Russian media are disseminating information that soldiers of the 73rd Naval Special Operations Center allegedly died while trying to gain a foothold on the Tendra Spit in the northern part of the Black Sea, off the coast of the Kherson region.

This information is not true. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that in fact, the military of the 73rd Special Operations Center took their last battle after successfully completing a special mission, when they ensured the withdrawal of the main forces of the group.

“The heroic and extremely complex combat work of the Special Operations Forces units on land, at sea and deep behind enemy lines is the daily contribution of the Special Operations Forces soldiers to victory over the enemy. Always remember at what cost our freedom is fought”, the Special Operations Forces command notes.

Propagandists do not stop trying to justify Russian aggression against Ukraine, the motives of which are hidden under the narrative of “the need to fire Russians in Ukraine”. To promote this message, Russian media again claim that the residents of Kherson are supposedly waiting for “Russian liberators” and “supporting” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this.

Russian media used the statements of the governor of the occupation authorities, collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, who cannot be considered a reliable source of information. Although the Kremlin calls him “the governor of the Kherson region of Russia”, this position is fictitious. In Ukraine, Saldo is wanted for high treason and violating the territorial integrity of the country. In addition, Volodymyr Saldo is under numerous sanctions from Ukraine, the EU, Great Britain, the USA, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Canada and Australia.

After massive shelling of peaceful cities, destruction of civilian infrastructure and mass murder of civilians, the level of self-identification of Ukrainians reached its highest level in all the years of the country’s independence. According to an all-Ukrainian sociological survey by the Rating group, published on January 29, 2024, very high rates of a sense of Ukrainian identity were registered in the Kherson region - the majority of respondents called themselves convinced Ukrainians from a European nation. At the same time, respondents most often noted Ukrainian identity as a conscious choice, aggravated by the war.

Russia regularly shells every district of the city, killing civilians in Kherson and causing enormous damage to critical infrastructure. It was the actions of Russian troops that led to significant material and human losses in Kherson, which caused negative emotions among the vast majority of local residents. According to a survey by the Protection Kherson Society Foundation (2023), only 8% of Kherson residents noted that they were not injured as a result of enemy shelling. Every third Kherson family lost property due to Russian aggression. A third (35%) of Kherson residents had their apartment or private house damaged, 27% of respondents noted that their apartment building was damaged, and another 23% had their property damaged. Significant damage has also been caused to the health of Kherson residents: 35% testify that in their families there are people who have begun to suffer from mental disorders, 3% in the family are injured. However, the worst thing is that people are dying due to shelling of the city. During the survey, 2% of Kherson residents said that there were deaths in their families.

The majority of respondents believe that the restoration of Kherson should occur primarily at the expense of the aggressor state (79%), which should be punished for its criminal actions.

The Russian myth about the “originally Russian southeast” of Ukraine, which, according to the occupiers, should include the Kherson region, has never been confirmed by facts. It should be recalled that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, during the all-Ukrainian referendum on December 1, 1991, 93.13% of the residents of the Kherson region voted for the independence of Ukraine. Thus, they confirmed their desire to live in an independent and sovereign state - Ukraine. And during the 2001 All-Ukrainian Population Census, the majority of Kherson residents (82%) considered themselves Ukrainians.

Detector Media wrote that Russian propaganda is trying to create the impression that life is thriving and being restored in the temporarily occupied territories, while disorder reigns in those controlled by Ukraine.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that in the near future Ukrainian troops will supposedly begin to retreat from the left bank of the Kherson region, from the village of Krynky, since the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces there can be calculated in the dozens. They say that since the end of autumn 2023, the Ukrainian military has been “pushed” there not to expand the bridgehead, but to inevitable death. In the Russian army, supposedly in Krynky there are only a few wounded. In asserting this, propagandists refer to Putin’s statement made during the “direct line” on December 14, 2023. However, this is not true.

The experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security analyzed this case. They found out that in fact the situation in the village of Krynky, which is described in propaganda publications, referring to Putin, is significantly exaggerated, as are the “tactical successes” of the Russian occupiers in this direction. In addition, a cemetery of broken Russian equipment has already accumulated near Krynky, which is confirmed by video recordings of precise strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the occupiers. By the way, presumably, in the area of the village of Krynky in the fall of 2023, the deputy of the 14th Army Corps of the Russian Armed Forces, Major General Zavadskyi, died.

