Spilnota Detector Media

Fake Fake about the mobilization of 1000 students of Taras Shevchenko national university of Kyiv

Russian telegram channels are distributing a photo of a “document” from the Taras Shevchenko national university of Kyiv on “exemption from training of 1000 students in connection with their conscription for military service during mobilization”. In addition, the relevant document states that the reason for such an order was an appeal from representatives of the SBU, as well as the Shevchenko district territorial center of procurement and social support.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council undertook to analyze this information. They found out that in fact the photo of the “document” is just another photoshop of Russian propagandists.

Firstly, the execution of the document does not meet the legal requirements for the execution of organizational and administrative documents.

Secondly, the numbering of the order does not correspond to the numbering that is used to register orders of the National National Institution, which are posted in the public domain.

After all, the fictitious document contains many spelling errors, which also indicate its falsity.

This fake appeared as part of a large-scale propaganda campaign to discredit mobilization in Ukraine. Propagandists speculate on a sensitive topic for many Ukrainians and resort to such fabrications that are intended to demoralize, mislead and intimidate society. Previously, we refuted information that Zelenskyi allegedly mobilizes minors.

Fake Ukrainian Nazis are allegedly preparing young Ukrainians to fight in specialized camps

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that Kyiv has allegedly begun to prepare young men for confrontation with Russian troops during the upcoming defense in the Sumy direction. According to propagandists, “young men will have to form partisan movements and begin sabotage”. In addition, Russian propaganda says that Kyiv has allegedly already begun to use such a detachment in one of the directions. And as a result, a sixteen-year-old Ukrainian medic of the 1st Infantry Battalion of the 67th DUK Mechanized Infantry Brigade with the call sign “Troy” allegedly died.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council denied this information. In fact, the statement about the training of “young Ukrainian partisans” to fight the Russians is an invention of Russian propagandists that does not correspond to reality. There is also fake information about the death of a Ukrainian combat medic precisely as a result of the partisan movement again. Unfortunately, Anastasia Marianchuk with the call sign “Troy” actually died on March 18, 2024, but from enemy shelling, and not because she joined one of the so-called “detachments”. In addition, she was not 16, but 22 years old.

This fake nourishes the propaganda narrative that Nazism rules in Ukraine, so the country needs to be “denazified”. However, this is only one of the justifications for unprovoked Russian aggression. In the end, propagandists seek to demonize both the Ukrainian authorities and the Ukrainian Armed Forces, since they have allegedly already begun to involve children in physical confrontation with Russia. Previously, we refuted the information that in Kyiv they allegedly distribute “propaganda” to women, elderly people and children so that they could be mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Manipulation An American senator allegedly called on Ukraine to mobilize citizens under 25 years of age

Russian resources disseminate information that during his visit to Kyiv on March 18, 2024, American Senator Lindsey Graham insisted on the mobilization of Ukrainians who are not even 25 years old. In asserting this, Russian propagandists refer to an article by The Washington Post.

In fact, this information is distorted, write the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Russian propagandists have twisted Graham's words, which originally appeared in The Washington Post: “I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I can’t believe it’s at 27. You’re in a fight for your life, so you should be serving — not at 25 or 27.” That is, the American senator did not call on Ukraine to mobilize those who are not even 25. He only said that in such an existential war it is not necessary to wait until the age of 27 (current conscription age).

This is not the first time that propagandists have had difficulty translating Graham's statements. For example, in May 2023, Russian propaganda attributed to the senator the words that supposedly “the deaths of Russians are the result of a successful investment of money by the American authorities”. However, these words turned out to be nothing more than manipulation.

Fake Ukraine allegedly intends to mobilize all childless women

Russian propagandists claim that Ukraine intends to mobilize three million childless women. “It seems that Ukraine has taken the path of self-destruction”, comments Russian propaganda, manipulating new material from TEXTY.org.ua, where journalists are trying to calculate the country’s mobilization reserve. “War until the last Ukrainian. The only hope is that Russia will win faster than a drug addict can destroy the entire country”, say social media users. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that at the moment there are no plans for large-scale mobilization of women in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said at a conference in December 2023 that there would be no mobilization of women in the country during martial law. Military registration of women applies only to persons who have received education in medical and pharmaceutical specialties, but they can serve only at their own request. The analysis of TEXTY journalists also does not indicate the plans of the Ukrainian authorities to mobilize women.

