On behalf of the American organization Freedom House, propagandists are sending out letters calling on Ukrainian military personnel to leave the service. However, these are false letters. This is what the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes.

Its experts found that the propagandists created a fake email address and used the Freedom House logo to make the messages look official and credible. Such tactics are often used to spread disinformation to lower military morale and undermine trust in Ukraine's Western partners.

Freedom House is not involved in these letters, and no employee of the organization sent such messages. The text of the letter contains lexical errors, specific Russianisms and other linguistic features that indicate forgery. This is another case of using fake letters as a tool of information warfare aimed at increasing mistrust among the Ukrainian military and discrediting support from Western countries.

Anonymous Telegram channels are spreading a Spanish-language story about how the body of fallen Colombian International Legion soldier Michael Ramirezi Fino was returned to his family “without internal organs”. In the video, the soldier’s mother allegedly claims that she asked the International Legion leadership for an explanation and was told that her son’s organs were transplanted to wounded comrades, but the woman doubts this.

But this story is made up, and the video was fabricated by propagandists. Firstly, it was not possible to find a Spanish-language media outlet called Ahora online - the propagandists probably drew the logo of the fictitious publication themselves. Secondly, no other authoritative source reported on this story. Mentions of this story are published only in social networks of the Russian segment.

Black transplantology in Ukraine is a conspiracy theory that Russians have been developing for a decade. The constant return to the topic testifies to its importance for Russia. These messages are promoted to both domestic and international audiences. However, their refutation in foreign and Ukrainian media prevents the campaign from having the desired effect. Among the goals pursued by Russian propaganda within the framework of this topic are discrediting the military-political leadership of Ukraine and reducing trust in it, creating a negative image of the state in the eyes of the international community, and justifying a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Read also: How and why Russia uses the topic of “black transplantology” in Ukraine

Russian propaganda is once again spreading information that Ukrainian instructors, together with the US, are allegedly training international terrorists in Syria. Now Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has joined in spreading this message.

However, this is a fake, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation. This disinformation has already been spread more than once by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, without providing any evidence.

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, an officer of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, Andrii Kovalenko, believes that the main focus of this campaign is directed at the Middle East, the countries of the Global South, and the American information field. He added that this is the key information threat at the international level.

Thus, the Russians are trying to claim that Ukraine is a “terrorist state”. However, in reality, it is Russia that supports militants in Syria, who have used, in particular, chemical weapons. Moscow also maintains relations with the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, and ISIS.

We previously refuted information that Ukraine and NATO are preparing provocations in Syria.

Propagandists are spreading information on social networks that 47% of Ukraine's territory belongs to BlackRock, and that company representatives came to Kyiv and asked not to bury the dead soldiers on their lands. However, this is a fake.

It was refuted by fact-checkers of the Lithuanian version of the Baltic media conglomerate Delfi. They found that the claim that BlackRock banned Ukraine from burying its military is wrong. According to the press service of the President of Ukraine, in late 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyi held a remote meeting with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, during which they discussed possible projects to help structure funds for the country's recovery. In 2023, the Ukrainian government signed an agreement with BlackRock and JPMorgan to create a fund designed to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment to restore the Ukrainian economy, but this did not include restrictions on burying the military. In addition, about 70% of Ukraine's territory is agricultural land. As of 2020, about 31 million hectares, or 75%, were privately owned. The largest companies controlled only 16% of agricultural land, or about 6.45 million hectares. There are more than 10 foreign agricultural companies operating in the country, owning about 3-4 million hectares of land. The largest of these are the US-based Agroprosperis (300,000 hectares) and the Saudi Arabian Continental Farmers Group (195,000 hectares), but BlackRock has not invested in either company.

Georgian fact-checking portal Mythdetector found a recording from a Telegram channel that this claim is based on back in July. The author of the post claims that the CEO of BlackRock allegedly advised Ukraine not to pollute arable land with the bodies of dead soldiers and to use crematoriums. The description of the channel indicates that this information may be satirical or false.

This fake is intended to portray Ukraine as a country that has lost its sovereignty and is completely dependent on Western corporations. Successful partnerships between Ukraine and international companies, such as BlackRock, could become a tool for post-war reconstruction. The propaganda attempts to sow distrust in such investors, portraying them as a threat to sovereignty and national interests. By spreading such fakes, propagandists try to demoralize the population of Ukraine, creating the impression that even burying fallen defenders could become a problem due to the loss of control over national lands. Propagandists also use this fake to distract attention from their own failures and problems, in particular, Russia's crimes in the temporarily occupied territories, economic instability, and poor human rights situation.

