that Russia’s current aggression against Ukraine is a clear violation of international law and Ukraine’s territorial integrity. After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine’s borders were recognized internationally, including by Russia, as recorded in the Budapest Memorandum of 1994.

Orban claims that Europe is losing by supporting Ukraine. However, this claim ignores the fact that the EU, NATO and other international partners are helping Ukraine to defend its independence and the security of all of Europe. Support for Ukraine is critical to deterring aggression and preserving the international principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Russian propagandists are spreading information about the demolition of a monument to UPA soldiers in the Polish village of Werkrata (Subcarpathian Voivodeship) with corresponding photos. However, this is manipulation. This is written by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. They found out that in fact this is old news from 2016.

Thus, propagandists try to create the impression that Poland does not support Ukraine, provoking tensions between the nations. Such information attacks are aimed at weakening Polish-Ukrainian relations and inciting national discord, which is part of the strategy of isolating Ukraine. However, Poland continues to support Ukraine in its fight for independence, despite these destructive messages.

The pro-Russian segment of the Internet has widely disseminated information that 395 members of the European Parliament voted against an amendment during a plenary session on Thursday, September 19, 2024, requiring Ukraine to apologize to Poland for the Volyn tragedy. The corresponding amendment to the European Parliament resolution on further financial and military support for Ukraine from EU countries was allegedly introduced by the “Europe of Sovereign Nations” group. In turn, Russian propagandists commented on the refusal to vote for this amendment as follows: “The Banderas were allowed not to apologize for the wild atrocities that the OUN-UPA committed in Volyn”.

The Europe of Sovereign Nations group, which is inclined towards pro-Russian initiatives and is controlled by the pro-Russian German far-right party Alternative for Germany, did indeed introduce this amendment to the resolution, as some Polish media wrote. However, as the propagandists themselves claim, even four Polish MEPs (three from The Left and one from The Third Way) voted against the amendment.

In addition, Ukraine has already officially asked Poland for forgiveness for the Volyn tragedy and forgave the crimes committed by the Poles against Ukrainians. In 2014, the then President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, during his speech before both houses of the Polish parliament and in the presence of the then Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, said in the context of the Volyn tragedy: “We forgive and ask for forgiveness”. Subsequently, in 2016, Kravchuk, Yushchenko, the heads of The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church asked the Poles for forgiveness for the Volyn tragedy, signing an open appeal to Poland and Polish society. The text, in particular, said: “We ask for forgiveness for the crimes and insults committed - this is our main motive. We ask for forgiveness and also forgive the crimes and injustices committed against us”.

Russian propagandists regularly speculate on the Volyn tragedy, a sensitive topic for Ukrainian and Polish society. They manipulate information and spread corresponding fakes in order to cause discord between citizens of both countries and spoil diplomatic relations between Ukraine and Poland. Earlier, we refuted the information that the Babel publication allegedly published a quote from a Ukrainian director with the idea for the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”.

Russian resources are spreading information that the Volyn tragedy will not be taught in Polish schools in classes where Polish children study together with Ukrainian schoolchildren. The reason for the decision was the reluctance to create tension and interethnic conflicts among students. The corresponding “news” is being spread by propagandists, citing the English-language media about Ukraine United24.

However, this is a fake, StopFake journalists claim. There is no such story on the website, as well as on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of the United24 resource. The “news” was also not published in Polish media or on the website of the Ministry of National Education of Poland. That is, no one actually made such a decision.

The Volyn tragedy (in Polish historiography - the Volyn massacre) occurred in the summer of 1943 and is still a subject of debate among historians. At the same time, after the full-scale invasion, Ukraine and Poland leaned towards a policy of reconciliation and memory. “We are pursuing a calm policy. Not a policy of running around with pitchforks, but a policy of calmly seeking agreement on historically complex issues, decades-old, very complex, extremely painful for a significant group of our compatriots”, said Polish President Andrzej Duda in June 2023. In July of the same year, on the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, he arrived in Lutsk together with Volodymyr Zelenskyi to honor the memory of the victims of the tragedy.

Russia regularly speculates on the Volyn tragedy. For example, a little earlier we recorded a Russian fake about Babel publishing a quote from a Ukrainian director with the idea for the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”.

