The Russian media report it concerning the press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova. The missiles allegedly destroyed the warehouse of Harpoon anti-ship missiles provided by the USA and knocked out the production facilities of the Ukrainian warship repair enterprise and the warship. It is not true.

On July 22, in Istanbul, Ukraine, Turkey, the UN signed an agreement concerning unblocking ports and exporting Ukrainian grain. Russia signed a mirror agreement with Turkey and the UN. All parties have undertaken obligations on the world stage to ensure the safe movement of Ukrainian grain and related products to world markets.

The next day, July 23, the Russian army hit the port of Odesa, where grain intended for export was located, with four Kalibr missiles. Anti-aircraft defense forces shot down two missiles. Two rockets hit the infrastructure of the port - the pumping station. The shock wave damaged the houses around the port. The grain storage itself was not hit.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the strikes by the Russian military on the Ukrainian port in Odesa.

After the missile strike, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar noted that he had spoken with the Russian side. They told him they were allegedly not involved in the missile strike and were "investigating the issue."

Meanwhile, on July 23, anonymous Telegram channels were already spreading different versions of the causes and consequences of the attack on the port in Odesa:

1) if Russia has nothing to do with the attack, then it may be that the Armed Forces of Ukraine themselves loaded the planes with anti-aircraft missiles for provocation;

2) it flew over the Zavodska harbor, where there are Ukrainian military boats, not grain;

3) Ukrainian military air defenses were stationed in the port - this was the target of the shelling, so "the topic of grain can be closed." Russia has never once admitted its crime, but every time it invents fakes, why does it massively hit Ukraine with missiles.

It was said by the European Police Office (Europol) spokesman, Jaap Op Gen Oort. His comment was spread by German, Ukrainian, Russian, and other mass media. According to the spokesman, investigators from EU countries have found "signs of trade in heavy military weapons" on the black market and "a risk that the weapons will end up in the hands of organized criminals or terrorists." His statement caused a significant response.

A few hours after the information "dump," Europol clarified that they were discussing a potential threat and not specific cases. "Europol works closely with Ukrainian officials to reduce the threat of arms sales to the European Union. We have full confidence in them as they implement new measures to monitor and trace these firearms," ​​Europol said in a statement.

According to Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Mary Hakobyan, information about the potential risks of arms smuggling from Ukraine against the background of the war may be a fact of dishonesty or unprofessionalism of the media or deliberate action of the Russian special services.

The British Daily Mail published a story about armed migrants entering Great Britain through the English Channel. The Center for Combating Disinformation draws attention to the fact that the Kremlin media referred to this material, although there is no mention of Ukrainians. The Russian mass media added the assumption that due to the increase in the supply of weapons to Ukraine, Great Britain would have to face armed Ukrainian refugees in the future.

The purpose of such a message, according to the conclusion of the CPD, is to create the impression that helping Ukraine with weapons will threaten the security of allied countries. The official position of Great Britain to support Ukraine remains unchanged, as does Russian propaganda on the British front. In particular, messages about fatigue from Ukraine and Zelensky are spreading on social networks.

The Russian media report it concerning the reports of politicians. They said that the Russian army has nothing to do with the destruction of cultural objects - historical buildings are deliberately destroyed by Ukrainians themselves with "Western weapons." It is not true.

Ukraine's UNESCO experts and international partners recorded Russian attacks on 160 cultural objects: 72 religious objects, 12 museums, 32 historical buildings, 24 buildings for cultural events, 17 monuments, and 7 libraries. The occupiers also destroyed 2,100 buildings of educational institutions in Ukraine. Three-quarters of destroyed cultural objects are located in Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Kyiv regions. However, there is destruction all over the country. The Russians are looting museum exhibits and other cultural values in the temporarily occupied territories. According to the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, the number of destroyed objects has increased to three hundred. The fact of the destruction of Ukrainian cultural values ​​by the Russians was confirmed by the UN Security Council during a special meeting, "Destruction of cultural heritage as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine," the holding of which was supported by 38 UN member states. Other international organizations recognized the destruction and promised Ukraine to help overcome the war's consequences. StopFake writes about this in more detail.

Russia, on the other hand, continues its tactics of denying deliberate missile strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine. Moreover, Russian politicians accuse the West of hypocrisy, as they allegedly first provide weapons to destroy cultural heritage and then funds for its restoration. In this way, Russia is trying to avoid punishment for crimes committed in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Serhiy Lavrov said that due to the supply of long-range weapons to Ukraine, Russia changed the offensive's objectives on Ukrainian territories, expanded the geography of hostilities, and decided not to limit itself to the capture of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In particular, he mentioned HIMARS, saying that because of this weapon, Russia should "move away from the current line" of the front.