Propagandists are spreading information on anonymous Telegram channels that allegedly Ukrainian Armed Forces units, which include Polish, French and American “mercenaries”, are displaying “extreme cruelty” towards the civilian population in the Kursk region. The source of such statements is said to be unknown “security agencies” of Russia.

However, in reality, in the territory of the Kursk region, which is not controlled by Russia, there are no “security structures” to which one could refer. These accusations pursue only one goal - to dehumanize Ukrainians in the eyes of the Russian audience. This is reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Many foreign journalists from independent and influential media have already visited the territories controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and in their reports they have not confirmed any atrocities against either captured Russians or the civilian population. In addition, as reported by the speaker of the Operational-tactical grouping Siversk Vadym Mysnyk, it was Russia that refused to provide a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of civilians from the territories of the Kursk region controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which also refutes the statements of Russian propaganda.

Russians are creating fake pages of the Coordination Headquarters for the Collection of Confidential Information. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Fraudsters create so-called “doubles” of official resources, promising Ukrainians alleged “help” in finding relatives who have been captured by the enemy or “assistance” in obtaining information about them. These fake sites and pages are created with the aim of misleading citizens and forcing them to voluntarily provide their personal data.

According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, such actions by the Russian side are aimed not only at collecting information, but also at having more dangerous consequences. The enemy seeks to gain access to private data for further blackmail and recruitment of Ukrainians, using the vulnerability of the families of prisoners of war. In addition, the enemy can manipulate public sentiment, creating an atmosphere of fear and mistrust.

The purpose of these fraudulent actions is to destabilize Ukrainian society by using the families of defenders for psychological pressure. The enemy can also use the information obtained to threaten the safety of prisoners of war and conduct reconnaissance on military operations.

The Coordination Headquarters reminds: never provide your personal data, phone numbers, bank accounts or data of your loved ones through unverified resources, as well as third-party applications and anonymous sources. Disclosure of such information on fake sites can seriously harm not only Ukrainian prisoners of war, but also endanger the lives of their fellow prisoners. Do not give the enemy the opportunity to manipulate emotions and use you for their own purposes.

The Russian media is disseminating a fake report from the Romanian Ministry of National Defense about the allegedly “failed training” of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters. This document states that they were able to train only 3 pilots out of 50. The reasons for this low rate are given as “inability to learn English” and “alcohol consumption”.

“The Romanian Ministry of Defense prepared a report in which it recognized problems in the results of training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters... Also noted is the careless attitude of Ukrainians to training, reluctance to study English and a drop in athletic performance due to weight gain and alcohol consumption”, the publications added .

StopFake analysts investigated this case and found that the Romanian Ministry of National Defense denied the existence of a report on the failed training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters. Russian propaganda created a fake document using fragments of this report, making a number of mistakes.

The department added that the fake document also states that the training of Ukrainian pilots was allegedly carried out at the European F-16 training center at the airbase in the city of Feteshte. But, as the Ministry clarified, this is also an “absolute lie”, since only Romanian pilots have studied at the center.

Photos of an announcement allegedly from the National Police are being circulated online, calling for people to contact the hotline in case of aggression from people in military uniform. The announcement allegedly again contains the hotline numbers of the National Police in Zhytomyr.

However, this information is not true, they write in the VoxCheck project. Photos of the “announcement” can only be found in Russian and pro-Russian sources. Also, the owner of the phone number 0-800-505-222 is not law enforcement agencies, but the WIZARD company. It supplies equipment for water supply, drainage and heating. Another number (+380 (44) 254-96-96) is inactive. GetContact users mark it as the phone number of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This may be an outdated MIA contact.

In addition, reliable national and regional media did not report the creation of a similar hotline in Zhytomyr. The Main Directorate of the National Police in the Zhytomyr region does not indicate the functioning of such a line.

Russian propaganda is disseminating information that a Ukrainian serviceman hid for two years in the sewer system of the Azovstal plant in occupied Mariupol. He allegedly drank sewage and ate rats, but survived.

In fact, the emaciated man in the photo returned from Russian captivity on May 31, 2024. This is one of the National Guardsmen who guarded the Chornobyl nuclear power plant when the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. The purpose of this Russian fake is to deny the facts of cruel treatment and abuse of Ukrainian prisoners.