Propagandists are distributing on social networks a fake quote from director Iryna Tsilyk, which was published by the Babel publication. It says: “An American director negotiated with us. He wanted to make the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”. We refused, but now I think it was in vain. The vile Poles will poke our noses at the massacre like kittens as long as it benefits them, and will block our entry into the EU to the last”. However, the editor-in-chief of the publication confirmed on social networks that such a quote had never appeared in the publication.

Poland is an important ally of Ukraine, especially in the context of Russian aggression and Ukraine's integration into the EU. Intensifying conflicts based on historical events, such as the Volyn tragedy, are intended to worsen diplomatic relations and cooperation between countries. This could influence public opinion by creating a negative image of neighboring Poland and its policies

The spread of fake quotes and misinformation about Ukrainian cultural figures may reduce the level of support for Ukraine from Poland and other European countries. Russia wants to complicate the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU and other international organizations in this way. Such fakes help to divert attention from the real problems associated with Russian aggression and shift the focus to other problems.

Propagandists are distributing photos of a supposedly Ukrainian school history textbook for high school. It calls Hitler “a German statesman and politician” who liberated the Lviv region during World War II. This information was disseminated on anonymous telegram channels in other languages, including Bulgarian, French, English and Russian. However, this is fake.

Examples of fake posts about Hitler that were refuted by German and Austrian fact checkers

AFP and the Austrian-German hub GADMO checked all current Ukrainian history textbooks and found no such page or statement. The experts they interviewed confirmed that glorifying Nazism is prohibited by Ukrainian law. In 2015, the Ukrainian parliament banned propaganda of Nazi and communist regimes. All textbooks must be approved by the Ministry of Education and the Institute for Modernization of Education.

In Ukrainian schools, history begins to be taught from the fifth grade, and the Second World War in detail - from the tenth grade. All textbooks are updated every five years, with the last update occurring in 2022. AFP found that not a single textbook portrays Hitler as a “liberator”. On the contrary, it describes millions of deaths and crimes of the Nazis in Ukraine.

By spreading such false information, propagandists are trying to portray Ukraine as a country that supports Nazi ideology. The spread of fake news about Nazi ideology in Ukraine supports the Kremlin’s rhetoric about “denazification” as one of the reasons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This creates the appearance of a moral justification for Russia's aggressive actions. The spread of such fakes may prompt international partners to doubt the need to support Ukraine, reducing economic, political and military assistance.

Pro-Kremlin resources disseminate information that Ukrainian history textbooks say that Hitler liberated the Lviv region in 1941 and played one of the decisive roles in the liberation of Ukrainian lands from Soviet occupiers.

However, this information is not true. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Firstly, Russian propagandists do not provide the author of the textbook and the year of publication. Secondly, the fake news contains a page from a textbook, the material of which does not correspond to the structure of the curriculum on the history of Ukraine or even the local course on the history of Lviv. Also, the history of the First World War on the territory of the Lviv region is presented sparingly and illiterately; most of the layer of the history of the First liberation movements is missing. And the interwar period is completely missing.

Accordingly, a “textbook” with such factual errors, and especially the glorification of Hitler, which in Ukraine falls under criminal liability for promoting Nazism, could not be allowed into the curriculum, the Center adds.

Russian telegram channels are again trying to spread the idea that Ukrainians as an ethnic group have supposedly only existed since the beginning of the 20th century. They use the sayings of UPA commander Vasyl Kuk, who in one of his interviews noted that during Austrian times the concept of “Ukrainians” did not exist. Instead, he said, everyone was known as “Ruthenians” or “Rusyns”. He also explained that the term “Ukrainians” appeared later after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, the interpretation is a manipulation of the Russians.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that Kuk was talking about a period of a specific historical era, and not about the entire history of Ukraine. The term “Ukrainians” was used already in the 17th century, as certified in a letter to Hetman Ivan Vyhovskyi in 1657. In addition, the word Ukraine is found in the Kyiv Chronicle of 1187.

The terms “Ruthenians” or “Rusyns” have also been used to refer to Ukrainians throughout history. For example, in the Lithuanian-Russian chronicles of the XIV-XVI centuries and under the Cossack state. However, these terms did not exclude the existence of the Ukrainian people, but only reflected different aspects of their identity.

Therefore, attempts to present Kuk's words as evidence that Ukrainians as an ethnic group did not exist before 1918 are mistaken. This is just an attempt to distort historical facts for political purposes.

