This assumption was made by the Head of the Office of NATO Secretary General Stian Jensen. He stated that Ukraine could become a member of the Alliance in exchange for giving up part of its territory.

Such a thesis is unfounded and does not express the opinion of the entire Alliance. At the NATO summit in Vilnius, a representative of the Alliance, in a commentary to the Public, emphasized: “We will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes, and we are committed to achieving a just and lasting peace”. This is a response to Jensen's statement. The interlocutor also noted that Ukraine itself must decide when and under what conditions to achieve peace.

The case was also studied by the fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. They note that the issues of accelerating Ukraine's victory were discussed at the summit. They also pay attention to the fact that both Ukraine and NATO do not trade their territories and citizens. Russia is an aggressor country that deserves punishment, not encouragement of new territories. This could be a bad example for potential invaders in the world.

The message, voiced by Stian Jensen, plays into the hands of Russia. Russian propaganda can use it to promote narratives around the world at any cost and distract from Russian crimes. Earlier we talked about the manipulation that Western countries refused to provide Ukraine with a security guarantee.

Propagandists continue to downplay the success of the NATO summit in Vilnius. For decades they have presented the alliance as the eternal enemy of Russia, which poses a threat to peace.

Most often, for Ukrainian audiences, Russian propagandists promote the theory that if Ukraine joins NATO, the US will take over and turn it into its colony.

The roots of this conspiracy theory go back to Soviet times, when the citizens of the USSR were intimidated that NATO wanted to destroy the population of the Union. The Cold War left a reflection on the perception of NATO by Ukrainians. Even with geopolitical changes and the disappearance of the Warsaw Pact (the Soviet alternative to NATO), Ukrainians have not been committed to the North Atlantic Alliance for decades. According to opinion polls, Ukrainians' distrust of NATO peaked in 2006. Skeptical messages about the Alliance were fed by pro-Russian politicians and media people. In particular, one of the main elements of the election campaign of the odious Nataliia Vitrenko was the fight against NATO. In 2008, deputies from the “Regions” party brought balls and flags with “NATO - no”  inscriptions to vote for a resolution on mutual understanding with the Alliance. Ex-president Viktor Yanukovych also nourished the rejection of NATO, promising Ukraine a “neutral status”.

By spreading such conspiracy theories, Russia wants to force Ukrainians to remain in the networks of Soviet ideology. This is how propagandists want to intimidate Ukrainians and prove the seemingly unviable Ukrainian statehood. However, the Revolution of Dignity and Russia's aggression against Ukraine increased support for Ukraine's integration into NATO, not only among the citizens of Ukraine, but also in several NATO member countries, as the poll of the Renaissance Foundation shows. The Ukrainians have nevertheless become convinced that in the NATO member countries, the troops of the Alliance have almost no influence on the life of the states in which they are based. In addition, NATO is very cautious about accepting new members. In particular, despite the high level of support among the Ukrainian society, the Alliance itself has not yet accepted Ukraine into its membership.

On July 11-12, a NATO summit was held in Vilnius, as a result of which Ukrainian officials received assurances from NATO leaders that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance after the victory. However, Ukraine has not yet received an official invitation to NATO membership. Also, as a result, Ukraine received a new weapon, a program for training pilots on the F-16, a new body - the Ukraine-NATO Council, coordinating relations between Ukraine and NATO. Fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News” found out that during the summit, pro-Russian activists distributed brochures with the “peace plan of the Ukrainian people” through bookcrossing boxes. This, they say, was organized by the “representation of the Ukrainian people”, which acts on the “name of the Ukrainian people”, who do not agree with the policy of the current government. However, such an organization does not exist, it is fake. As experts explained, the theses written in a brochure repeat the pro-Kremlin agenda. That is, all of them are propaganda. So they gave an example of “harassment of the Russian-speaking population” or the so-called legal referendums in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Among other things, the brochure broadcast the following messages:

In the last 9 years, a totalitarian regime has been formed in Ukraine. Ukraine does not take into account the opinion of the people, but follows its own separate path.

Russian propaganda hints that Ukrainians allegedly did not choose the path of Europeanization, and the Revolution of Dignity and its political consequences were the work of nationalists. Publicity and free-thinking reign in Ukraine, Ukrainians declare their national identity, moreover, they often emphasize this, for which propagandists equate Ukrainians with the so-called “nationalists”. The latter (their minority) allegedly monopolized the right to publicly express their civil position and oppress the opinions of others. Fact-checkers add that since 2014, many independent publications and investigative journalism centers have appeared in Ukraine, and cooperation with European media has intensified. In the world ranking of freedom of speech, Ukraine took 79th place among 180 countries. And, for example, Russia took 164th place this year.