The Center adds that Ukrainian law enforcement officers are investigating the murder of more than 60 Ukrainian captives by Russians. Also, 450 criminal proceedings have been registered on facts of ill-treatment of prisoners of war. At the same time, the Russian Federation, in violation of international law, systematically captures Ukrainian civilians. Previously, we wrote about how Russia is manipulating the topic of prisoner exchange.

Propagandists are distributing a video on social networks in which a Ukrainian serviceman allegedly says that three days before the shooting, his “brothers” were grabbed on the street by representatives of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support and sent to the front line, where they immediately died. The caption for the video is: “Show this to everyone while there are still men left, so that they don’t even think about going there!!!!! Khazarian faces and Territorial centers’ employees are corrupt nits... Here's mobilization for you... They were at home for another three or four days, and now... They are immediately sent to certain death!!! Without any preparation, just like meat”. The video has already been viewed more than 200 thousand times on Meta and shared more than 3.4 thousand times.

In fact, this video is staged and probably created by Russian propaganda to discredit the mobilization campaign in Ukraine. Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found that the video had several obvious signs of being staged. Firstly, the voiceover tries to speak Ukrainian, but for native speakers it is clear that the native language of the author of the video is Russian. The voice-over text, read in a calm and emotionless voice, is full of anti-Ukrainian propaganda.

The author of the video claims to show the consequences of mobilization, showing the supposed bodies of three dead “brothers” who were allegedly mobilized just a few days ago. However, it is very difficult to recognize the “dead” in the video - the bodies lie at a considerable distance from the camera, and their faces are hidden. The author of the video also claims that a group of soldiers was hit by artillery fire, but no blood or shrapnel was visible on the bodies. All the “dead” have typical Ukrainian surnames - Morozenko, Gontarenko, Sidorenko, but call signs are not given.

In addition, recruits could not be sent to the front lines three to four days after receiving draft notices, as stated in the video. After mobilization, all recruits undergo military training at training grounds, which can take several weeks. Also, the video does not indicate the name of the military unit where these soldiers served; there are no chevrons or other special signs. The date and location of the shooting remain unclear. Instead of grass, typical of May in Ukraine, it is clear that the video was filmed in early spring, but for some reason was published only now.

The video has a caption in Russian, “Valkyrie of Light”, and in the center of the frame is an empty vodka bottle, placed to discredit the Ukrainian army. It is unclear why the “real Ukrainian military man” who allegedly filmed this video did not remove the bottle. The video was distributed from an account that masquerades as Ukrainian, but regularly publishes Russian narratives about mobilization in Ukraine.

Propagandists spread fake news to undermine the mobilization campaign and discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Detector Media also refuted other fakes on this topic.

Propagandists are spreading information online that Russian troops have allegedly entered Vovchansk, Kharkiv region, and that heavy fighting continues in the city.

In fact, there is no officially confirmed information about the presence of Russian occupiers in Vovchansk. The head of the Vovchansk police department, Maksym Stetsyna, said that on the night of May 13, 2024, the Russians continued to fire at the border Vovchansk from different types of weapons. And he added that the situation in the city is difficult, evacuation is underway, but there are no street battles and no Russians there.

The purpose of this information dump is to sow panic among residents of the region, as well as to exaggerate the successes of the Russian army at the moment. We previously wrote about how the Russians are waging a disinformation campaign in Kharkiv.

Russian propaganda resources, as well as some foreign media, are disseminating information about the supposedly official decision of France to send its troops to Ukraine. Moreover, soldiers of the French Foreign Legion allegedly already arrived in Sloviansk to help the Ukrainian military.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this. The primary source of this information is an article in the Asia Times. Its author, former Pentagon official Stephen Brian, who had previously been caught “playing along” with Russian narratives, published a lot of pro-Russian materials on the social network Substack, from where Asia Times took them. In this article, Brian refers to information from Russian propaganda resources that published this fake news. In addition, information about the decision to send French troops to Ukraine has already been denied by the French Foreign Ministry. This was written on the official page of the department on the social network X: “Disinformation campaigns to support France in Ukraine are more active than ever. France did not send troops to Ukraine”.

Russian propaganda has indeed intensified the creation of fakes about French troops in Donbas, Ukrinform reports. The goal of this campaign is to strengthen anti-Western and mobilization sentiments among Russians. Previously, Detector Media analyzed the fake Russian propaganda that French troops were supposedly heading to Romania and then arriving in Ukraine.