It should be noted that on December 14, 2023, the day of Putin’s “direct line”, the British Ministry of Defense reports specifically on the problems of the Russian military on the left bank of Kherson, and not the Ukrainian army. They write there that the newly formed 104th Guards Airborne Division of Russia with a high probability suffered extremely heavy losses when trying to dislodge Ukrainian forces from Krynky.

Speaking about the successes of Russians on the left bank of the Kherson region, Russian propaganda is trying to create the idea that the Russian army has a great advantage there. In addition, in this way, propagandists once again exceed the achievements of the Russian military in the war in Ukraine. Previously, we analyzed the propaganda message that Ukraine is allegedly preparing for the surrender of Kherson.

Russian telegram channels are distributing a video recording of an unknown woman who, on condition of anonymity, says that the Ukrainian military seems to be robbing residential buildings and apartments in Kherson because they will “surrender the city”. They justify their actions by the fact that they do not want to leave Russia.

The very fact of the appearance of information with reference to an anonymous authority already indicates its dubiousness. The Russians are conducting IPSO as if they are actively advancing on all sectors of the front and are preparing to occupy Kherson. In fact, the reality is different - the Ukrainian Armed Forces are conducting an operation on the left bank of the Kherson region, and this gives grounds to assert that the information about the surrender of Kherson is an invention of Russian propaganda.

With disinformation about the alleged capture of Kherson, the Russians are trying to cover up their failures on the battlefield and discredit the Ukrainian army. Moreover, the Russians launched similar messages before the Kharkiv region was liberated in September 2022.

• Read also: The Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly deliberately shelled the center of Kherson

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media and among Russian politicians claim that it is supposedly “terrible to live” in Kherson. They say that without Russian influence the city is experiencing a “humanitarian catastrophe”.

The analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to this message. They note that the humanitarian situation in Kherson and other front-line cities of Ukraine is difficult precisely because of Russian aggression and daily shelling from Russia. It continues to attack different areas of the city, damaging civilian infrastructure and killing ordinary people. Interruptions in energy, heat and water supplies are a consequence of Russia's actions. Since the de-occupation of Kherson in November 2022, the occupiers have tried to cause maximum damage to the city and its energy system. However, it was Ukraine that made efforts to restore infrastructure and support the local population. The StopFake specialists claim that there are many shops in the city, humanitarian aid distribution points and programs to support the local population.

By spreading such messages, propagandists want to devalue Ukraine’s efforts and shift responsibility for Russia’s crimes from the aggressor to the victim of aggression. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fabrications of Russian propaganda regarding the situation in Kherson.

Propaganda resources are trying to disorient the Ukrainian Defense Forces with messages about the alleged withdrawal of the Russian army from some temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region. Thus, on the morning of November 12, pro-Russian media published news about the regrouping of Russian troops near Dnipro, and on November 13 they deleted their publications and reported that the preliminary information was canceled.

The Center for National Resistance investigated this case and stated that the regrouping of Russian troops in the Kherson region has not been recorded. This was reported to the Center by local residents of the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of the Kherson region, which are discussed in the “news”. It looks like this case is an information operation against Ukraine. The Center for National Resistance also added that the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Kherson region is a matter of time.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels are circulating a photo that allegedly shows an order from the commander of the 123rd Trooper Brigade to create mobile crematoria. In the “document” this decision is explained by a large number of losses on the Ukrainian side and overcrowded morgues. However, this is fake.

Specialists in the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They checked the document for errors and found out that the text indicated a period of 5 days instead of a period. In addition, the format of the name does not meet the current requirements for official documentation, according to which the document should not contain “R. Tokarenko”, but “Roman TOKARENKO”. Moreover, since the 123rd TRO brigade is a territorial defense formation in the Mykolaiv region, such orders should be issued in Mykolaiv, and not Kherson, as in the photo. There were no reports of command redeployment. The seal is also not real - there is no organization with the EDRPOU code 07849800. VoxCheck specialists tested the print with the InVid plugin and found signs of being added in the photo editor. Also in the photo one can see that the text is above the seal, but should be below it. The 123rd troop brigade also denied the fake on their Facebook page, calling it “another IPSO of Russian propaganda”.