Russian propagandists are distributing a video on anonymous telegram channels in which the author claims that old German maps published in 1881 and 1908 contain no mention of Ukraine or Ukrainians. However, this is a distortion of facts.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the term “Ukraine” designating the territory of the modern state of Ukraine had already appeared on the maps of European cartographers at the end of the 17th century.

Ukrainian historian Yaroslav Hrytsak explains that the word “Ukraine” as a geographical name was first mentioned in the Kyiv Chronicle of the 12th century as a designation of the territory of the Pereyaslav Principality. The term had different interpretations among Ukrainian historians: Mykhailo Hrushevskyi believed that “Ukraine” meant the Middle Dnipro region, and Agatangel Krymskyi argued that this was the territory where the Cossacks later arose. The term “Ukraine” began to acquire a specific geographical meaning throughout the 16th century, and its final consolidation in cartography occurred thanks to the maps of the French engineer Guillaume de Beauplan in the mid-17th century.

Therefore, if one carefully examines the map in the propaganda video, they will notice that the territory of modern Ukraine is designated as “Malorossia” or “Little Rus”, which was a derivative of the term “Hetmanate” or Left-Bank Ukraine. This approach of Russian propagandists is aimed at discrediting Ukraine, but it has no scientific basis, since the term “Ukraine” has been known since ancient times and was used to designate certain territories.

Accordingly, the thesis of propagandists that there are no mentions of Ukraine on old maps is unfounded.

Pro-Kremlin resources are disseminating information that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi has issued a decree on the annexation of Russian territories to Ukraine. With this decree, he allegedly declared the right of sovereignty over the Krasnodar Territory, Voronezh, Kursk, Rostov, Briansk and Belgorod regions.

Thus, on January 22, 2024, Zelenskyi signed a decree “On the territories of the Russian Federation historically inhabited by Ukrainians”, but it does not talk about the “annexation” of these territories to Ukraine or the “declaration of sovereignty” over them. Propagandists resorted to yet another manipulation of facts, because the real purpose of the decree is to begin work to preserve the national identity of Ukrainians living in Russia. This is written about in the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

This decree, in particular, is about restoring and preserving the historical memory of crimes against Ukrainians in the past and present; on countering disinformation and propaganda; development of cooperation between Ukrainians and other peoples conquered by Russia; preparation and distribution of materials, as well as updating and inclusion in educational programs of information about the true history of ethnic Ukrainians in Russia.

With this media manipulation, Russian propaganda seeks to fuel its narrative: “Ukraine is the aggressor”, so Russia had no other option but to attack Ukrainian lands. They say that in this way Russia wanted to protect its territorial integrity, as well as Russian-speaking Ukrainians who were allegedly “oppressed” in Ukraine. However, the truth is that this is only a justification for Russian aggression by Moscow, which has been encroaching on Ukrainian territories for centuries and seeking to seize them, today committing a real genocide of the Ukrainian people.

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Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks claim that Ukraine is preparing a film “The History of the Black Sea”. They say that this film will show the Ukrainian myth that the Black Sea was dug by the ancient Ukrainians, who, according to assumptions, inhabited the territory of Ukraine. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that Ukrainian scientists had never put forward such a theory. Moreover, already 9 years ago they refuted a fake paragraph from a Ukrainian textbook, according to which the ancestors of Ukrainians allegedly dug up the Black Sea. Then the project specialists noted that the textbook and its author, to whom the propagandists referred, did not exist. Russian propaganda is trying to spread new narratives on this topic, using fake images and information, including fictitious data about the film's budget and ratings.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to create a false image of Ukrainians as a nation that does not have its own history, but invents it. They say that this is why such projects as a film about the dredged up Black Sea are being made, supposedly financed at public expense. Detector Media has already explained how else Russian propaganda instrumentalizes Ukrainian history for its own purposes.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that a number of European countries, and especially Ukraine and the Baltic countries, are systematically destroying historical memory. They say that they have forgotten about the lessons of the Second World War, and they worship racist, neo-Nazi and extremist ideas.

Analysts of the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to this message. They note that the Kremlin media repeatedly scares with the “rebirth of Nazism” in the West and “historical revanchism” against Russia. The myth of Nazi Ukraine is refuted by the fact that Nazi and communist ideologies were banned in Ukraine at the legislative level in 2015.

By spreading such messages, propagandists want to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, providing a false need for “denazification”. By baselessly calling all Ukrainians Nazis, they deliberately portray Ukrainians in a negative light. Detector Media has refuted a number of fakes and manipulations using this message.