Propagandists on social networks and media are disseminating information that one of the restaurants in Lutsk allegedly refused to host a memorial dinner for the widow of a Ukrainian military man. It was noted that the reason for this refusal was that the military man was from Kharkiv. When disseminating this news, Russian propaganda either referred to the story of the Ukrainian media - Channel 12, or did not indicate the original source at all.

StopFake specialists decided to check if this is true. They found out that the Channel 12 story, which propagandists refer to, states that the widow of a Ukrainian soldier, Ivanna Tsiukh, complained that a Lutsk restaurant refused to host her funeral dinner. According to her, having heard about the wake, representatives of the restaurant suggested holding it in the “gazebo” of the establishment, and not in the main room. In the story, Tsiukh expressed the opinion that the reason for the refusal was the mournful nature of the dinner, the holding of which, according to her, was contrary to the rules of the restaurant. However, the Ukrainian media story does not mention that the refusal was due to the fact that her husband was from Kharkiv.

StopFake specialists also found a video message from the military wife Ivanna Tsiukh about this incident on her Facebook page. In it, she tells a story similar to what she told Channel 12. However, even here she never remembers that the refusal was due to the fact that her husband had a connection with Kharkiv. There is also a message on the restaurant's official Facebook page in which they explain their refusal to Tsiukh by the fact that they do not have the opportunity to share the room.

Propagandists spread such disinformation to create the impression that Ukrainians despise their army and consider it criminal.

Propaganda spreads information that Ukrainians allegedly began to donate less and help volunteers and the military less. And also that Western foundations and organizations have completely stopped funding, as a result of which financial support for the treatment of the military has decreased. In addition to this, the ability to travel abroad to receive surgical services was allegedly limited. But all this is fake.

Vox Ukraine specialists drew attention to it. Based on the results of a survey conducted by Gradus Research on the second anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, there is a positive trend toward an increase in the frequency and regularity of citizens making donations. Data from Monobank, one of the leading banking services for collecting charitable contributions, confirms this positive trend. During 2023, support for charities and voluntary organizations has more than tripled compared to the first year of the full-scale invasion.

Data from the reports of the Come Back Alive foundation also refute this fake. Compared to 2022, the amount of donations in 2023 was slightly lower, but it is known that the average amount of donations in the second year of a full-scale invasion increased by more than 10%.

In this case, propagandists are trying to level out the support of Ukrainian citizens and contribute to the destabilization of society by reflecting false opinions. They describe the situation in such a way as to provoke a pessimistic attitude towards assistance to the Ukrainian military and dramatize the economic situation of citizens.

Russian clinical psychologist Svitlana Kolobova stated that according to official data from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, currently 30% of military personnel at the front suffer from various mental illnesses. She also noted that such estimates may be underestimated, and Ukrainian experts allegedly do not disclose how they identified these psychological problems in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russian propagandist Volodymyr Soloviov conveyed these statements to himself. However, these statements are unreliable.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to them. There are no data or studies confirming such statistics on the official websites of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and on social networks. The Public Health Center or the National Health Service of Ukraine have also not released any information on this matter.

So far, only statistics are available on the number of military personnel who may face mental disorders in the future, but these data were not made public by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, but by foreign and Ukrainian specialists. For example, in the report “Scars on their souls: PTSD and veterans of Ukraine”, experts from the international analytical center Globsec noted that during the ATO and Joint Forces Operation, about 25% of cases of combat stress turned into PTSD of varying severity, and from 20 to 30% of military personnel. those who received psychological trauma during hostilities were unable to solve them without the help of a specialist. According to these data, the real number of cases of PTSD in Ukraine may be more than 20%.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian Armed Forces. They say they don’t pay attention to this problem, which is becoming increasingly widespread. Russian propaganda stigmatizes the issue of mental health and tries to intimidate the local population.

Propagandists began disseminating information in the media and social networks that a Ukrainian military man was allegedly injured during a training session to drop ammunition from a UAV. As “evidence”, they add a video of a man in military uniform dropping a grenade from a drone, which allegedly explodes near him. However, this is fake.

Analyzing the distributed video, StopFake specialists noticed that the “explosion” looked unnatural. The moment of detonation is not visible on the recording. The image of an explosion suddenly appears and immediately blocks out what is happening on the screen. In the video editing program Adobe Premiere Pro, one can see that the “explosion” overlaps the original video in one hundredth of a second.