The Ukrainian authorities are destroying the “Russian-speaking population” and are engaged in linguocide. 

Knowing the state language as the language of one's citizenship is the duty of every citizen of Ukraine. At the same time, every citizen of Ukraine is free to choose the language or languages for private communication. Propagandists systematically speculate on the language issue, arguing that Ukraine discriminates against the Russian language. Although it has the same rights as other minority languages. Ukrainian is the main one in public communication. But the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language” provides an opportunity to serve customers in other languages at their request.

“Russian-speaking population” is just a political term used by Russia to achieve its own goals. In particular, to destroy Ukraine as a state, and Ukrainians as a nation. According to a sociological survey of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 84% of Ukrainians believe that there are no problems with the use of the Russian language in Ukraine and Russian-speaking citizens do not experience harassment and persecution, only 8% are convinced of the opposite. A slice of public opinion proves that the reproaches about linguocide are propaganda speculation.

The referendums held in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions are absolutely legitimate. 

Russia is positioning the referenda as the key to the return of historical justice. However, the Russians substitute the concept, calling “reunification” the annexation of the territories of another, sovereign state. In fact, Russia is holding illegitimate referendums, seizing land, destroying cities.

The fictitious referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are not the will of the Ukrainians, but only try to give legitimacy to Russia's attempts to seize part of another state, the UN says. Their results, except for Russia itself, recognize other “brother states” of Russia as the DPRK. A decision on the issue of changing the territory of Ukraine can only be taken on the basis of an all-Ukrainian referendum. In general, the issue submitted to the referendum cannot call into question the territorial integrity of Ukraine. That is, changing the territory of Ukraine in an illegal way. It is no less important that voting should take place voluntarily, and not at gunpoint (when the armed occupiers, together with members of the “electoral commissions”, collected votes from apartments).

Ukrainians have always been in favor of an alliance with Russia and against Euro-Atlantic integration.

Ukraine entered into relations with NATO as early as 1992 when it joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (later to become the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council). In 1994, Ukraine became the first among the post-Soviet states to sign a framework agreement with NATO as part of the Partnership for Peace initiative. Ukraine first declared its desire to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance in 2002. Then, according to a poll by the Razumkov Center, 32% of Ukrainians supported Ukraine's entry into NATO and 32.2% were against it. Over the years, attitudes towards joining the Alliance have changed dynamically. Russia's aggression in 2014 had a significant impact on public opinion: since then, the level of support for membership has stabilized and has not been below 40%. According to the May 2023 NDI poll, more than 90% of respondents support Ukraine's accession to the EU. And 89% would like to see Ukraine in NATO. That is, the thesis that Ukrainians support Russia and strive to “reunite” with it is not true.

Ukrainians have chosen their path since 2014.

Russian media, as well as anonymous telegram channels that spread pro-Russian rhetoric, claim that 47% of Odesa residents oppose Ukraine's entry into NATO. Like, such data was published in the results of a poll conducted by the International Republican Institute (USA). It's fake.

Specialists in the StopFake project drew attention to it. They claim that in fact 53% of Odesans would vote for joining NATO and only 18% are against. At the end of June, the International Republican Institute did indeed publish the results of a poll where respondents were asked whether they would vote for Ukraine's entry into NATO if a referendum on this issue was held “now”. It does not indicate that the remaining 47% of respondents from Odesa oppose Ukraine's accession. If one reads the original document with the study in more detail, on page 136 one can find that only 18% of Odesans openly oppose it. Another 21% of respondents answered that they would not vote at all, and 8% preferred not to answer or found it difficult to answer.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to show that Ukrainians allegedly oppose Ukraine's integration into NATO, especially in the southern and eastern regions of the country. Last week, Detector Media wrote on what propagandists were talking about the recent NATO summit in Vilnius.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric on July 12 published a selection of British tabloid covers featuring a sex scandal involving a BBC journalist as the main topic. Russian propaganda asks a rhetorical question: “Find at least a word about Ukraine and the NATO summit …”. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications paid attention to the case. They note that The Sun, Daily Mirror, Daily Star and others “traditionally prefer the “yellow” theme”. And some of the most popular and authoritative socio-political publications, such as The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, not only wrote articles, but also covered the announcements of materials about Ukraine and the NATO summit on the first pages.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the UK and promote the view that the West is tired of the war in Ukraine and ignores the news related to it. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the German edition of Handelsblatt published a cover with Volodymyr Zelenskyi who cannot get into the NATO door.