By creating and spreading such fakes, propagandists want to exaggerate the scale of losses and the situation, as well as demoralize Ukrainian society. They say that the Ukrainian army has heavy losses, which indicates the loss of Ukraine. However, such fakes only indicate that Russia wants to cover its own numerous losses and failures at the front.  Detector Media has already refuted the Russian fake from the “Kyivstar video” about the losses of the Ukrainian army.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Ukrainian armed forces allegedly shelled the Kherson region during the evacuation of civilians from flooded areas. Like, they prevented the evacuation of people. It is not true. 

The StopFake fact-checkers worked on the case, explaining that the propagandists simply made up such information. In fact, there is plenty of documented evidence that the Russians shelled Kherson during the evacuation of civilians. Also, according to the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration Oleksandr Prokudin, it was the Russian army that shelled the coastal territories, the central part of the city, and the place of evacuation from the flooded areas. 

Thus, propagandists use the tactics of reflection, attributing their actions to the opponent. So, they try to hide their crimes and become a victim.

Collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, who calls himself the “interim governor” of the Kherson region, spread a fake in an interview on Volodymyr Soloviov’s channel that the Ukrainian military is randomly shelling Kherson, and the Russian army has nothing to do with the shelling. In addition, he said that the Ukrainian military were shelling the Ukrainian city with “mobile mortar groups”.

What “mobile mortar groups” are, according to Saldo, is not clear, as it is not clear why the Ukrainian army should shell a city with civilian Ukrainian citizens at all. At the same time, Saldo claims that Ukrainian “mortar groups” only fire at “significant objects”, they do it at night and solely because they are afraid of “security units”, as if they are shooting those who do not follow the instructions to “shell Kherson”.

The “security units” that travel around the city with “mobile groups” are an invention of Saldo himself. But the fake information about “mortar mobile groups” of the Ukrainian army appeared during the first stage of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014. This is written in the publication “Bridge”.

At that time, Russian propaganda spread the same stories about Ukrainian “mortar mobile groups” that allegedly shelled Luhansk, Donetsk and other occupied cities of Donbas. It is clear that there were no “mobile groups”, and Luhansk, Donetsk and, for example, Shakhtarsk were fired upon by militants of various criminal groups such as the Zaria (Star) battalion. The head of the so-called LNR (Luhansk national republic), Valerii Bolotov, spoke about this in an interview with Russian media in 2016. There is other evidence that Luhansk was shelled by the Luhansk residents themselves, who joined illegal armed formations. Read more about this here.

This information was disseminated by the Russian media and propagandists. Allegedly, local residents of Kherson told the journalists of the British edition of Sky News about this.

From the article “Ukraine war: Freedom comes at a price as Russia switches from occupier to attacker of Kherson” propagandists singled out from several stories of the townspeople the words of only one woman, who believes that it has become “worse, they give help, but not everyone”.

The propagandists used the quote without context and presented it as if it reflected the position of the entire population, saying that it was better in Kherson under Russian occupation.

According to Myth Detector project analysts, the Kremlin propaganda media is trying to create the impression that the terrible living conditions in Kherson are the result of the liberation of the region by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In fact, most of the Kherson residents mentioned in the Sky News story told reporters they were happy that the city was back under Ukrainian control, even if they now expect more trouble from Russian shelling. It was the daily rocket and mortar attacks by Russian troops that led to the death of more than 40 civilians, including at least one child, which affected the stability of the city's infrastructure.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. Like, the government prefers stabilization measures, rather than the restoration of populated areas. In particular, allegedly recently liberated Kherson is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe. Allegedly, there is no water and energy supply in the city, there is not enough medicine, fuel, etc. Like, the situation is the same in the de-occupied Kharkiv region. Allegedly, this is how the Ukrainian authorities “thank” the Ukrainians who were waiting for the de-occupation.

Russian propaganda continues to manipulate information about the de-occupied territories of Ukraine. Kherson was on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe during the Russian occupation. After the de-occupation, life support systems are being restored in the city, despite daily shelling from the Russian army. As of December 4, Kherson resumed power supply by 85%. Also, “Points of invincibility” were opened in the city and additional centers for issuing humanitarian aid were deployed. Gradually in Kherson, the work of a supermarket chain is resumed.