Such a sudden change in frames suggests that the video has been edited. StopFake analysts began looking for similar “explosions” on the Internet. It turned out that this is a very popular effect that can be applied to any video. For example, on Instagram it is called Explosion. Fact-checkers created a similar video of the explosion and also divided it into frames in Adobe Premiere Pro. The frozen footage taken overnight from this effect and the fake video indicates that this is one and the same “explosion”.

It seems that propagandists added an “explosion” to the video of the military man or passed off someone’s joke as reality to discredit the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This video fake began to spread not only in the Russian segment of the Internet, but also in different languages of the world. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes of Russian propaganda against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that a drug courier was detained in Kharkiv, he was allegedly involved in supplying some prohibited substances to the military of the 113th separate territorial defense brigade.

In fact, this information is fake. Propagandists took as its basis a publication from the page of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, dated April 25, 2024. It talks about a man who, back in 2021, was exposed with 200 bundles and five transparent plastic bags containing a psychotropic substance. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that propagandists have spread misinformation regarding the 113th separate territorial defense brigade. Systematic fakes about the military of this brigade indicate that it does its job efficiently, protecting the state.

The Russians are trying to discredit the brigade in various ways. This time it is due to the imposition of the image of “drug addicts” on the military. In general, the goal of this information campaign is to sow despondency and panic among both the brigade fighters and the civilian population of the Kharkov region, which they protect, the Center adds.

Previously, we refuted information that officers of the 121st battalion of the 113th separate territorial defense brigade allegedly beat an elderly man because of his reluctance to leave his home.

In the Russian segment of social networks they add that in Ukraine they do not sell medicines without a reference from Territorial centers of procurement and social support. In their publications, the authors refer to the so-called new norms of the law on mobilization. It's a lie.

VoxCheck analysts write that the law signed on April 16, 2024 does not refer to restrictions on the purchase of goods, including medicines, without presenting military registration documents or updating data at Territorial centers of procurement and social support.

That is, in the law on mobilization there is no information that men will not be able to purchase medications at a pharmacy without a reference from the Territorial centers of procurement and social support. VoxCheck specialists asked the largest pharmacies in Ukraine whether they really do not sell medicines without such a certificate. The Podorozhnyk pharmacy chain responded that they act in accordance with current legislation, that is, they provide medicines to everyone in need. So the Russians’ statements are just part of the Kremlin’s disinformation campaign to intimidate Ukrainians and discredit the healthcare system in Ukraine.

A video is being circulated on social networks in which an unknown man complains that the Ukrainian military is allegedly being fed chaff bread. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the Beyond the News project drew attention to it. They argue that this story looks like a provocation aimed at demoralizing Ukrainians. Their post notes that the bread shown in the video was actually made before the video was made. There is also no evidence that the person in the video is a military man, since no signs (such as chevrons) are shown to indicate this.

This video is being distributed from the page “Everything will be Ukraine”, which, at first glance, looks patriotic, but in reality is filled with low-grade content. In one day, dozens of videos are published on this page, mostly from TikTok, dedicated to humor, life during the war, and the everyday life of displaced people. Among this “light” content, themes of corruption, mobilization and reflections of pseudo-experts on the situation in the country also penetrate. These videos, although they do not repeat a pro-Russian position, do contribute to Russian propaganda.

Such “patriotic” communities with emotional and clickbait content gather around people who are guided not by facts, but by emotions and are easy to manipulate. These communities actively spread unverified information, even rumors and panic. At the same time, they are sincerely confident that they are helping and spreading the “hidden truth”. In the specific case of the bread, many viewers questioned the veracity of the video, expressing doubts and making arguments, but often faced hostility and accusations of indifference towards the military. Thus, such “patriotic” communities, instead of disseminating reliable information, disseminate dubious materials that can undermine confidence in the army and cause negative emotions among citizens.

Social networks report that in Lviv they detained military personnel from the 103rd Territorial Defense Forces brigade who robbed a bank and tried to flee abroad. The motive for their actions seemed to be “reluctance to return to the front”. It's a lie.

VoxCheck analysts took up the case and explained that the Lviv region police confirmed that the detainees had nothing to do with the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

On March 25, 2024, the patrol police of the Lviv region actually reported the arrest of alleged bank robbers. However, the robbers have nothing to do with the military.