The propagandists devalued and manipulated news stories to increase Ukraine's mistrust of its partners.

On July 12, a two-day NATO summit ended in Vilnius. The summit adopted a package of decisions of three elements on Ukraine. In particular, the allies confirmed that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance and agreed to remove the requirement to fulfill the Membership Action Plan (MAP) from the entry procedure. According to them, this will change Ukraine's path from a two-step process to a one-step process. Propagandists could not get around such a large information drive. Detector Media prepared a selection of their messages.

1 The summit was a failure for Ukraine

Russian propagandists reacted to statements by Western leaders at the summit with cries of “Failure!” and blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi for this. Propagandists promoted the view that the NATO summit brought nothing to Ukraine. Like, they didn’t let them into NATO, didn’t give them new weapons, and Zelenskyi, with his harsh statements, alienated everyone so much that they didn’t even want to be photographed with him. Propagandists snatched from the stream of news only those pieces of news that were convenient for them.

Let us remind that although at the summit there were no specifics regarding when and according to what clear plan Ukraine can join NATO, however, our state was allowed to bypass the procedure of the Membership Action Plan. That is, theoretically speed up the flow. In addition, the summit adopted the Declaration of the G7 countries, which deals with security guarantees for Ukraine, to which the propagandists reacted with cries of “external control” and “surrender” of Ukraine to the West. We also received new types of weapons from a number of countries participating in the event.

2. Foreign press ignored the summit

The propagandists tried to show that the foreign press allegedly ignored the summit, which means they were tired of the topic of Ukraine as a whole.

They regularly use collections of fake and genuine covers from foreign media or distort materials from foreign publications. The main purpose of such collections is to confirm by allegedly independent sources that the picture of the world that the propagandists paint is true. On the eve of the NATO summit, for example, they quoted an article by the Finnish public broadcaster Yle about Ukrainian refugees who are being denied social assistance. At the same time, propagandists did not give links to the source. And the latest publications on the Yle website, in fact, were supportive of Ukrainians who received asylum in Finland.

In general, the topic of the NATO summit in foreign media has become a noticeable news drive. And they would write about it even if they did not talk about Ukraine there, since this is an international meeting of the highest level. In particular, the media actively wrote about him both in the United States and in European countries.

3. At the summit, Zelenskyi lobbied for the introduction of Polish and Lithuanian troops into Ukraine, but NATO did not agree to this

During the NATO summit, the traditional message of propagandists about Poland, which supposedly wants to take over Ukraine, took on a new shade. In particular, they frightened their audiences with the likely introduction of Polish and Lithuanian troops into Ukraine. Like, Zelenskyi demanded this from NATO, but he was refused.

This is another invention of propagandists. First, they are trying to convince Russia's supporters that Russia is not the only aggressor. Secondly, to emphasize that the Ukrainian Defense Forces no longer have the ability to confront Russia, which means that Russian victory is close. Thirdly, to play on the Ukrainians' fears of losing independence. Fourth, to devalue the help of Poland and Lithuania, which are one of the main partners of Ukraine in countering Russian aggression. Detector Media has written about this before.

4. NATO reduces funding for Ukraine as a result of the “failed counteroffensive”

Propagandists claimed that Western leaders, whose names they did not name, allegedly announced at the NATO summit that they planned to cut the amount of aid to Ukraine. Like, this is the result of a “failed counteroffensive” that began in February.

It's fake. Neither Ukrainian nor foreign media have any information about such statements. The topic of the counteroffensive was rarely heard in official speeches and publications of the NATO summit participants.

By spreading such fakes, their authors tried to undermine the confidence of Ukrainians in NATO.

5. Citizens of NATO countries do not want to see Ukraine in the Alliance

Propagandists spread the assertion that Ukraine did not receive guarantees of joining the Alliance, because the citizens of the countries-members of the Alliance do not want to see it there.

In such publications propagandists refer to the results of opinion polls. In this case, in particular, they manipulated a survey commissioned by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita. In the original article, 47% of respondents did not agree with the results of the survey that Ukraine should be immediately accepted into NATO. However, the infographic from the article in Rzeczpospolita is only an illustration of one question on a sociological survey. And the original article goes on to say that the Poles recognize the importance of Ukraine as part of the NATO security architecture and are not against Ukraine joining the Alliance later. This is quite in tune with the positions of the top officials of the NATO member states. At the summit in Vilnius, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that all NATO members and their allies are unanimous that Ukraine will sooner or later become a member of NATO.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg allegedly stated that the Ukrainian military had problems with the counteroffensive. Propagandists refer to his recent interview with Politico and write that NATO allegedly had to admit that “the publicized counteroffensive does not bring the expected results”. It is not true.