Such information appeared on the open spaces of propaganda telegram channels. Reports say that a massive civilian repression has recently begun, which simply worked during the occupation of the city, because they needed to survive. According to the infidels, all the inhabitants are in danger. However, the most important facts have been substituted.

This case was considered by Vox Ukraine specialists, who strongly denied the news, because there is no evidence of the repression of civilians who did not cooperate with Russia.

However, it should be remembered that collaborationism is punishable by law, and a civilian can become a collaborator. That is why analysts cited several examples of raising suspicions for cooperation with the occupiers after the liberation of Kherson:

- assistance in holding pseudo-referendums in the occupied territory;

- voluntarily holding a managerial position in a Pension fund where Russian pensions were paid;

- service in the occupational police;

- work in the occupational administration of education in the region;

- voluntary transfer of watercraft to the occupiers to organize their escape from Kherson;

- performance of duties in the occupational pre-trial detention center, including the suppression of the Ukrainian resistance movement.

Russian propagandists manipulate the facts because they want to create an imaginary picture of how difficult it seems for Ukrainians to live after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Like, even the civilian population is being repressed. As a consequence, the Russians are once again spreading the narrative that the Ukrainian army is punishing their own citizens.

This is the message Russian propaganda is spreading to Western audiences. Allegedly, Russian troops retreated from Kherson due to fears that Ukrainian forces would blow up a dam at the nearby Kakhovka hydroelectric power station. The flood could have caused the death of many military and civilians.

The fact-checkers EU vs Disinfo drew attention to the spread of the message. In fact, Ukrainian military intelligence reported on October 21 that the Russian army had placed two military vehicles loaded with explosives on the road crossing the dam. The dam of the Kakhovska HPP is 30 meters high and holds back 18 million cubic meters of water. Undermining the dam could lead to huge flooding of Kherson and smaller settlements around. It would also have a significant impact on the operation of the Zaporizhzhia NPP, since this facility is inextricably linked with it. After the retreat of the Russian army from Kherson on November 11, the US satellite company Maxar reported that significant new damage to the dam in Nova Kakhovka in southern Ukraine was visible.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that at first the evacuation of residents was carried out by Russia, now Ukraine. Therefore, the city supposedly will soon have no inhabitants left and it will become a ghost city.

After the de-occupation of the right bank of Kherson on November 19, the evacuation of residents began. There are problems with the supply of electricity, drinking water, heating in the city, there is also a danger of shelling the city, some of the objects in the city are still mined. Therefore, the Ukrainian authorities offered the citizens to evacuate to safer areas. However, this process is voluntary, people have the opportunity to leave the city according to their own will. Some citizens will still stay at home, despite the difficulties. Moreover, on November 19, the first train arrived in Kherson, by which Kherson residents, on the contrary, returned home, despite the danger. The city is recovering from the horrors of the evacuation and is trying to restore vital processes. In particular, Ukrposhta post office began to work, restoring communications and the Internet.

As for the “evacuation” carried out by the Russians, those who left the city were primarily those who collaborated with the occupiers in order to avoid responsibility for their actions.

Russian media and telegram channels disseminate information that the man who allegedly starred in the story of the French AFP media from liberated Kherson is a military man from Kyiv who “came to carry out repressions”. It seems that his name is Yevhen Mykolayovych Pondin, and he is the commander of the National Guard company in military unit 3030. They say that this is how the Ukrainian media created “the illusion of support for the liberation of Kherson by the Ukrainian military”. Some media wrote that "Ukraine brought extras to Kherson for staged events". It is not true.

As StopFake writes, the man who appears in the AFP report from Kherson, liberated by Ukrainian troops, is indeed a Kherson resident. On the same day, he gave an interview to the film crew of the “Nastoiashcheie vremia” (Current Time) TV channel. Fact-checkers using facial recognition technology found several profiles of this man in social networks, confirming the name, age of the man and that he lives in Kherson. In the military unit No 3030, where the man allegedly "serves", they refuted his belonging to this unit.

Russian propaganda resources, in particular Volodymyr Soloviov's telegram channel, are happy to post photos of queues in Kherson, where people stand for water, humanitarian aid, phone cards and the like. They also write that those who did not want to live under the “Russian world” now should “survive under the Ukrainian one”. This is open and direct manipulation.