Propagandists distribute in anonymous telegram channels with pro-Russian rhetoric a map, which allegedly indicates the places where the UPA was engaged in terrorizing civilians. However, this is manipulation.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the map does not depict the terror of the UPA, but only the places of its activities on the territory of Ukraine. On it one can see the territory of activity UPA-North, UPA-West and UPA-South. For a reverse search of the map distributed by propagandists, one can find a supplement to the first part of Mykola Lebed's book “UPA. Ukrainian Insurgent Army”. In particular, it shows the actions of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army and the OUN underground on the territory of Ukraine during the occupation of Ukrainian lands by Nazi Germany.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to emphasize the cooperation of the UPA with the Nazis and justify Russia's aggression against Ukraine. In particular, although Russian “researchers” write about the crimes of the UPA, they do not mention that they were committed by NKVD detachments under the guise of the UPA. Yaroslav Faizulin, a participant in the Ukrainian World War II project, on the basis of archival data, claims that in the western regions of Ukraine, as of July 26, 1945, there were 156 special groups of the NKVD under the guise of UPA units.

Kremlin propaganda media and anonymous telegram channels are circulating a video of Valerii Zorkin, head of Russia's Constitutional Court, showing Putin a copy of a 17th-century French map that doesn't seem to show Ukraine. The Russian dictator said that Ukraine is a quasi-state created by the Soviet authorities. But he added: “Well, we know that these lands were simply part of Rzeczpospolita, and then they asked to be part of the Moscow kingdom”. This is manipulation.

Experts from the Viorstka (Layout) media drew attention to the fake. They found a map by cartographer Guillaume Sanson, a copy of which was shown to Putin. There is Ukraine on the map, it is signed as Vkraine ou Pays des Cosaques (Ukraine or Country of Cossacks). Among the maps of Ukraine is his famous work, created in 1674. This map can be found on the website of the digital library of the National Library of France and its Gallica partners. Moreover, Crimea on the map is not part of Russia, and the peninsula is circled as a separate state. In the 17th century, the Crimean Khanate was located there.

Russian propaganda continues to promote the key propaganda theses that Ukraine did not exist, it was created by Lenin. The Russian president himself speaks of this in order to justify a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media wrote that the occupiers had prepared a pseudo-historical training manual for teaching Ukrainian children in the temporarily occupied territories.

Kremlin publications spread the message that Ukraine and its statehood are in fact an artificially created project of the “collective West”, which has the informal name “Anti-Russia”. This message was echoed by Russian President Volodymyr Putin in his annual federal address. In particular, he stated that the so-called “anti-Russia” was created in Austria in the 19th century and that Russia is fighting precisely against this “anti-Russia”, since the Ukrainian people are “occupied by the West”, especially the United States. Earlier, the President of Russia said that Ukraine was artificially created in Austria-Hungary or other Western countries.

Journalists of the Ukrainian news service BBC drew attention to this message. They note that there is a number of historical evidence that refutes the above claims.

Thus, Russia again wants to shift the responsibility for its crimes to the victim. In addition, this is how the propagandists want to justify their aggression against Ukraine: because of the fight against the “external enemy”. It seems that Ukraine does not matter, because it is “controlled” from the outside. Detector Media has previously explained how Russia devalues Ukrainian statehood with the phrase “Kyiv regime”.

This thesis appeared in anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. In their messages, they used the Gender Zed NGO post about same-sex sex among Zaporizhzhia cossacks. Like, the Ukrainian LGBT community is trying to distort the “real” Ukrainian history and is trying to make all the cossacks “perverts”. Moreover, the Russian propaganda focused on the part of the message about transgender people in the Orthodox Church of that time. This is manipulation.

The message of the organization is not scientific and cannot be perceived as genuine information, as the authors themselves point out. In addition, the material says that in the Zaporizhzhia Sich there were cruel punishments for same-sex sexual practices. The authors of the message do not claim that all cossacks were gay, but simply explain that the fact that gays among the cossacks were quite real. According to a number of studies, the human population is 7-10% of homosexual people. Therefore, it is quite clear that they could be in the Sich as well.

Russian propaganda actively manipulates topics related to the LGBT community in Ukraine and beyond. Russia, using LGBT disinformation, despises the democratic system, opposing it to the Russian world. Detector Media refuted the main myths about the representatives of the LGBT community, and also told how Ukrainian LGBT activists help in the fight against Russian occupiers.