The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. In an interview with Politico, Jens Stoltenberg did not talk about unjustified expectations from the counteroffensive. On the contrary, he was optimistic about the actions of the Ukrainian military and noted that, despite the difficulties, they are moving forward.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to convince Ukrainians that the counterattack is not successful, and Western partners do not believe in Ukraine's victory. They also want to discredit NATO. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the 92nd brigade would be disbanded and the military would be transferred to other units.

Russian propaganda media circulated publications according to which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and former Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen allegedly stated that in 2023 “there will be no peace”, Ukraine will lose its statehood and that it will not be accepted into the Alliance. Propagandists gloat: they say that NATO is carrying out “denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine”, as Russia demanded. It's fake.

Analysts of the StopFake project drew attention to it. They refuted it by finding two interviews cited by the authors of the fake. In particular, Stoltenberg, in a conversation with the Center for a New American Security, on the contrary, pointed out the readiness of the Ukrainians for a counteroffensive and the need to strengthen their position in order to guarantee the independence of Ukraine. In addition, he notes that the allies agree that sooner or later Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Rasmussen, in an interview with The Guardian, said that unless a clear path to NATO membership is offered to Ukraine at the Vilnius summit, some states may send troops to Ukraine on a case-by-case basis. Moreover, he stressed that it is important for Ukraine to receive security guarantees from NATO in writing and before the summit. According to the ex-secretary general, they should include the exchange of intelligence, joint military training, increasing the production of weapons, compatibility with the standards of the Alliance and the supply of weapons in quantities that will deter Russia from future attacks. Summing up, Rasmussen stressed that leaving Ukraine without a response to its membership requests for an indefinite period is dangerous. None of them made predictions about the timing of the end of the war.

By manipulating the words of foreign politicians, propagandists want to change the attitude of Ukrainians towards Western partners and make them doubt their intentions. In addition, this is another attempt to show that Ukraine is not in NATO, and it has no chance of winning against Russia. All this is aimed at demoralizing Ukrainian society.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that the European Union is ready to discuss sending peacekeepers from Poland and Romania to Ukraine. Russian propaganda refers to a statement by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Also, Ukrainian media, citing The Guardian, write that ex-NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen believes that some members of the Alliance, such as Poland, may agree to send troops to Ukraine. This is manipulation. 

On June 8, 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba commented on the statements of the ex-NATO Secretary General on the air of the Breakfast with 1 + 1 program. He said that “until the end of the armed conflict on the territory of Ukraine, foreign states would not send their troops to the territory of our state. Moreover, we do not ask for it. We say: give us weapons”. The Minister stressed that “Ukraine's membership in NATO cannot end this war, but it will prevent new wars”. 

Thus, propagandists want to show that Russia is at war with NATO on the territory of Ukraine, while other countries are belligerent and ready to go to war at any moment. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that, according to Zelenskyi, hopes for Ukraine's accession to NATO are fading and that Ukraine seems to be able to join NATO if it gives up the territories occupied by Russia.

Such information is disseminated by Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, and in the Russian segment of Facebook. At the European Political Community (EPC) summit in Moldova, Zelenskyi allegedly said that hopes for Ukraine's accession to NATO “are becoming more and more distant”. This is manipulation. As the fact-checkers of the Stop Fake project note, the quote used by Russian propagandists is inaccurate, shortened and taken out of context. But Zelenskyi did not declare “fading hopes” for Ukraine's entry into NATO. However, the president did talk about the prospect of Ukraine and other countries joining NATO. According to him, every European country that borders on Russia and wants to be protected from it should join the European Union and NATO. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the President of Ukraine, sow panic and despondency among the population. Russian propagandists systematically spread fakes that Western partners do not want to help Ukraine and do not want to see it in NATO. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Ukraine is not expected to join NATO.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, including the Georgian segment of Facebook. Reports say Zelenskyi has renounced NATO membership, saying he no longer wants to pressure Western officials. The authors of the messages convince readers that Zelenskyi was making concessions to Russia. They also refer to France 24 material. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case, who found that Zelenskyi did indeed say that he would not insist on joining NATO, although he did not indicate that this was because of Russia and pressure on him. The authors of the messages simply distorted the context of the material, which does not even indicate that Volodymyr Zelenskyi is making concessions.

In the material itself, journalists wrote that in the context of NATO membership, Zelenskyi said that he did not want to be the president of a “begging country on its knees”. That is, there are no concessions to Russia, Zelenskyi only said that he would not try to whine about membership and would not insist.

