Spilnota Detector Media

Fake In Poland, local women fought with refugees from Ukraine

Such information is spread on social networks, adding an alleged fight video. In the messages to the video, they add that Polish women recently fought with Ukrainian refugees. However, it is not true. According to VoxCheck, a reverse TinEye search shows that the video appeared online in 2016 on the Polish website wykop.pl.

According to several Polish media, the fight took place at the beginning of July in the Polish resort town of Władysławowo and gained wide publicity. It recorded the participation of three girls and several men who tried to separate them. The exact cause of the fight is unknown. In the comments under the video, it is noted that such cases are often associated with excessive alcohol consumption and frequently occur at summer parties.

There is no mention of the nationality of the participants, so there is no reason to talk about a conflict between Poles and refugees from Ukraine either. It is not the first time Russian propaganda has spread fakes about refugees from Ukraine in various states that accepted them because of the war. In this way, the propaganda seeks to discredit the refugees from Ukraine themselves and to create the appearance that the attitude towards Ukrainians is deteriorating in the countries that receive them.

Fake Ukrainian refugees in Poland should recognize Stepan Bandera as a terrorist

Such information is distributed in the Georgian segment of social networks in Russian. For example, during registration in Poland, Ukrainian refugees fill out a questionnaire where they are forced to write that Stepan Bandera is a terrorist. The messages are accompanied by an alleged photo of the questionnaire and claim that if a person does not recognize Bandera as a terrorist, he will not receive the special identification number in Poland.

In fact, the information about Ukrainian refugees in Poland receiving an identification number and signing a statement that Stepan Bandera is a terrorist, and Ukrainian nationalists are responsible for the Volyn tragedy is fake.

According to fact-checkers from Myth Detector, the document published on social networks is fabricated, and the authentic version of the document is available on the official website of the Polish government. In the original version of the questionnaire, there are no questions about Bandera and the Volyn tragedy. 

Manipulation Ukrainian refugee women in Norway are forced to engage in sex work to survive

Russian propaganda media and social networks spread this thesis. The reports say that in Norway, they allegedly declared that Ukrainian refugees "have to survive at the expense of sex work."

Kremlin media refer to the Norwegian television company NRK. However, such statements are gross manipulation. As StopFake writes, the Russian mass media made a manipulative generalization based on the third-party opinions of several women standing in line for food at a volunteer center in Norway.

The Norwegian media did not write about it as a dominant trend among Ukrainian refugees or as confirmed cases of sex work "for survival." At the same time, international organizations point out that Russia's war in Ukraine has increased the risk of human trafficking when vulnerable groups of people become victims, particularly refugees.

Fake In the airports of Great Britain, special posters in Ukrainian urge "not to litter and not to break equipment"

Russian propaganda media and anonymous Telegram channels write about this. The British allegedly are beginning to "see through" the chaos Ukrainians are creating at airports and have introduced fines for plagiarism of 5,000 pounds.

The reports add that allegedly blue-yellow posters were specially installed to inform and guarantee to draw the attention of Ukrainians. It is a fake.

Airports in Great Britain do not conduct an information campaign to warn Ukrainians about fines for violating the rules. StopFake fact-checkers checked these "warning" posters and found a video showing a completely different text of such posters. In fact, they inform Ukrainians in three languages ​​about how to get to the aid stations at the airport. The text on the banner was edited in a photo editor.

The British government has issued a special handbook for Ukrainian refugees. It does not contain any information about special fines for Ukrainians of 5,000 pounds (about 220,000 hryvnias) for breaking the rules of conduct.

In this way, Russian propaganda is again trying to discredit Ukrainian refugees, to accuse them of being ungrateful to foreign citizens who help. 

Message Armed Ukrainians will break through to Great Britain

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.

Fake Ukrainian refugees blocked the road and started a fight in Italy

Russian media spread information that Ukrainian refugees allegedly staged a protest and blocked the road in Italy, which caused dissatisfaction among local motorists, which is why the fight began. In the video published by Russian propagandists, drivers push protesters in yellow vests off the road, take away posters and throw them behind roadblocks.

In fact, Ukrainians had nothing to do with this action, and local eco-activists organized it from Extinction Rebellion. According to StopFake, this video was published by Italian and British media a month before Russian media distributed it. "Activists of the socio-political movement Extinction Rebellion fight non-violently against climate change and the loss of biodiversity. Climate activists usually block bridges or highways during protests, as they did in Italy on June 14. This time Extinction Rebellion activists blocked the Great Ring Road of Rome (Grande Raccordo Annulare di Roma). It became the cause of fighting. The outraged drivers began to beat the protesters in response," the fact-checkers said and added that the Italian mass media and law enforcement officers did not find any facts proving Extinction Rebellion's connection with Ukraine.    