Russian propaganda systematically uses the topic of mobilization in Ukraine to spread disinformation, convincing that the Ukrainian authorities intend to “fight until the last Ukrainian”, and due to large losses they are already recruiting women, pensioners and minors into the army. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted such fakes.

Fake In the Odesa region, a minibus allegedly overturned while the Territorial center of procurement and social support was trying to catch up

Propagandists in anonymous telegram channels are spreading another “shock news”: allegedly in the Odesa region, a Territorial center of procurement and social support car tried to catch up and stop a minibus, which led to a fatal accident for four people. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the propagandists took information about an accident that actually occurred in the Dnipropetrovsk region and came up with information about the Territorial center of procurement and social support car.

This story is being spread in the context of Russia’s disinformation narrative that the mobilization throughout Ukraine is accompanied by constant violations of human rights, Ukrainians are refusing to serve en masse, and the government is ready to “force everyone to serve” in order to continue the war. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes within this narrative.

Manipulation ABC News allegedly reported that Ukraine is not releasing citizens of African countries and is mobilizing them by force

In mid-March 2024, Russian propagandists spread information that Ukraine was allegedly not releasing citizens of African countries and was “forcibly” mobilizing them for military operations. Like, this was reported by the American television channel ABC News, where a Congolese citizen allegedly claimed that he was offered to fight for Ukraine. However, this is manipulation.

After disseminating this information, StopFake decided to check whether a Congolese citizen really complained to an American TV channel that he was not being allowed out of Ukraine and was being “forced” to mobilize for military action. They found out that the news was false.

In the video distributed by Russian propaganda, the foreigner cannot be heard complaining that he is not allowed to leave Ukraine. At the beginning of the video, the voice of a TV presenter talks about a person from the Congo who claims that he was the target of discrimination when trying to board an evacuation train. What follows is the direct language of a foreigner who says that he was offered to fight for Ukraine. After his comment, the video ends. It is impossible to draw conclusions about why he was not released from the country and whether they really tried to “forcibly” mobilize him.

In this regard, StopFake tried to find this news on the American ABC News channel and reconsider whether there was perhaps additional context that could help understand this situation better. The video shows that the Congolese citizen's name is Pira Diantuadi. We managed to find an article about this man on the ABC News website. It turned out that it was published in the spring of 2022 and was dedicated to foreign refugees trying to leave Ukraine after the full-scale Russian invasion. The authors of the material tried to figure out whether there was discrimination on racial grounds during the evacuation from the country. In particular, Diantuadi complained that, despite promising to put only “women and children” on the evacuation train, he saw Ukrainian men being put on the evacuation train. The material is accompanied by an insert where Diantuadi talks about the proposal to fight for Ukraine, which the propagandists took advantage of. However, the material does not contain any conclusions that Ukraine tried to deliberately not let foreigners out of the country and “forcibly” mobilize them.

The ABC News article also noted that the interview with the Congolese citizen was conducted in Poland. The inscriptions in Polish in the background of the video confirm this. That is, the foreigner still managed to leave Ukraine at the beginning of the Russian invasion. Therefore, Russian propaganda tried to use the story of the “travel ban” and “forced” mobilization of foreign citizens in a new way, publishing an old video of a person in order to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of citizens of the countries of the South.

It should be added that according to Ukrainian legislation, foreigners cannot be mobilized. As the head of the personnel department of the headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Roman Horbach, explained in a comment to ArmyInform, a foreigner can only want this himself.

“According to the law, foreigners can be drafted into the Defense Forces. But they are not called up for mobilization, but are accepted for military service voluntarily under a contract in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, said Roman Horbach.

Fake Zelenskyi allegedly “announced” the signing of a decree on the deportation of Ukrainian men abroad

An alleged screenshot of a message from Volodymyr Zelenskyi on X (former Twitter) is being circulated online, in which he allegedly made a statement in English: “I will sign a decree that will require all Western countries to deport Ukrainian men living there back to Ukraine”. It is not true.