The Kremlin propaganda media are spreading information that Ukraine can join NATO if it refuses to return the temporarily occupied territories. This was stated in an article by the American edition of The New York Times, which was written by correspondent Steven Erlanger. It's fake.

Experts of the Stop Fake project analyzed the article “If a Divided Germany Could Enter NATO, Why Not Ukraine?” in The New York Times cited by the propagandists. They found that the article does not mention that NATO put forward the demands of Ukraine. Steven Erlanger wrote an article in which he thinks about the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO without temporarily occupied territories and draws parallels with Germany in 1955. Then the Federal Republic of Germany joined the Alliance, and in 1990 the former German Democratic Republic. That is, it happened after the reunification of Germany on October 3, 1990.

At the same time, the journalist writes that the issue of the integrity of Ukraine will not be removed from the agenda, and the experts he interviewed note that the ceasefire is an unfortunate decision, since in this case the war could start again after some time.

Russian propagandists systematically disseminate information that Western partners do not want to help Ukraine and do not want to see it in NATO. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that Ukraine is not expected to join NATO.

Kremlin propaganda media and anonymous telegrams are spreading the word that Ukraine is not expected to join NATO. This was allegedly stated by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in an interview with Welt. This is manipulation.

In fact, Olaf Scholz said that after the war, Ukraine will be equipped with Western-made weapons and then it will be necessary to discuss the security guarantees that can be provided in the post-war situation. But we're not there yet. Now let's focus on what's in store for us”, Scholz added. He did not say that Ukraine was not expected by NATO.

When asked by a journalist, “Would you theoretically support Ukraine’s membership in NATO after the end of the war?” Scholz replied that NATO made decisions in Bucharest in 2008 that set out a long-term vision. “It is clear to everyone that this will not happen in the foreseeable future. Also because there are a number of conditions in the NATO criteria that Ukraine cannot yet fulfill”, Scholz said.

Russian propaganda systematically disseminates information that the West does not want to help Ukraine in the war, and tries to show that Western partners do not consider Ukraine and do not want to see it in NATO. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the Germans were “against Ukraine's entry into NATO”.

The Kremlin propaganda media are spreading information that the Ukrainian allies are allegedly confident that the counteroffensive will fail. Russian propaganda refers to the words of the former commander of NATO forces in Europe, Ben Hodges, who believes that “Western countries are actually aware of the catastrophic situation of Ukraine at the front. Therefore, they have no doubt that sooner or later the Armed Forces of Ukraine will lose”. It's fake.

The case was noticed by specialists from the StopFake project. In fact, Ben Hodges, in an interview with Business Insider cited by the propaganda, did not talk about the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, but on the contrary, he expressed “restrained optimism” about the effectiveness of the Ukrainian army, “considering the weakened, disorganized forces of Russia and the superior willpower of Ukraine”.

He also noted that it is necessary to abandon the view that the upcoming counteroffensive is decisive for victory. And in his opinion, the only thing that can spoil everything is “if the West puts such strong pressure on Ukraine that it will force them to stop before a complete victory”.

Thus, propagandists are trying to sow discouragement among Ukrainians before a future counteroffensive. They say that it will not be possible to defeat Russia, and Western partners also believe in this. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that if the Ukrainian military fails the counteroffensive, the West will stop supporting Ukraine.

On April 6, a video began to be distributed in the Georgian segment of Facebook, which recorded the movement of the RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system. According to the description, mobile nuclear installations appeared in the border town of Vyborg after Finland joined NATO. It's fake.

Myth Detector specialists drew attention to the case. The video went viral on Twitter, where several accounts were able to determine the location of the vehicle using geolocation. Comparing the location on the video with a Google map, it was determined that the video of the equipment was filmed in the city of Kolchugino, Volodymyr region, not far from Moscow, and not in the city of Vyborg near the border with Finland. The Myth Detector also turned to weapons specialist Gigi Inaishvili. According to him, the range of the RS-24 Yars missile system is up to 12,000 km, “the system is not intended for nearby countries, and the complexes shown in the video were probably preparing for the May 9 parade”.

The distribution of the video, which recorded the movement of equipment allegedly to the border with Finland, was for intimidation. Earlier, Dmytro Polianskyi, first deputy permanent representative of Russia to the UN, noted that “If NATO units appear in these territories [Sweden and Finland], these territories will become a target or a possible target for a strike”.  Detector Media has already investigated what anonymous telegram channels wrote about Finland's accession to NATO and how Putin accused NATO of “breaking” the promise not to expand to the East.