Fake Sachsenhausen is ready to accommodate Ukrainian refugees on the former concentration camp site

Social networks and Russian websites spread information that the administration of the Memorial of the former Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany has offered Ukrainian refugees to live on its territory. They claim that the Sachsenhausen concentration camp museum provided on its Facebook and Instagram pages to house Ukrainian refugees in a "specially built temporary hotel."

The administration of the Sachsenhausen Memorial denied such information and stated that it never proposed to place Ukrainian refugees on the territory of the former concentration camp. Photos of barracks with the words "Welcome Home" against the background of the Ukrainian flag are a deliberately altered version of a picture previously published on a German tourist site. The Brandenburg Memorial Foundation's press service said everything points to the scheme of the Russian digital propaganda war. The management of Sachsenhausen Memorial has already reported this incident to the police. More details.

Fake Hungary will pay aid to ethnic Hungarians in Transcarpathia forcibly mobilized into the Armed Forces

Unknown persons sent letters to Transcarpathian mass media, supposedly from the Society of Hungarian Culture of Transcarpathia and the Gabor Bethlen Foundation, which stated that "the Hungarian government has decided to provide material assistance to Transcarpathian Hungarians and their families who were forcibly mobilized into the Ukrainian army." This fake is aimed at worsening relations between Ukraine and Hungary.

As InfoPost.Media writes that this message's key elements were the national component and emphasis on "forced" mobilization. Vasyl Brenzovych, head of the Transcarpathia Hungarian Culture Association, called this letter a provocation. The Society also denied sending similar letters to the media: "The provocative information was sent from an electronic mailbox, which is partially similar to the official electronic mailbox of the public organization "Society of Hungarian Culture of Transcarpathia," but registered on a different domain name on the Internet."

Fake 50% of Ukrainian refugees want to stay in Poland

The media and social networks spread the news that almost 50% of Ukrainian refugees want to stay in Poland. The news was spread concerning the expert's statement and survey data, but this information was distorted, and incorrect conclusions were drawn.

In fact, as StopFake writes, a survey conducted by the Interdisciplinary Laboratory of War Research in Ukraine, conducted from April 15 to May 10 among Ukrainian refugees in Poland shows that only 17% of respondents plan to stay there forever; 14% said that they still want to work in Poland, and then they will return home with earnings, and 3% plan to obtain Polish citizenship. Another survey (from 4Service) shows that 89% of respondents plan to return home after the war's end; 3% do not plan to return at all; another 4% hesitate but are inclined to stay in Europe; 4% - undecided. At the same time, 67% of Ukrainians assume they may stay abroad if the war drags on. In addition, Natalya Zaytseva-Chipak, director of the Ukrainian public opinion research center "Sotsioinform," was twisted: she said that 50% of Poland wanted to return to Ukraine. However, she did not conclude that the other half plans to stay there - the media has already added that.

Fake Ukrainian refugees destroyed a hostel in the German city of Bamberg

It was reported on the News of Russia telegram channel. A video is attached to the post with a comment that illustrates "how Ukrainian refugees live and what they do." Allegedly, the Ukrainians destroyed the dormitory where they were sheltered and stole household appliances and food products. But it is not so.

The video shows a refugee hostel in Bamberg, Germany. However, Ukrainians did not live there. Moreover, neither the managers of the institution nor the local police knows about cases of vandalism or theft related to Ukrainian refugees. According to German fact-checkers, two people are speaking in Russian on the one-minute video and filming the condition of the mutilated apartment. However, the video does not mention that Ukrainian refugees staged the pogrom. Russian propaganda spreads such messages to turn citizens of other countries against Ukrainians, such as it is not worth helping Ukrainian refugees; they are ungrateful.

Manipulation Poland received the right to give passports to citizens of Ukraine

Russian propaganda spread such disinformation. They said that Kyiv granted Poland the request to provide Ukrainian passports to citizens of Ukraine. It does not.