In fact, the fighting is currently taking place in those regions of Ukraine that the Russian military attacked back in February-March 2022, except for the Kyiv region. It's about Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions. Therefore, theses about the "expansion of geography" through HIMARS is a manipulation, which is part of the message that the supply of weapons by the West seems to indicate the desire of Western countries to "continue the war in Ukraine for their benefits." In this way, Russia tries to demonize the "collective West" and present itself in a "positive" context, saying that it is "defending itself, not attacking."    

Russian propagandists report this "success" concerning the Ministry of Defense of Russia. It is a fake.

HIMARS is an autonomous complex, and there is no transport and charging machine for it. "At first, the propagandists reported about the "destroyed HIMARS," and later explained that it was a Ukrainian military bath and laundry complex based on the ZIL-131," reports the Center for Combating Disinformation. According to the department, HIMARS became a significant demoralizing factor for the Russian military, showing high effectiveness on the battlefield. Therefore, propagandists try to discredit this type of weapon in every possible way.

Previously, the Russian media spread fakes that the Russian army allegedly destroyed two American HIMARS salvo fire systems. The propagandists are also convinced that the Ukrainian military allegedly refuses to use Western weapons because they are "ineffective."

The Russian propaganda media spread this message.

As the Center for Combating Disinformation writes, similar messages are being spread in the media space of Russia after the terrorist attack in Vinnytsia. The Center believes that the occupiers struck the city center, not by accident, and that these actions are revenge for the successful use of HIMARS surface-to-air missiles, due to which the Russians suffered losses along the entire front line. "The destruction of Russian weapons depots, oil depots, and disruption of their logistics routes caused panic in the ranks of the Russian army. Because of this, the enemy resorted to terror tactics to cause a riot in Ukraine, which would force the leadership of our country to sign "peace" on the terms of the Russians. Moreover, Russian propaganda uses methods of intimidation and blackmail to stop the supply of HIMARS surface-to-air missiles, as well as other heavy equipment," the Center reports. President Zelensky called on Ukraine's partners to recognize Russia as a "terrorist state" as soon as possible and to approve new sanctions against Russia after the attack on Vinnytsia.

Such a fake was spread by Russian propaganda. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security notes that reports of the release of heptyl began to apply after the enemy attack on "Pivdenmash" in the Dnipro. But all of them are fakes.

On July 15, in Dnipro, the Russians hit the Southern Machine-Building Plant and the street nearby with six rockets.

The Center for Strategic Communications said that the Russians could have caused the leak of heptyl and carried out a terrorist attack comparable in scale to a nuclear disaster.

However, even at the beginning of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, heptyl and its derivatives were urgently disposed of in Pivdenmash, the local ground defense headquarters reported.

"There was no leak. And rumors are spread by enemies to spread panic. Heptyl is a hazardous component of rocket fuel for humans," the Center said in a statement.

Such information is disseminated in social networks and on Russian Internet resources. However, many projects to test biological weapons in Ukraine were implemented in the interests of the Central Medical and Sanitary Service of the German Armed Forces. The information is disseminated concerning the chief of radiation, chemical, and biological defense forces of the Russian army Igor Kirilov. He says that allegedly German specialists in Ukraine paid attention to the causative agent of Congo-Crimean fever and conducted screening for the sensitivity of residents to this infection. It is not valid.

The press service of the Bundeswehr denied the information in response to the request of the StopFake fact-checkers. The agency reported that it is probably the Ukrainian-German Biosafety Initiative aimed at controlling the risks of zoonotic diseases near the EU's external border. However, this project did not conduct any research related to biological weapons. In addition, similar projects have been implemented in Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tunisia, and five other African countries. Moreover, representatives of the German agency said that a German-Ukrainian cooperation project has been implemented in Kharkiv since 2016 due to the danger of the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in the temporarily occupied territories of eastern Ukraine. This project has nothing to do with the development of biological weapons.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fake messages about the work of biolaboratories and the development of biological weapons on the territory of Ukraine, allegedly to harm Russia. Such statements do not correspond to reality and are used by propagandists to justify a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. More details.

The Russian mass media spread the fake of the Ministry of Defense of Russia that allegedly, "in the laboratories of the Pentagon" in Ukraine, Ukrainian soldiers were subjected to "experiments on the assessment of the transfer of infectious diseases." The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation stated that "every third of the recently captured Ukrainian servicemen has hepatitis A, and a fifth has West Nile fever." It indicates that "servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine volunteered for experiments" at the Pentagon.