This thesis was spread on social networks and in the propaganda media. Reports say that the US plans to create an international military bloc like NATO to send troops to Ukraine. As evidence, the authors of the messages refer to the material of the publication Foreign Affairs, which allegedly says that “in order to end the war in Ukraine, it is necessary to bring troops of Western countries into its territory”. This is manipulation.

The case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the StopFake team, they investigated that in the material of Foreign Affairs analysts talk about one of the possible scenarios for the introduction of security measures in Ukraine after the end of the war. The authors of the publication note that the debate on a new vision of security in the region and post-war measures to restrain Russia “should start now” to discuss and develop concepts before the start of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia.

Thus, the Atlantic-Asian Security Community (AASC) can become an alleged analogue of NATO for Foreign Affairs analysts. The organization may include members of the North Atlantic Alliance, Ukraine, its allies and other neutral states. The goals of the AASC alliance should be “strengthening the defense capability of Ukraine” and “deterring any resurgence of Russian imperialist aggression”.

That is, there is no question of any call to “send troops of Western countries into the territory of Ukraine to end the war”. Foreign Affairs analysts discussed one of the possible scenarios for the introduction of security in Ukraine after the end of the war.

Finland is a neutral state, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it radically changed its status and became the 31st member of the largest military-political alliance. Now Russia borders NATO on the entire western border (except for Ukraine and puppet Belarus) and the Alliance controls the vast majority of the coast of the Baltic Sea. If Ukraine's desire to join NATO supposedly forced Russia to launch a preemptive strike through an invasion (first in 2014, then in 2022), then the real accession of neighboring Finland to the Alliance caused a much weaker reaction. Putin said that Moscow does not have such problems with Helsinki as with Kyiv. That is, there are no territorial disputes or other types of confrontations, which is why the reaction to Finland's entry into NATO is so soft. Such statements by the Kremlin sound like attempts to justify themselves and smooth things over. Russia reacted to Finland's accession to NATO with a number of propaganda messages, we have highlighted some of them.

1. Russian propagandists made a number of “strict remarks”. Allegedly, Finland has become a state unfriendly to Russia, so the Kremlin will “take military-technical measures” in response to NATO expansion. This message is intended to assure the domestic audience that Russia is ready for different scenarios. Allegedly, Russia is making a symmetrical (actually rather symbolic) retaliatory step. And although the border between NATO and Russia has doubled, if necessary, the Kremlin can fight back. But does a change in the geopolitical vector really mean an “anti-Russian turn”? Joining NATO is about own security and the security of the region, and not about hostility towards Russia.

2. Propagandists claim that Finland's membership in NATO means the loss of Finnish sovereignty and geopolitical weight. According to them, Finland has become one of the weak world players, which does not decide anything in international affairs. In fact, joining NATO means strengthening the defense capability, and collective security only reinforces the synergy and complementarity of the forces of the allies. Such remarks on the part of the Kremlin propagandists are an attempt to shift the attention and present the biggest problem of Moscow: the entry of a neighboring state into an unfriendly (according to Russia) military-political union is a problem of Finland itself.

3. Joining the Alliance will be costly for Finland. The key indicator of allied military spending reaches 2% of GDP, so the state’s economy will barely “pull” the defense budget, this will hit the pockets of ordinary Finns, Russian propaganda assures. After the start of Russian military aggression against Ukraine, NATO countries faced the need to increase defense spending, so the next summit in Vilnius may agree on a minimum level of defense spending for NATO members at the level of 2%, which was previously considered a desirable indicator. In fact, in 2022, Finland’s defense budget has almost reached the coveted mark of 1.96%, so the manipulation of the Russians looks unconvincing. Rather, this is another attempt to divert attention from the main issue - the fact of entry - from the topic of economics.

4. NATO does not plan to deploy its troops in Finland. Propaganda is trying to reassure that Russia has everything under control, and the actions of the Alliance on its eastern flank will be coordinated with the Kremlin. Again, this is a game for the domestic audience and an attempt to reassure the discouraged Russians, who were told that the next wave of NATO expansion to the east was unacceptable, but when it took place, the propaganda began to assure that nothing terrible had happened, because NATO soldiers in Scandinavia will not approach the Russian border.