The statement contradicts the norms of Ukrainian legislation, which clearly defines the list of state institutions that have the right to issue documents. In fact, it is a pilot project, thanks to which foreign divisions of the State Migration Service of Ukraine (SMS) can give documents to citizens of Ukraine outside the country. The first branch of the Dokument state enterprise was indeed opened in Warsaw. From August, Ukrainians can issue an ID card and a foreign passport. SMS reports that the Polish government has nothing to do with the new foreign project. In addition, they plan to open such centers in other countries; the list is agreed upon with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

It is not the first time that Russian propaganda has spread information that Poland threatens the subjectivity of Ukraine or plans to occupy part of Ukrainian territories. This way, propagandists try to discredit the Polish government and the Polish. More details.

Manipulation Ukrainians mowed down the swastika on a field in Germany

Similar messages are spreading on social networks that allegedly Ukrainian refugees created a massive swastika on an area in the suburbs of Brandenburg. The reports refer to German journalist Julian Röpcke and Bild newspaper. But it is manipulation. According to the German newspaper Bild, their reporter Julian Röpcke noticed a swastika with an area of ​​about 360 square meters during a flight over Brandenburg and reported it to the local police. The police suspect a resident who, according to neighbors, has repeatedly hung the Reich flag in the window of his house to create the prohibited symbol. The German law enforcement officers do not have any information that Ukrainians were involved in creating the swastika. As StopFake writes, the message about the involvement of Ukrainians in this situation is deliberately spread by Russian propaganda to discredit Ukrainian refugees in Germany. Previously, fakes were spread that Ukrainian refugees, trying to burn the Russian flag, caused a fire in the house of a German family that sheltered them.

Fake Ukrainian refugees go to Poland only for money

Russian propaganda media spread such information. In their reports, they refer to the Polish mass media, claiming that Ukrainian refugees come to Poland only for financial gain and perceive it as a "cash cow." However, the Kremlin media in their texts regard only one article in the Polish press — Myśl Polska. It is said that Ukrainians allegedly came from peaceful regions to receive help. "Millions of refugees from Ukraine are just people who want to use Poland as a cash cow," writes Myśl Polska, adding that Poland is allegedly even forced to limit access to medical services for its citizens to ensure the "maintenance" requests of Ukrainians. However, it is not true.

As the fact-checkers from StopFake write, the publication also claims that many resources allegedly go to "numerous interventions with the removal of children from drunken Ukrainian mothers." According to the author, such violations have become almost massive, but the local mass media do not write about it because "censorship works properly" in Poland. Such information is not confirmed in other Polish media and official sources. However, such material in the Polish mass media served as an excuse for Russian propaganda to discredit Ukraine and Ukrainians. StopFake writes that the financial component is not the most crucial reason Ukrainians go to Poland. Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Poland after February 24 are entitled to a one-time allowance of 300 zlotys ($66) and a monthly child allowance of 500 zlotys ($110). The average salary in Ukraine in December 2021 was $641, 9 times more than the allowance in Poland. The minimum fixed wage in Ukraine is $233. It is almost four times more than the aid for which, according to Russian and some pro-Russian Polish media, Ukrainians go to Poland. Ukrainian refugees are looking for a safe environment in Poland, which, unfortunately, is not currently available in Ukraine due to the Russian military aggression. More details.    

Message The Europeans are tired, "the stormy romance between the Europeans and the Ukrainians is coming to an end"

Ukrainian refugees who fled due to the large-scale war unleashed by Russia and, besides found refuge in European countries, are haunted by Russian propagandists. On July 2, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and mass media exploded with many reports: "Great Britain, Belgium, Slovakia, Poland are tired of Ukrainians and will drive forced migrants out into the street."

Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmytro Medvedev, compared Ukrainian refugees and Poland to a crisis in marital relations: "It seems that the stormy romance between Europeans and Ukrainians is coming to an end. They no longer want them; they are tired of them. Crazy Poles remembered their crazy nationalism. And now they are shouting to almost four million Ukrainians who have settled in their country that they are in Poland." He believes that "fading feelings should not be rekindled by any promises of a future slow and unequal marriage (mythical accession to the EU)" and that Ukrainians should "for their own happiness to break this marriage union forever."

Anonymous channels on Telegram shared a video with a woman who called to throw Ukrainians out of Poland with their bare hands because, they say, they got a swelled head. In other materials in the Russian media, it is described that Ukrainians in Europe "look at bread as garbage" and "demand luxury." Moreover, Europeans and Britons are outraged by the drunkenness and rudeness of Ukrainian refugees. And they must emphasize that from July 1, the Polish government will no longer pay aid to Ukrainian refugees.