This fake is another in a series of fictions of Russian propaganda about non-existent laboratories for developing biological weapons in Ukraine. Earlier, they stated about "insects and birds" that supposedly had to infect Russians (still impossible, since there is no difference between Russians and non-Russians for bacteria and viruses). Moreover, they wrote about medical experiments in the same defunct laboratories on people with mental illnesses. Now they spread a fake about experiments on the military.

In fact, there is no single refutation of these fictions - there are too many of them. For example, it is unknown why experiment with the hepatitis A virus since this disease is well studied. There is a vaccine against it; it is well treated and cannot be used for military purposes. It is transmitted only through contaminated water or, in some cases, sexual intercourse. Even if a soldier gets hepatitis A, he will not be able to infect the enemy with it. Moreover, West Nile fever is not transmitted from person to person at all - insects spread the pathogen, although a disease from which almost 5% of those who get sick die.

Finally, it follows from the reports of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation that the Russians test every Ukrainian prisoner of war for dozens of diseases, including those rarely recorded in Ukraine, such as West Nile fever. On the other hand, it is known that Ukrainian prisoners do not receive the necessary medical care, not to mention elaborate complex tests.

The Russian mass media is spreading the fake news that during the military operations in Donbas, the Ukrainian military uses homemade mines with construction debris, which cause gangrene when wounded. This fake was spread by RIA Novosti, MK, Gazeta.ru, Vzglyad, Lenta.ru, Tsargrad, and others, referring to a representative of the LPR terrorist group, who spoke about the "socks" in which construction waste was placed, including pieces of concrete and glass, as well as TNT shrapnel and a charge to "infect a person with gangrene."

In fact, many self-made devices can cause gangrene in a person whom doctors did not help after an injury because gangrene is the death of tissues due to either a bacterial infection or a violation of blood circulation in an organ. There is also no evidence that the Ukrainian military uses improvised explosive devices.

Russian propaganda media, referring to the statement of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, reported that they destroyed two new HIMARS surface-to-air missiles, which were provided to Ukraine by the United States. It is another fake, which was refuted by both Ukrainian state authorities and American partners.

"It is a Russian fake. Perhaps the information we have HIMARS has led to panic and increased fear in Russian society. Therefore, they were advised to provide such information. This is work for their internal information market," said Deputy Defense Minister of Ukraine Hanna Malyar.

The United Forces of Ukraine also called Russian reports about the "destruction" of HIMARS a fake that does not correspond to reality. On July 8, representatives of the Pentagon separately emphasized that the United States sees the use of each of the installations provided to Ukraine, and all complexes are taken into account. The Pentagon confirmed that Russian reports about the destruction of HIMARS are false.

Read more about the refutation of the Russian fake about HIMARS here.

Russian and Georgian media spread the information that at the crash site of the Ukrainian helicopter, they found an HGU-56/P ABH helmet used by pilots of NATO member countries and the US Armed Forces, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not have them. At the same time, Russian propagandists are distributing photos of the helmet and saying that it indicates the participation in the war of current or former NATO service members.

Fact-checkers at Mythdetector have reported that this information is false. They said the helmet manufacturer Gentex Corporation first published the photos. In this post, the company wrote that the pictures were sent to them by the Air Force of Ukraine as a sign of gratitude for the fact that the helmet saved their lives. It is not the first time that Kremlin propaganda has tried to prove that NATO troops are participating in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

The Russian mass media report it concerning the Ministry of Defense of Russia. Allegedly, scientists from the University of Texas studied ticks in the territory of Ukraine, and the study coincided with a sharp increase in the number of ticks in the Russian regions bordering Ukraine and an increase in the number of cases of borreliosis (Lyme disease). It is a fake. Since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, the Russians have repeatedly claimed that the United States has created laboratories for the development of biological weapons. This topic became the most common in Russian propaganda. As the Polish publication Wiadomosti writes, the study of Lyme disease was published in the journal BMJ Global Health. For the publication, scientists analyzed the results of 137 studies conducted until 2021 with the participation of almost 160,000 people. The researchers obtained statistics on immunity against Lyme bacteria in Eastern Europe, Eastern Asia, Western Europe, and the Caribbean. The research was conducted in many countries, but only the Russians claimed they were trying to harm them. Russia is again manipulating information to confirm fabricated theses about American biolaboratories in Ukraine, which allegedly became one of the reasons for the invasion of Ukraine.