VoxCheck analysts investigated this case and found out that it was satirical news. The X page from which the message was distributed is a parody and does not belong to Zelenskyi. On the real Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s X page,  there is no such message.

In addition, the colors of the verification checkmarks for X are different in both accounts. Thus, since 2022, the accounts of politicians and government agencies have a gray check mark; Zelenskyi’s account has it in exactly this color. In the fake screenshot, it is blue, which is the color of the checkmark that users who have an X Premium subscription may have.

Fake Ukraine allegedly built an anti-tank ditch on its western borders to prevent Ukrainians from “escaping” to Europe

Photos of an anti-tank ditch are being circulated online; according to the authors of the publications, it was dug on the western borders of Ukraine. “This was done on the orders of dictator Zelenskyi so that Ukrainians would not run away to free democratic countries”, they comment on the message. However, this is a lie.

Analysts from the StopFake project took on the case and found that the photo actually shows an anti-tank ditch located in the Donbas and Luhansk regions. The photo of the ditch also shows military journalist Vlad Voloshyn; he published this photo on his Facebook on March 3, 2024. His message says that the photo was taken in March 2024 in one of the “hot destinations in Donbas”.

Moreover, he wrote that the ditch was built many years ago - and he saw it with his own eyes in 2016. That is, the construction does not in any way affect the western borders of Ukraine, because it is a propaganda fiction.

Read on Censor.NET: Ukraine “dug” a ditch on the border with Moldova to stop the flight of men from mobilization.

Fake The Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, and at the same time a draft notice and an invitation to “serve” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

A video is being circulated on social networks in the Russian segment in which a so-called Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received gratitude from the Ministry of Defense for his “active civic position and assistance to the army” - and in addition, he was “handed” a draft notice to the nearest Territorial center of recruitment and social support. In the messages, the authors of the fake conclude that in Ukraine you “shouldn’t” trust anyone, because they still want to mobilize a volunteer who decided to help of his own free will. However, just like the gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, the draft notice is fake.

The case was analyzed by VoxCheck specialists, who explained that the gratitude and the agenda do not comply with state design standards and contain various errors. For example, with regard to gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, in the special order “On departmental incentive awards” they give an example of a sketch of a “certificate”. It is different from the one in the fake video.

Moreover, in the text of gratitude itself there are many errors: in words “Vasylenko”, “heating means”, etc.

The situation with the draft notice is the same: instead of the current name of Kropyvnytskyi, the fake document used the old one - Kirovohrad. They also wrote a military commissariat, although there should be a territorial center for recruitment and social support.

That is, Russian propagandists wanted to show that in Ukraine they “use” people for their own purposes, for example, for widespread mobilization. In the message, the Kremlin’s minions convinced that the volunteer was doing something useful, helping the army, but the “evil Ukrainian authorities” decided to mobilize him anyway.

However, according to the law “On mobilization preparation and mobilization” and Article 23 of the legislative initiative, the status of a volunteer does not fall under the category of persons who may be exempt from mobilization. First of all, volunteer activity is a voluntary, socially oriented, non-profit activity that is performed by volunteers by providing volunteer assistance. In theory, a Ukrainian volunteer can be mobilized or served with a draft notice if there are specific grounds for this.

Fake The pensioner allegedly received a draft notice

Russian propagandists are spreading information that people of retirement age are being mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. To prove this, they refer to correspondence “between grandmother and granddaughter on Telegram”. The grandmother seems to be complaining that they brought her a draft notice to mobilize.

The VoxCheck project specialists looked into this information and found out that it was a fake.

Firstly, the mobilization of women in Ukraine is voluntary. Moreover, pensioners are not mobilized in Ukraine. During martial law in Ukraine, citizens liable for military service between the ages of 18 and 60 who are capable of performing military duties may be conscripted. At the same time, senior officers can, if they wish, serve in the army up to 65 years of age.