In Kherson, after the liberation, the situation is very difficult: there is no electricity, communication, Internet, water, heating, problems with medicines and food. But these are the consequences of the Russian occupation, during which the Russians first robbed the city, then destroyed critical infrastructure facilities, including gas and water supply systems, and energy supply. Now local utilities are trying to return light and heat to the city as soon as possible, volunteers bring water and humanitarian aid, mobile operators distribute mobile cards so that people can call relatives in other cities. The authorities are asking people not to return to the liberated city for the time being due to the difficult humanitarian situation. But all this is the fault of the Russians, who systematically and massively stole from the Ukrainians and Ukraine everything that could be taken out (for example, a raccoon), and everything that they could not loot was destroyed.

Examples of how the “Russian world” operates can be found in any Ukrainian cities under occupation: systematic looting, destruction of civilian infrastructure, destruction of everything that cannot be sent to Russia.

This is written on social networks during an air raid due to the threat of missile strikes throughout Ukraine. They say that Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not need to go to the de-occupied Kherson and anger the enemy. So now we have a "retribution".

Russian propaganda is once again positioning rocket attacks on Ukraine's civilian and energy infrastructure as “revenge”. In October propagandists used similar excuses. Allegedly, the shelling was due to a drone attack in the Sevastopol bay and after an explosion on the Crimean bridge.

The fact-checkers of The Insider examined the specifics of aiming Russian missiles at civilian infrastructure and proved that the preparation of such strikes takes several weeks. So, as in October, today's attack could not be retaliatory strikes.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this with reference to the representative of the Russian President Dmytro Pieskov. Like, Volodymyr Zelenskyi came to Kherson, although he knows that this is the “territory of Russia”.

In fact, the President of Ukraine visited de-occupied Kherson, which has always been and is part of Ukraine. Not only Ukraine, but the entire democratic world did not recognize the results of the illegal Russian pseudo-referenda, as well as Russia's decision to annex the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, contrary to all international legal norms.

Since November 11, such messages have been distributed by anonymous telegram channels. They say that with the arrival of Ukraine in Kherson, mass mobilization will begin, all men of military age, despite their state of health, will be taken into the Ukrainian army.

Such information does not correspond to reality, since conscription activities throughout Ukraine are carried out according to the same algorithm.

Currently, Ukraine does not intend to carry out additional conscription. Considering that a war is going on in Ukraine, the course of mobilization will depend solely on the situation at the front, explained Anna Maliar, Deputy defense minister.

Russian propagandists are inciting fear among civilians in the Kherson region that mobilization is one of the methods of “reprisal” and “cleaning” for the fact that people lived under Russian occupation. Like, those who allegedly collaborated with the Russians should wait for filtration, and, accordingly, torture, and all other men of military age should expect conscription.

Such messages are intended to sow doubts about the legality of the general mobilization, to cause distrust in the authorities of Ukraine and the Ukrainian army in the liberated territory, and to show that life was better under Russian occupation in the Kherson region and there were no dangers to the civilian population.

Such information was shared in some groups on social networks. It is not true.

On November 14, bomb experts will work on Svobody (Freedom) square and will carry out mine clearance. The head of the regional military administration Yaroslav Yanushevych urged everyone to stay at home.

The Russians mined almost everything in Kherson, so gathering in crowded places is risky. Kherson residents are asked to move carefully around the city and not to touch suspicious objects.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that the inhabitants of Kherson began to find leaflets from the Ukrainian army, practically corresponding to those scattered by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Such postcards are distributed on social networks to draw a parallel between the Ukrainian army and the liberation of cities from Russian occupiers and the German army and the occupation of the Soviet Union.

For the second week, the Kherson's residents have been informationally attacked with a series of messages, urging them to "evacuate" across the Dnipro to the left bank. Propaganda anonymous channels spread information about the Ukrainian military's alleged shelling of peaceful areas. The occupiers also offered "free vacation for children and adults in Russia," distributed leaflets "Save your family - leave for the left bank," and information with routes. Propagandists send text messages urging them to "evacuate" immediately because they say there will be shelling residential areas.

On October 22, they began to intimidate people by sending out audio in the Ukrainian language, allegedly on behalf of the Ukrainian military. In the audio, it is said that not a single surviving house will remain in Kherson.