The Russian propaganda media spread such messages concerning The New York Times materials. They said that the capacity of the USA and Europe to provide Ukraine with weapons is already running out. But it is not so.

Experts whose opinions are given in The New York Times talk about the need to consolidate the West's efforts to help Ukraine and speed up the pace of providing heavy weapons as part of military aid. In particular, it is said that the US defense industry is currently working for the needs of Ukraine, and President Joe Biden is negotiating with the countries of the Middle East to provide Ukraine with stocks of Soviet-made weapons. According to the Center for Combating Disinformation, Russian media reports about the lack of weapons among Ukraine's allies are aimed at destabilizing the situation inside our country. Russian propaganda systematically uses out-of-context or distorted quotes from Western media to convince Ukrainians that the world has left Ukraine to fend for itself and that without Western aid, Ukraine will not be able to withstand such a "strong adversary."

Such a message was published on the pro-Russian Telegram channel Legitymnyy. Serhii Prytula, for example, started collecting funds for nuclear weapons but did not realize the consequences of his actions. But it is a fake.

The Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation never claimed to be raising funds for nuclear weapons. More detailed information about the Fund's main work areas can be found on its website. The fact that Prytula can raise funds for any needs of the Ukrainian army joked on social networks after the record collection of over 600 million hryvnias for the purchase of Turkish drones "Bayraktar." Among other things, users of social networks assumed that the next collection would be opened to purchase nuclear weapons. However, it is impossible to implement. In October 1991, Ukraine adopted the Declaration on Nuclear-Free Status, and in 1994 it finally declared it. Therefore, neither the state of Ukraine nor its citizens can "buy" and use nuclear weapons at will. More details.

Pro-Kremlin mass media and social networks reported that the Indian edition of The Economic Times wrote that Western weapons supplied to Ukraine by allied countries will not help it win the war with Russia. The Russian media also reported that the Armed Forces might repeat the fate of the Afghan army: get large amounts of resources but ultimately be defeated. Propagandists also hint that there are fewer and fewer personnel in the Ukrainian military, and morale is significantly falling because the mobilized soldiers practically do not resist the Russian military. However, all this is not true.

As VoxCheck writes, The Economic Times reported problems with developing Western weapons but did not say that Ukraine would repeat the fate of Afghanistan. There is no resource that purports to be an article from The Economic Times that cites the original material. More details.

Russian propaganda media spread information that French self-propelled guns, which Ukraine received as military aid, were sold to the Russian army by the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for nothing. All propagandist media refer to the publication Bulgarian Military, which claims that "French and Ukrainian [from Donbas] sources assure that in the hands of the Russian army, and more precisely in the production workshops of the Russian manufacturer Uralvagonzavod, there are two 155 mm Caesar self-propelled howitzers, donated by France to Ukraine as military aid against the Russian invasion on February 24."

It is alleged that Ukrainians sold two Caesar self-propelled howitzers through an intermediary for $120,000 each. However, as The Insider writes, there is no evidence that the French self-propelled guns were sold to the Russians. The publication Bulgarian Military, which did not write about it, cites only the comments of experts, particularly a lawyer, who claims, referring to his own observations, that the Ukrainian military sold self-propelled guns to the Russians. Since no proper evidence has been found, such facts cannot be believed for sure; it is only assumption. More details.    

The information that the Russian army captured a trophy German howitzer was spread by Kremlin propaganda media. In materials, they allegedly refer to the publication of the German magazine Bild. Propaganda media reports that the howitzer had reportedly been damaged by a trophy German grenade launcher, which the Armed Forces of Ukraine also received from Germany. However, it is not true.

According to the fact-checkers from StopFake, the Bild publication did not publish the information that the Russian Armed Forces allegedly took possession of the German PzH 2000 howitzer, which was previously given to Germany as military aid to Ukraine. Also, the German publication Welt journalists could not find any confirmation of the information distributed on the network. Also, the Russian side did not provide any photo or video evidence that this self-propelled gun ended up in their military's hands. More details.

Russian mass media, referring to the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin, spread manipulative articles that "200 tactical nuclear munitions of the USA are stationed" in Europe, which "pose a threat" to Russia and Belarus. It is stated that Russia and Belarus are "obliged to ensure their security in this regard." The materials also shift the blame for Russia's aggressive policy to the North Atlantic Alliance: "The current crisis was provoked by the NATO countries that declared themselves a nuclear alliance."