Secondly, the grandmother’s age exceeds the mobilization age limit. On the agenda in the correspondence one can see that the woman’s year of birth is 1950, so as of November 2023, the date of publication of the news, the woman was 72 or 73 years old. In addition, since 2014, not a single woman has been forcibly mobilized - Ukrainian women voluntarily joined the ranks of the Defense Forces.

So the correspondence on Telegram could have been forged. The words “grandchildren” in audio messages on Telegram sound in the Russian manner and with incorrect accents, in particular, in the words “creatures” and “come out”. Such correspondence can be created between any two people, whatever one wants to call them, and pass it off as a dialogue between relatives. The photo of the draft notice in the correspondence is of poor quality, so it is impossible to confirm the authenticity of the document.

• Read also: Dead man allegedly received a draft notice

Fake A battalion of Snow White girls is allegedly being created in Ukraine

Russian media and social network users are disseminating information that Ukraine has allegedly announced the formation of a women's battalion Snow White in the Chernihiv region. They say it will consist of girls from 16 to 30 years old. Such publications are accompanied by comments that in Ukraine there are not enough people to fight, so women are sent en masse to the front. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that in reality this was not about creating a women's battalion. Russian propagandists took photographs from a real event - training in the basics of using small arms, which was carried out by military personnel of the regional directorate of forces of the North territorial defense forces  for the local population of the Chernihiv region - and presented it in a completely different, false context. These trainings were indeed conducted by the 119th Troops Brigade, but not a single recruitment, as propagandists write about it, was carried out during the exercises. The purpose of the meeting was to prepare the population for national resistance, which includes the basics of tactical medicine, the rules of handling weapons and engineering training.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to arouse distrust of the Ukrainian population in the government and discredit the mobilization. Detector Media has previously refuted fakes about the mobilization process in Ukraine.

Fake The dead man allegedly received a draft notice

The social network TikTok is distributing a video in which a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly died during hostilities received a draft notice from the Territorial center of recruitment and social support. The video with the relevant documents was allegedly recorded by the close family of the deceased woman.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security claims that the video is fake and created by the Russians. This is evidenced by several factors.

Firstly, from the pronunciation one can hear that the Ukrainian language is foreign to a person, he makes a huge number of mistakes and has a specific accent.

Secondly, one senses inept acting – the woman is clearly overacting with negative emotions.

Thirdly, the draft notice states that the military man is an “ordinary” one, but there is no such rank in the Armed Forces of Ukraine; in Ukraine it is a “soldier”.

Fourth, the “documents” date back to May and June 2022, but the video appeared online on February 23, 2024—on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

It should be noted that in Ukraine there were indeed cases when people who had already died received draft notices. However, they are not associated with the “arbitrariness of the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support”, as propagandists claim, but with a certain confusion in the databases. For example, the district administration may not have informed the Territorial center of recruitment and social support about the death of a person, which is why it was on the agenda list.

This fake appeared as part of a large-scale propaganda campaign to discredit mobilization in Ukraine. Propagandists speculate on a sensitive topic for many Ukrainians and resort to such fabrications that are intended to demoralize, mislead and intimidate society. Previously, we refuted the information that Silpo’s receipts allegedly issued draft notices.

Fake Zelenskyi allegedly mobilizes minors

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that a female serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine born in 2006 died at the front. That is, at the time of her death she was not even 18 years old. As evidence, Russian propaganda uses a photo of the supposedly military badge of the “deceased woman”.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes that the badge in the photo is fake. Personal badges indicate the last name, first name and patronymic of the serviceman, his blood type, Rh factor, as well as a personal number assigned in accordance with his registration number. In addition, the name of the formation in which the soldier is serving is indicated on the badge. However, they never indicate the date of birth, much less the date of death, as on the “token” distributed by propagandists.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda seeks first of all to demonize Zelenskyi. Moreover, such rhetoric by Russians aims to cast doubt on the advisability of Ukraine to defend itself, because supposedly “the youngest are already going into battle”. After all, in Ukraine teenagers are not mobilized, and only citizens over the age of 18 are liable for military service.

• Read also: The first teenager from an orphanage mobilized into the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly died in the war

Fake Propagandists are distributing a video allegedly filmed by a Ukrainian volunteer about how the Ministry of Defense issued him a draft notice along with a gratitude letter

Propagandists are distributing a video on anonymous telegram channels where a Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received a gratitude letter and a draft notice to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Ministry of Defense. However, this is fake.

Fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the sample of a gratitude letter is clearly regulated, but the gratitude letter on the video has a completely different design and does not contain the necessary information about the order of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. In addition, the text of the gratitude letter  contains grammatical, spelling, punctuation and lexical errors, and there is no official seal on it.

Also, the draft notice in the video is drawn up with errors: it has an incorrect template and application number, the photo also lacks a draft notice number, the outdated name of the city is used, and also it contains grammatical errors and does not have a seal.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine.  Detector Media has previously refuted other Russian fakes regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

Fake In the Chernihiv region, young girls are allegedly being recruited into the Territorial Defense Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are disseminating information that the 119th separate territorial defense brigade in the Chernihiv region has allegedly begun recruiting into its ranks “girls aged 16 to 30 who will be deployed in frontline positions”. Claiming this, propagandists refer to a message from the official page of the 119th separate territorial defense brigade on the social network Facebook.

In fact, this information is not true. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this. The mentioned message talks about conducting classes with the civilian population, in particular, on the rules of handling weapons. It does not talk about recruiting girls to the 119th separate territorial defense brigade.

With this fake, Russian propaganda nourishes the message that “women, children and pensioners are about to be mobilized into the army”. However, according to the legislation of Ukraine, under martial law, men from 18 to 60 years old are considered liable for military service. In addition, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated on December 19, 2023 that he would not sign the law on conscription of women. Previously, we denied information that the Russian military allegedly captured a pregnant Ukrainian serviceman.

Fake In Odesa, a serviceman was allegedly detained for attempting to kill a “military commissar”

Such information is distributed by pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, the military wanted to take revenge on the “military commissar” (an employee of the Territorial center of procurement and social support), who forcibly mobilized him more than a year ago. The man allegedly remembered the identity of the one who sent him to his death, and all this time he lived with the goal of killing him. Returning home, the soldier allegedly tracked down an employee of the Territorial center of procurement and social support, but hesitated to blow him up with a grenade and was detained on the spot.

In fact, this information is not true. On February 20, 2024, a man in military uniform who threatened to detonate a grenade was actually detained at the Pryvoz market in Odesa. However, there is no confirmed information on the Internet that in this way he wanted to take revenge on the representative of the Territorial center of procurement and social support, who allegedly sent him to the front. This is nothing but an invention of Russian propaganda.

Thus, Russia once again discredits the mobilization process in Ukraine and uses this fake to nourish the message that “mobilized men will sooner or later start tracking down and killing Territorial centers of procurement and social support workers who sent them to the front”.

Let us remind you that there are no military commissariats in Ukraine anymore, so it is incorrect to use this phrase. They were renamed into Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

• Read also: An employee of the Territorial center of procurement and social support allegedly called the wife of a soldier a “katsap woman”.

Fake Women were allegedly abandoned to fight near Avdiivka

A video is being circulated online where several women in military uniform claim that they were sent to fight near Avdiivka because of the decision of the Zelenskyi regime. They say that the reason for this is Zelenskyi’s desire to create a “picture” for the Munich Security Forum. However, the video is most likely staged.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. Firstly, the women in the video are unlikely to actually be military personnel - makeup, long hair and manicure usually interfere with the performance of combat missions. Also, they do not have the equipment that is necessary during the battle. In addition, there are no identifying marks on their uniforms.

Secondly, in the video the Ukrainian language of the woman trying to speak it is noticeably “broken”. This may indicate that she is not a native speaker.