Fact-checkers from Mythdetector reported that from July 1, aid would stop only for those Ukrainian refugees who have lived in Poland for 120 days; the aid payment will continue for the rest of the refugees. The Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Poland, the Government Commissioner for Refugee Affairs, Pavlo Schefernaker, noted that four months after the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Polish government moved to a new stage of helping refugees. He said that among Ukrainian refugees, about 1.2 million people received PESEL (identification number), of which more than 500,000 are currently of working age. The Polish government will help them to adapt and work. According to Schafernaker, more than half of the non-disabled refugees have already started working.

According to UN data, as of June 28, 4,312,612 Ukrainian refugees have arrived in Poland since the Russian invasion of Ukraine. As part of the assistance from Poland, a regulation came into force on March 16, 2022, according to which the Polish government will help residents who provide housing and food to Ukrainian refugees at the rate of 40 zlotys per day per adult. Aid is valid for 120 days.

Fake "Ukrainian nationalists" disrupted the evacuation of the civilian population from Sievierodonetsk

Social networks and Russian websites spread information that "Ukrainian militants disrupted the humanitarian corridor from the bomb shelters of the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk."

Russia said it would open a humanitarian corridor for civilians from Sievierodonetsk to the occupied territory on June 15, but only if the remaining Ukrainian military surrendered. Ukraine rejected this condition. Russia constantly disrupts the evacuation of the civilian population, either by offering impossible conditions to the Ukrainian side or by not stopping shelling during the declared evacuation.

Manipulation Ukrainian refugees in Riga will be kicked out on July 1

"News" under this title was published by Russian and Belarusian publications concerning the mayor of Riga, Martins Stakis. Allegedly, he stated that the hotels in the capital may soon stop accepting Ukrainian refugees for free and that on July 1, the agreement between the Latvian government and representatives of the hotel business may terminate. On June 15, Martins Stakis gave an interview to Latvian Television (LTV) and spoke about Ukrainian refugees.

He said the state should provide more compensation for hosting refugees in hotels. Otherwise, they will no longer provide these services, and refugees will have to find new accommodation.

Fake Taira may have been involved in black transplantation in Ukraine

Such an assumption in the stream of Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov written in a telegram by a militant of the self-proclaimed "DPR" Vladlen Tatarsky (Maksym Fomin), who now calls himself a military correspondent. He noted that she was "exchanged for our underground in Kyiv."

On June 17, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an evening address that paramedic Yuliia Paievska (Taira), whom the Russians had captured in mid-March in Mariupol, had been released from captivity.

Yuliia "Taira" Paievska is a volunteer paramedic who saved the lives of military and civilians in Donbas for eight years.

Taira's husband Vadym and daughter Anna-Sofia lost touch with her on March 14, 2022. Since then, nothing has been known about the paramedic except the fakes spread by Russian propaganda. Taira has the title of People's Hero of Ukraine, President of the Aikido Federation "Mutokukai Ukraine," in 2013, with the beginning of the Revolution of Dignity, she became a doctor on the Maidan. She taught tactical medicine in the projects "People's Reserve" and "Protection of Patriots."

Later, Yuliia Paievska organized and headed the volunteer medical evacuation unit "Angels of Taira," which was based near Mariupol. From 2014 to 2018, she was a paramedic volunteer. From 2018 to 2020, she served under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in eastern Ukraine and headed the evacuation department of the 61st Mobile Hospital in Mariupol. Then she was demobilized.

Fake Children born in the occupied territories after February 24 and orphans will automatically receive Russian citizenship

The Russian occupiers are spreading information that children born after February 24 and orphans in the temporarily occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts will automatically receive Russian citizenship. At the same time, refer to the words of the so-called "deputy head of the Kherson CMA" Kyrylo Stremousov. Ukrainian officials refuted fake. "We do not recognize these documents, no matter what happens. If he [the child] is born in Kherson, he will be a citizen of Ukraine. And after the end of hostilities will receive a document, a Ukrainian birth certificate," - said the legal chairman of the Kherson regional for the sake of Oleksandr Samoylenko. He calls such ideas of the occupiers' populism and propaganda. "How to document this? All these children [orphans] have birth certificates. Will they try to give them birth certificates, where the place of birth is recorded - the Kherson region of the Russian Federation? But there is no such thing... None of the so-called documents will have legal force," - the official noted. It will be recalled that Russia is trying to issue its passports to adult citizens in the occupied territories. In particular, the propaganda produces fakes about the number of issued Russian passports, calling the "sky-high" numbers.