5. Finland is in NATO, and Ukraine is led by the nose with promises. Like, Finland easily joined the Alliance, while Ukraine is on a thorny path because of the war, huge losses and unpopular reforms. Thus, Russian propaganda wants to devalue the Euro-Atlantic course of Ukraine and convince that Kyiv's hopes of joining NATO are useless. In reality, a state that is at war cannot be accepted into the organization, because this will automatically mean the activation of the fifth article of the Washington Treaty (an attack on any ally is regarded as an attack on the entire Alliance). In 2018, Ukraine was recognized as an aspiring country (a state intending to become a member of the Alliance). And in 2022, Ukraine announced that it was applying to join NATO, however, this document is purely political and has no legal significance. Despite this, Ukraine is a candidate for membership, and we have every chance to realize our intention after the final victory of Ukraine in the war.

Russian propaganda media spread the message that the leader of the Turkish “Batkivshchyna” (Motherland) party, Doğu Perinçek, who is one of the presidential candidates in Turkey, promises to change the “rules of the game” for the United States and NATO, withdraw the country from the North Atlantic Alliance, and recognize Crimea and other occupied territories as part of Russia. Like, this will entail political upheavals in Turkey and the shaken position of the West.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project investigated this case. They explained that such statements by the Kremlin media would only try to increase the popularity of the fringe Turkish politician Doğu Perinçek, who is known for his pro-Russian and anti-Western rhetoric. At the same time, Perinçek has virtually no chance of becoming President of Turkey, as his party failed to collect enough signatures for his presidential candidacy to formally submit him to the election commission.

By spreading this message, Russian propagandists are trying to demonstrate the lack of unity of the NATO states, in particular, on Russia's aggression against Ukraine. In addition, they create an opinion about the readiness of other countries to recognize Russia's annexation of Ukrainian territories as legitimate. This is not the first time such misinformation has been circulated. Detector Media has already covered the Kremlin's theses about the inconsistency of the NATO member states on sending weapons to Ukraine, the recognition of the fallacy of supporting Ukraine, the inevitability of the collapse of NATO if the anti-Russian course is maintained, the recognition by Western countries of the so-called “LDNR”, etc.

Such a message appeared in the Kremlin propaganda media. Like, Russia is fighting not against Ukraine, but against NATO. The reports said that last year the Russian army was forced to fight on its own, fought against NATO, and it seems to have succeeded, because Ukraine and its allies will lose this fight. The authors of the reports argued that the United States is to blame for the war as a whole, thinking about the deployment of NATO forces in Ukraine. It seems to be part of Washington's plan to create a unipolar world without governments it doesn't like.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case. In general, the thesis that Russia is at war not with Ukraine, but with NATO and the countries of the West, is a recurring disinformation message. They say that Ukraine is a puppet of Washington, which seeks war, while Russia only fights against the “pagans”.

In fact, neither the US nor NATO is involved in the war in Ukraine. Kyiv does not fight on behalf of a foreign government or organization. Ukraine is acting in self-defense against Russian invasion, as enshrined in Article 51 of the UN Charter. Ukraine is a sovereign and independent state with a democratically elected president and parliament.

Western countries only support Ukraine, providing both military and financial assistance for effective self-defense. However, Russia started the war against Ukraine and it destroys Ukrainian cities and villages, kills civilians, etc.

With the help of such messages, Russia is trying to shift the responsibility for what is happening to the countries of the West, to NATO. Read more about how Russia justifies the war in the Detector Media investigation.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that Russian military missiles “Kynzhal” (Dagger) hit the location of the NATO military, who secretly manage the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, the authors refer to the foreign edition of The Intel Drop. It is not true.

Specialists of the VoxCheck project investigated the case, and explained that the NATO military does not participate in the war in Ukraine, and they do not lead the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Fact-checkers also said that the author of the article in The Intel Drop is one of the Russian propagandists. The Intel Drop features Kremlin narratives and fake news. For example, the publication writes that Ukrainians do not trust Valerii  Zaluzhnyi in terms of the number of downed missiles, and their moods on social networks give out despondency towards the President. Among the publications of The Intel Drop, one can also see other materials of propagandists, for example, reports about the so-called “foreign mercenaries”.

In January 2023, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg once again emphasized that NATO does not send its military to war, but NATO supports Ukraine with weapons.

Such information was disseminated in social networks and propaganda media. The reports say that a sociological survey was conducted in Germany, which illustrated the attitude of the Germans regarding Ukraine's accession to NATO. Like, many Germans strongly opposed the entry. The authors of the messages refer to the material of the German edition Die Welt, which allegedly contains the results of the survey. It is not true.

The experts of the StopFake project investigated the case and found out that the journalists of the Die Welt publication did not conduct any sociological survey, but made up the results.