Thirdly, the video appeared for the first time on a TikTok profile, which was probably created specifically for the distribution of this video. This is the only message on this page that indicates its inorganic appearance. The video is being circulated exclusively by pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels and pro-Russian groups on Facebook, but even users of these channels express doubts about its authenticity.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the Ukrainian government and Zelenskyi personally, especially against the backdrop of active public discussion of possible changes in the mobilization process. Detector Media has already written about other Russian inventions regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

Fake Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov allegedly announced the issuance of draft notices in Diia

In the Russian segment of social networks, they are spreading the claim that Mykhailo Fedorov announced the issuance of draft notices in Diia. The publications refer to Mr. Fedorov’s interview with the business publication Forbes Ukraine. When asked why it is impossible to enter a military ID in Diia, he replied that “theoretically it can be done”. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and found that in the interview itself, the minister said that they most likely do not plan to enter the military ID into the application. But in general and in theory this is technically possible. Mykhailo Fedorov explained that they are working on the military ID project separately - it is about an information system based on the Ministry of Defense.

Subsequently, the press service of the Ministry of Digital Development clarified and said that there would be no military ID or draft notices in the Diia application. That is, no one announced anything; these are speculations of Russian propagandists.

Fake The Ministry of Defense allegedly encourages women to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “to quickly lose weight”

Information is being spread online that the Ministry of Defense has launched a campaign to recruit women into the army: “serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine helped me lose weight, contact the nearest Territorial center of procurement and social support, you deserve to be the best!”, says this video. At the same time, the video itself was allegedly published on the “TikTok account” of the Ministry of Defense. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck specialists analyzed the case and came to the conclusion that the video was fake and compiled from any footage. Moreover, the video does not serve as a video campaign for recruiting women into the army. After all, the Ministry of Defense doesn’t even have a TikTok account. The video about weight loss was also not found on other social networks of the ministry.

In general, only doctors and pharmacists must register with the military from October 1, 2023; however, military registration does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on travel abroad. The Ministry of Health notes: registration is necessary only to summarize data on the existing reserve of doctors in the country. The travel of this category of women is unlimited. To register for military service, this category of women will have three years - until December 31, 2026.

Manipulation Ukraine seems to have to mobilize women and children

Pro-Russian resources write that Ukraine needs to mobilize women and children. In asserting this, they refer to the head of the Special Staff of Ukraine in the Bundeswehr, General Christian Freuding, who allegedly made a corresponding statement. They say this can be explained by the large losses at the front on the Ukrainian side.

In fact, this information is distorted. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. In an interview with the German broadcaster RND, General Freuding did talk about the need to mobilize more conscripts to replenish the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but he did not say anything about “mobilizing women and children”.

In addition, during a press conference on December 19, 2024, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi stated that he would not sign the law on the mobilization of women.

Russian propaganda is once again speculating on the topic of mobilization, which is sensitive for Ukrainians. It should be noted that this spread of misinformation occurred against the backdrop of public discussions on the mobilization bill. More materials on this topic can be found here.

Message SBU “recruits” men for mobilization attracting sex workers

Anonymous telegrams claim that Human Rights Watch (HRW) has recorded cases in which the Ukrainian Security Service recruited female sex workers to “increase the pace of mobilization”. The point is that in this way the SBU “caught” men. As evidence, the messages add a video from a human rights organization.

The VoxCheck analysts took up this case and found that the human rights organization did not issue such a statement. For example, no such publications were found on the pages of Human Rights Watch social networks. As for the video itself, its design differs from those published by HRW. That is, it is most likely that the video design was compiled, it was presented only for the organization’s video. And some fragments of the video itself can be found in the public domain.

Read also: Greek Catholic believers were allegedly “freed” from mobilization.

Fake In Ukraine, they allegedly want to ban the sale of push-button mobile phones

Information is being spread online that Ukraine plans to ban the sale of push-button mobile phones. Several Russian resources published messages on this topic. They say that Ukrainians are now massively buying push-button mobile phones so as not to receive electronic draft notices through the Diia application.

However, this information is false. There are no bills on the Verkhovna Rada website banning the sale of push-button mobile phones, deputies did not declare their intention to submit a corresponding bill, and the Ukrainian media did not write about it. This was reported by fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project.

There are similar messages online related to feature phones. In particular, users sell collectible or push-button phones for spare parts. However, such advertisements do not indicate mass demand for them.

Propagandists spread this misinformation, citing another fake about allegedly sending draft notices in the Diia application. However, the distribution of them in this application was repeatedly denied by the Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov. “There will never be any draft notices”, he assured on December 24, 2023.