This was noted by the Lviv Region Patrol Police in a statement: “We note that people have nothing to do with the military, except for elements of clothing”.

Propagandists are distributing supposedly real correspondence between the wives of military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on anonymous telegram channels. These reports claim that the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is allegedly hiding real losses among the military and evading payments to the families of the victims. This information is false.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that this “correspondence” is distributed only by Russian and pro-Russian telegram channels. Message texts are formal in nature.

From the photographs it is clear that messages were sent at regular one-minute intervals, regardless of the length of the text. It is unlikely that a woman who had just learned of the death of her husband could so accurately observe these intervals in her answers.

The messages also incorrectly use the name Artem. First, one of the wives calls her husband by this name, then uses the shortened form “Tema” whereas in Ukrainian it would be “Tioma”, and in Russian it would be “Tiema”. Thus, it can be assumed that the text was incorrectly translated from Russian.

The texts of this correspondence are filled with Russian stereotypes about large losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, lack of payments, incompetence of command and calls for the murder of commanders. In fact, the losses of the Ukrainian side are much less than what is covered in the Russian media. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi mentioned the number of deaths - 31 thousand over two years of a full-scale invasion.

Propagandists spread such fake news to discredit the Ukrainian armed forces.  Detector Media refuted other similar fakes created against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Anonymous Telegram channels spread information that the Ukrainian military beat a NATO instructor for refusing to speak Ukrainian. The incident happened in Denmark during pilot training. This is a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts took up this case and found out that it was a fictional news story published on a satirical channel.

Neither Ukrainian nor foreign media wrote about such an event. The primary source of the fabricated news is the satirical telegram channel “Empire of the Very Evil”. The description of the channel states: “Caution, possible fake and harsh satire. All written is fiction, all coincidences are accidental”.

Pro-Kremlin mass media spread information that France is allegedly threatened by an epidemic of tuberculosis, because it “was detected in Ukrainian military personnel sent to France for treatment”. According to propagandists, the infection was found in 85% of military personnel and at least 35 doctors who came into contact with them. In asserting this, Russian propaganda refers to the French radio station RFI.

In fact, this “news” is fake, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. Radio France Internationale itself has already denied the information about “tuberculosis in the Ukrainian military”. They emphasized that their editorial office was subject to a coordinated information attack.

With this fake, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit the Ukrainian military and make the French hostile to them, to Ukrainian refugees, and to Ukraine in general. By the way, propagandists systematically spread misinformation about Ukrainian refugees in their host countries. So, for example, we have already refuted the information about “Ukrainian refugee women in Germany who started giving birth to children by Turks in order to obtain citizenship”. Another case is the refutation of the “news” that allegedly “a Ukrainian refugee in Germany painted Nazi symbols on residential buildings - 14/88”.

Information that French troops are being sent to Romania to confront the Russian army in Ukraine is actively spreading online. It is noted that they will be in Odesa. However, this information is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to this. They found out that such information first appeared on the FranceNews24 news portal on the X network, but was then deleted because it turned out to be false. It should be noted that this resource is not a reliable source of information as it does not have contact information or details of the owners or editorial team. He is also noted for publishing only pro-Russian materials.

Rumors about the deployment of French troops in Odesa circulated amid statements by President Macron about possible military assistance to Ukraine. However, even if this happens, military intervention requires permission from the relevant authorities, and in this case, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It should also be noted that France has already stationed its troops in Romania as part of strengthening NATO's eastern flank.

Propagandists spread such fake news to intimidate the local population and discredit Western partners. Detector Media has already written about how Russian propaganda reacted to Macron’s recent statements.

A video recording of the moment of the explosion of a trench candle, which was allegedly handed over to the Ukrainian military by volunteers from Mykolaiv, is being distributed online on behalf of the Ukrainian volunteer telegram channel. In the text to the video they write that the soldiers almost died. Therefore, the volunteers are suspected of a “planned action” that was intended to harm Ukrainian fighters.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council analyzed the video and found out the source of distribution. As a result, the Center stated that this is an “orchestrated Russian IPSO”, the purpose of which is to discredit Ukrainian volunteers in the eyes of the people of Ukraine, including military personnel, and undermine confidence in them.

The volunteer movement in Ukraine is a powerful component of the fight against the occupiers, so Russia is trying to disgrace it in various ways, in particular through the dissemination of edited videos, fake articles and news. Previously, we refuted the information that the Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, and at the same time a draft notice as an invitation to “serve” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.