Analysts are convinced that the basis for creating this fake was an article called “We should seriously think about Ukraine's membership in NATO” since the propagandists cited as an example the comments of ordinary users of the Die Welt website, which do not represent “the attitude of the Germans towards Ukraine's membership in NATO”. Under the article, over 800 comments of various content were published, but the Russian media cite only a few of them to illustrate a point of view suitable for Russian propaganda.

As for the material itself, it contains forecasts for the provision of security guarantees to Ukraine, and in general it was not about any “sociological survey”.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages that the West does not want to help Ukraine in the war, relying on non-authoritative sources of information or disfigured quotes. Thus, Russia is trying to undermine the authority of Ukraine at the international level, distort reality and allegedly show that the European community does not consider Ukraine and does not want to see it either in NATO or, for example, in the EU.

Russian and foreign media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric use the recent statement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against Ukraine. Like, the chancellor is against NATO supplying weapons to Ukraine, because it weakens the Alliance. As a result, according to the authors of the messages, Germany will no longer supply Ukraine with armed assistance.

Analysts of the EUvsDisInfo project found out that in fact, in his statement, Scholz did not criticize the supply of weapons to Ukraine, but that the members of the Alliance turned this process into a “public competition”. This, according to the Chancellor, is what weakens NATO, threatening its unity. Scholz said that unity helped Ukraine in the early days of the war and countries should not argue about arms supplies to Ukraine.

Propagandists are trying in every possible way to condemn Western countries for providing military assistance to Ukraine, using various methods for this. They either call it “foul play” or direct intervention in the war. Very often this is combined with manipulations on the topic of the attitude of society in NATO member countries to the provision of weapons to Ukraine.

On the air of one of the Georgian TV channels,there was a thesis similar to Russian narratives. Like, Ukraine had to refuse to join NATO in accordance with the terms of the Minsk agreements. In exchange for this, Russia supposedly must return the occupied territories to Ukraine. But since Ukraine violated these terms, Russia had no choice but to attack. Analysts of Mythdetector, the Georgian project, drew attention to the case.

In fact, there are no provisions in the Minsk agreements regarding Ukraine's accession to NATO. In addition, it was Russia and its forces that sabotaged the presence of the OSCE in the occupied territories, which was the main part of the Minsk agreements. According to Mythdetector, the Georgian media that disseminated this thesis are controlled by pro-Russian forces.

Russian propaganda uses the theme of the Minsk agreements, in particular, because of the statements of pro-Russian politicians. Thus, propagandists want to shift the responsibility for starting a war from the aggressor to the victim and accuse Ukraine of disrupting international agreements. However, it is Russia that often fails to comply with international obligations, and the outbreak of war is proof of this.

Such a fake was spread on social networks and in propaganda media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Romania and Moldova have begun urgent construction of a road to Odesa. The construction project, according to the authors, is allegedly aimed at further transfering NATO forces into Ukraine. The reports refer to the words of the Minister of transport and infrastructure of Romania, who allegedly spoke about this. It is not true.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case and investigated that on January 26, following the meeting of the Ministers of infrastructure of Romania and Moldova, the representative office of Romania really reported that both countries are considering the possibility of continuing the Romanian-Moldovan highway being built on the territory of Ukraine to Odesa. The ministers did not make any statements that the route was needed to “transfer NATO forces into Ukraine” or that the road was being built as part of military assistance to Ukraine. In particular, the statement about “the continuation of the highway to Odesa” only sounded like a possible version of the project and is not an officially approved point, because there were no agreements with Ukraine.

By spreading this fake, propagandists once again nourish the narrative, as if Russia is fighting not only against Ukraine, but also against the collective West, led by NATO. Thus propagandists justify the war and their defeats on the battlefield.

Social networks and telegram channels spread information that the NATO reconnaissance aircraft Boeing E-3 Sentry, which recently arrived in Romania, will participate in Poland's operation to seize the territory of the western regions of Ukraine. One of the sources of these messages is Illia Kyva's telegram channel. This is manipulation.

An American Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft used for early warning radar recently arrived in Romania. It will monitor Russian military activity on NATO's eastern border. “Operations to seize the territory of Western Ukraine” is a fiction of Russian propaganda. As StopFake notes, it was Russian aggression and a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that forced NATO to increase security measures on its eastern border.

Russian propaganda constantly promotes the narrative that Poland intends to take over the West of Ukraine. Earlier, as part of this narrative, propagandists said that Poland considers the West of Ukraine to be its “colony”. Russian propaganda also spread fakes about a referendum on the accession of the West of Ukraine to Poland and convinced that the West of Ukraine would be given to Poland if Warsaw paid the US debt instead of Kyiv.