Fake Oschadbank is allegedly blocking the cards of evaders - residents

Information is actively spreading online that the Ukrainian Oschadbank has begun to block the accounts of draft evaders - residents. Users share a screenshot of their phone, which shows what appears to be an SMS message from Oschadbank saying: “Your card is blocked due to failure to appear at the Territorial center of procurement and social support. You can find out more information at the Territorial center of procurement and social support where you are registered”. The image initially began circulating on anonymous Telegram channels and pro-Russian Facebook groups. However, this is fake.

The StopFake specialists contacted the press service of the State Oschadbank of Ukraine Joint Stock Company to find out whether Oschadbank really sends such messages to clients who did not appear at the territorial picking centers. Press service representative Leonid Ziabrev replied that this information was not true - Oschadbank does not send out such announcements. At the moment, blocking the accounts of draft evaders is impossible, since there are no legal grounds for this. However, in early February, Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence Yehor Chernev said on a telethon that work is now underway on a new bill on mobilization, which may include measures of an “administrative and economic nature” to evade. However, administrative and criminal penalties are provided for violation of the procedure.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine, causing panic among the population and distrust in the actions of the government. Detector Media also wrote about other Russian fakes on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine. 

Manipulation 700 Ukrainian prosecutors allegedly received the status of combatants

Propagandists on social networks and Russian public pages are massively disseminating information that 700 prosecutors in Ukraine received the status of combatants during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Dozens of social network users publish almost the same text and, as an illustration, use a screenshot from the Censor.NET page on the social network X. It, dated January 30, 2024, contains information about the recent mobilization bill. So, the authors of the publications believe that these two “news” are interconnected. In the texts of almost all publications on this topic, the following quote appears: “700 prosecutors received the status of a participant in combat operations? How? They have been booked from mobilization, after all. Rebus. How did 700 prosecutors, sitting in their offices and having reservations, receive the status? Ahhh, exactly. Slaves do not have to ask questions”. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that this information was untrue and had nothing to do with Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine or changes in the Ukrainian mobilization bill. The latter was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on January 30 this year and sent for consideration to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian parliament has not yet voted for the discussed bill No. 10449, even in the first reading. Despite this, Russian propaganda is spreading a lot of false information about possible new mobilization rules in Ukraine. The information about “700 prosecutors” is also erroneous.

In fact, the first information that “700 prosecutors received combat status” appeared in March 2016, long before the full-scale invasion. Then we were talking about the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas (ATO). However, this information was also not confirmed then. Ukrainian media mentioned only one prosecutor, Hryshchuk, who actually defended the Donetsk airport; there was no such information about the other 699 civil servants. In the screenshot from 2016, only the property of some Ukrainian prosecutors could be seen, but there was no indication that they had a participant in combat operations status. Moreover, the round number 700 raises many questions, and the authors of the publications do not provide actual evidence of their words. Later, this topic began to be raised again in 2019 with complaints against the then newly elected President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

They are trying to tie the story about “700 prosecutors” to the modern context of Ukraine and the new draft law on mobilization, which is being actively discussed by society. Such publications cause many reactions, reposts and emotional comments about the present on the battlefield, corruption in Ukraine, “corrupt power” and ineffective defense enterprises. All this indicates that this news is another Russian manipulation technique with the aim of internally destabilizing Ukraine. Detector Media has already refuted other mobilization manipulations in Ukraine.

Disclosure A photo of a fake letter from the SBU to the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany is being distributed online

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing photos of a letter allegedly from the SBU to the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany with a demand to provide information about all adult men participating in the rallies for further sending their data to the ​​Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

After verifying the letter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Center for Countering Disinformation reported that this “document” was fake. The text of the letter contains signs of Photoshop; there is no electronic signature on the “document”, as well as errors in the formatting of the letter. In addition, the letter allegedly from the SBU was written on the letterhead of the Ukrainian Embassy in Germany, and this does not comply with the rules for organizing office work.

By spreading such fakes, Russian propagandists are trying to sow panic among Ukrainians abroad, in particular in Germany. It should be noted that this spread of misinformation occurred against the backdrop of a new version of the Mobilization Bill.

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