According to the StopFake fact-checkers, Russian President Vladimir Putin resorted to manipulating facts, declaring the "threat" of a nuclear attack by NATO countries. Unlike senior Kremlin officials, NATO has never threatened Russia with the launch of warheads. For example, in May 2022, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmytro Medvedev, announced the "possibility of the conflict with NATO turning into a nuclear war." On June 12, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, directly threatened a nuclear strike on Poland.

Without further context, Putin's statement of 200 tactical nuclear warheads stored in Europe can seem threatening. However, the Russian president, thinking about the "security" of his country, deliberately did not say how many similar warheads are in Russia's arsenal. According to NATO analysts, Russia's tactical nuclear arsenal exceeds the US stockpiles in Europe by about ten times. According to the estimates of NATO experts, as of 2020, there are 1,500 to 2,000 nuclear warheads in Russian storage facilities, compared to 150-200 American free-fall bombs, which are in special storage facilities in Europe.    

It was stated by the French politician Regis Castello in Telegram and the Russian plant "Uralvagonzavod," which in the comments asked to convey "thanks to President Macron." The Russian mass media spread these comments. The General Staff of the French Armed Forces called this information fake. "This information is false. We categorically reject it. We discussed this with our Ukrainian partner," the General Staff said.

As reported in the Strategic Communications Department of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the source of information about the capture of the SPA was named as a little-known French politician (probably a member of the Communist Party of France, an opponent of the current president of this country) Regis Castello.

He does not provide any confirmation or evidence but only refers to a comment on his Telegram channel, which representatives of the Russian plant allegedly left.

"This is proof that the supply of weapons to Ukraine is a strong blow to our enemy, and he is trying to sow distrust in the Armed Forces among the French and create the impression that it is useless to send weapons to our country," the message emphasizes.

Anonymous pro-Kremlin Telegram channels spread such rumors. The Western partners demand that Ukraine not transfer their weapons to the front, but this does not apply to the Western decommissioned, old Soviet equipment that is transferred.

They announced this demand behind the scenes after the information that the Russians had captured the French Caesar's self-propelled guns. The report does not provide any proof; it is written that there are "rumors" about it. Recently, Russian propaganda often turned to foreign weapons in Ukraine. If earlier Vladimir Putin repeatedly said only that the West and the USA had "stuffed" Ukraine with weapons, then later the Russians launched a series of accusations: the "black market" of weapons flourishes in Ukraine, while foreign weapons "are by no means suitable for a major land war" and is not designed for intensive long-term work, and even more so for frequent long marches on broken roads and off-road. So, the Ukrainian military leaves weapons depots when withdrawing from positions.

This news should be read "between the lines" and understand that the Russian army is waiting with horror for foreign weapons to arrive at the Armed Forces of Ukraine; they are afraid of them and try in every way to sow discord so that Western partners and volunteers doubt the feasibility of helping Ukraine.

Anonymous pro-Russian Telegram channels distribute information with such a message. Their authors are convinced that if the West prolongs the supply of weapons to Ukraine, it will start using them to attack Russia.

However, representatives of the Ukrainian authorities have already repeatedly explained that Ukraine uses weapons provided by allied countries exclusively for self-defense - to fight off the enemy that attacks our territory and protect its sovereignty. In particular, the head of the German Ministry of Defense, Christine Lambrecht, said about the non-use of weapons in the attack on Russia: "We did not need to demand this from the Ukrainians; they clearly stated it. We are confident that Ukraine will use weapons only for defense."

Ukraine is a peaceful country and does not attack other countries; in the case of a Russian-Ukrainian war, it only defends itself. Therefore, weapons are needed precisely for defense. However, using such a message, Russian propaganda wants to convince our Western partners that giving weapons to Ukraine can be dangerous. It is beneficial for Russia that its partner countries do not provide Ukraine with weapons for defense.

The Russian media spread fake information that the permanent representative of the US to NATO, Julian Smith, allegedly stated that there were difficulties in providing military aid to Ukraine because many countries had already allegedly "given almost everything they had."

Russian propagandists have launched a spam mailing in the Telegram about the mass betrayal in Sievierodonetsk. According to the press service of the National Guard, there are reports in the network that the bridges in Sievierodonetsk were allegedly blown up by the Ukrainian command so that the fighters could not get out of Azot.

Another manipulative report states that the Ukrainian victims were allegedly thrown into the field or taken to the morgues of the Dnipro and Mykolayiv and then buried in these cities.

The National Guard emphasizes that in this way, Russia continues to carry out information and psychological operations to cause panic in society.