As noted by the fact-checkers of the "NotaYenota" project, the man's Ukrainian language is perfect. It's probably a record of either a Ukrainian prisoner or one of the Kherson collaborators. Residents of Kherson and the right-bank part of the region, who were evacuated, will allegedly be able to receive a payment of 100,000 rubles and a certificate for purchasing housing in Crimea. Such messages aim not only to intimidate the people of Kherson and force them to evacuate but also to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military never targets civilians and never sends anything that could threaten Ukrainians or discredit the army.

After a significant part of the population left Kherson, the Russian occupiers changed into civilian clothes and settled in the homes of the evacuees. As reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it is how the enemy is preparing Kherson for street battles.

The Kherson regional military administration calls on residents to ignore the "evacuation."

Such news is spread by the pro-Kremlin propaganda media, as well as by anonymous telegram channels. Reports say that Ukrainian children did not learn Russian despite their great desire. Allegedly, the Ukrainian authorities discriminate against the Russian language at the state level. However, this is not true.

According to StopFake fact-checkers, in the Kherson region and in general on the territory of Ukraine, the study of the Russian language was not prohibited. According to Ukrainian legislation, at the request of representatives of national minorities, it is possible to organize a separate class for teaching in the desired language but Ukrainian as the state language should be a priority. In the Kherson region it was not only possible to study the Russian language as a subject, but there were also schools where studies were generally held in Russian.

In fact, according to the law "On Ensuring the Functioning of the Ukrainian Language as the State Language" the language of the educational process is Ukrainian, but no one forbade learning Russian.

The purpose of the film is to discredit the Security Service of Ukraine and accuse Ukraine of terrorist activities in the territory of the temporarily occupied territories of the Kherson region and the Crimean peninsula.

According to Kavun.City, the invaders staged a multi-act performance with the participation of pseudo-journalists, FSS officers and actors of various roles: “double agents”, “SSU officer”, “victims of terror”, “perpetrators of assassination attempts”, etc.

The video, lasting more than 17 minutes, was made by the Russian propaganda TV channel RT. The “premier” took place in the evening of September 12, in the morning of the same day they spread “news” about the detention of “SSU agents” in Crimea, messages and short clippings from interviews with “victims of staged atentates”, short interviews with “random perpetrators” and the announcement of a “big investigations."

Propagandists allegedly talk about a three-month secret operation by the FSS to prevent the murders of "representatives of the authorities of the liberated cities of Ukraine" and expose the "terrorist activities" of the Ukrainian special services. In particular, it is told that the Ukrainian media reported the murder of collaborators from Nova Kakhovka Serhii Tomko and Vitalii Hura. However, all Ukrainian media reports on this matter had a single source: the propaganda resources of the enemy.

The authors are trying to demonize the Ukrainian special services, so they add specific bloody details to the story, claim that “Ukrainian special services work according to terrorist methods”, and compare them with the Islamic State. The film was immediately shot in English, and then adapted for Russian-speaking viewers. The release of the "tape" was accompanied by massive media support.

Russian propaganda uses cinema not for the first time to promote pro-Russian narratives and create virtual reality. Previously, "Media Detector" talked about the propaganda films "Mariupol: Chronicles of a Russian City" and "Russian Kherson". We've been waiting for this for 30 years." Thus, Russian propagandists create virtual reality and wishful thinking.

Russian media write about this with reference to an article in The Economist. They said, Kyiv was advised to "cool down" in the Kherson direction.

The Economist did publish an article called "Stay cool on Kherson". The authors talk about why the Ukrainian armed forces in the Kherson region should act with caution and explain that the Russians managed to capture Mariupol, Severodonetsk and other cities because they were not afraid to destroy them. Instead, the Ukrainian army is trying to avoid the destruction of Ukrainian cities. Propagandists manipulate the translation of the phrase "stay cool". It can be translated as "cool down", but given the text of the article, it is more about "keeping calm". The authors of the article analyze the advantages and disadvantages of both armies in the context of the battle for the Kherson region. However, Russian propaganda manipulates by emphasizing the advantages of the Russian army, and diverts attention from the fact that the authors of the article believe that the Ukrainian army will have better positions in this battle.