Russian propaganda began to actively speculate in the domestic information space with one of the key slogans of World War II. Like, they have already "surrendered" Russian "Kherson", and what's next? Moreover, under such slogans, an alleged "protest" of the inhabitants of St. Petersburg took place. This message entered the Ukrainian information space through telegram channels, but it should not be taken literally.

In Russian discourse, the expression "There is nowhere to retreat - Moscow is behind us" is generally used in the sense of "decisive battle", "fight to the death" or "last line of defense". However, it is clear that there is no physical danger for Moscow. Actually, Ukraine has never expressed its intention to attack Russian territories (except for the destruction of legitimate military targets) and has not encroached on the state sovereignty of Russia. The Ukrainian army protects and de-occupies exclusively Ukrainian territories, within the limits determined by Ukrainian and international legislation.

Such a message is spread by anonymous telegram channels, which, according to the Security service in Ukraine (SSU), are controlled by Russian intelligence. Reports say that Ukraine could have prevented a war with Russia or rather avoided it. However, according to the authors of the messages, Ukraine, due to the incompetence of the leadership, missed its chance on February 10. According to the authors of the telegram channels, the last chance for peace was on that day, during the visit of the head of the office of President Andrii Yermak to Berlin. According to propagandists, in order for there to be peace, Ukraine should have simply started to implement the Minsk agreements signed in 2014. The authors of the messages also claim that the employees of the President's Office simply lied to people telling them that everything was fine, that there was no need to panic and in such a way they allowed the war. In fact, the Minsk agreements were systematically violated not by Ukraine, but by Russia, which started the war and occupied part of Ukraine in the spring of 2014. That is, experience proves that peace agreements with Russia do not work. However, Russian propagandists need such messages in order to shift the responsibility for the war from themselves to Ukraine. They say that the attack allegedly occurred due to the fact that Ukraine did not work well, and not because Russia is the aggressor. 

Such a message today, November 24, when a significant part of Ukraine was left without electricity and water supply due to Russian rocket explosions, is being spread by pro-Kremlin propaganda media and anonymous telegram channels.

In the messages, they refer to the secretary of the Russian President Dmytro Pieskov, who openly stated that the leadership of Ukraine has every opportunity to bring the situation back to normal, has every opportunity to resolve the situation, comply with Russia's demands and thus stop all possible suffering of civilians.

Through such messages, Russia is blackmailing Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, inclining them to negotiate and agree to all the conditions of the aggressor. Also in this way, Russia is trying to shift the responsibility for its actions and crimes to the Ukrainian authorities. In particular, the Kremlin says that the lack of electricity and heat in many regions of Ukraine is the consequences of the actions of the Kyiv authorities, who refuse to negotiate. However, the lack of power supply is a consequence of enemy rocket attacks. And the fact that Ukraine agrees to negotiations may not mean that Russia will stop shelling Ukrainian energy facilities.

After all, it was Russia that started the war in Ukraine, and it was Russia that repeatedly violated agreements and so-called peace agreements. Such messages help Russia live up to its reputation and discredit the Ukrainian authorities, who allegedly do not care about the peaceful citizens of their country.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that the supply of weapons to Ukraine does not bring negotiations closer.

In fact, the message that the West is only continuing the war by providing weapons to Ukraine is one of the most powerful since the beginning of the war. However, propagandists are now manipulating it to force Ukraine into negotiations. The longer Ukraine opposes Russia, the more Russia tries to lead the situation to negotiations on its own terms. However, Ukraine's position on the negotiations remains unchanged - for this, Russia must withdraw its troops from Ukraine. The West provides Ukraine with weapons solely to protect Ukrainian territory. Russia, on the other hand, is destroying Ukrainian critical infrastructure, shelling the civilian population, and wants the surrender of Ukraine, not peace.

Allegedly, this was stated at a briefing by the Chairman of the Committee of the Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, Russian websites reported. They say that the American military department calls the chances of success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the battlefield "low".

General Milli didn't actually say that. He only suggested that the likelihood that Ukraine will liberate all of its territory exclusively by military means in the next few weeks is negligible. At the same time, Milley stressed that the likelihood of a Russian victory over Ukraine is "close to zero" because Russia has not achieved its strategic goals in Ukraine, and now cannot achieve its operational and tactical goals as well.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. Allegedly, the information that Kadyrov was excluded from the sanctions lists was published by the U.S. Treasury department on November 14. It is not true.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) indeed published information about the amendments to the sanctions lists on November 14th. Among other things, it was said that the deleted data of Ramzan Kadyrov, associated with various transliterations of his name - "KADYROW, Ramzan Achmatowisch" - was changed to "KADYROV, Ramzan Akhmadovitch".

Data from the Sanctions List Search tool confirms that the sanctions against Ramzan Kadyrov are in effect.

Probably, in this way, propagandists are trying to undermine the confidence of Ukrainians in the United States. Previously, there were already reports that the United States could betray Ukraine.

This was reported by pro-Russian telegram channels during the air raid due to a massive missile attack on critical infrastructure on the 15th of November. Like, even the Ukrainian authorities write that "there is no information about the casualties".

Russian propaganda is once again manipulating the facts. The Ukrainian authorities urge not to disseminate the results of rocket attacks, especially while the air raid continues. At that time, it was really not known about the dead or injured, when the rescuers were just starting their work. According to the latest data, it is known that one person was killed and six were injured due to rocket attacks. However, this is preliminary information, there may be more victims. A hit on residential buildings was also recorded, and critical infrastructure facilities were damaged.

This thesis was spread by Russian President Volodymyr Putin, after which it was replicated by Russian propaganda media. Putin is convinced that Mariupol is an ancient Russian city. He also claims that the city was founded by Peter I and created his first military flotilla there. However, it is not so. In fact, in Russian historiography, Mariupol as a city in the Russian Empire was founded in 1778, already under Catherine II. Then the city was called Pavlovsk. However, this was preceded by the existence on this territory of the Kalmius settlement - the territory of the Zaporizhzhia Cossacks - with the settlement of Domakha with the Kalmius fortress as the center. The fact-checkers of The Insider project write about this. In 1778-1779, the Russian authorities evicted the Christian population from there to the Crimea and settled Russians there.

In the Georgian segment of social networks, a video is being circulated in which they open a notebook with Ukrainian symbols and show that on the page with the date February 26 it is noted that this is the “Day of the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine”. The author of the video also emphasizes that the notebook was made in 2021, and the full-scale invasion of Russia began in 2022. As a result, they note that this notebook confirms that the Russian attack on Ukraine was pre-planned by the West. This is manipulation.

In fact, the notebook notes the beginning of the Russian occupation of Crimea on February 26, 2014, and not the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. So, the videos distributed on social networks are manipulation, probably counted on ignorance of the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations. The Georgian fake checkers from MythDetector drew attention to the spread of the fake.

The message is spread by the Russian media with reference to the representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Mariia Zakharova. According to her, Russia always maintains a dialogue with everyone, even in the most difficult situations. Like, Russia is ready to wait for peace talks with Ukraine and this is its “good will”.

As the Center for Counteracting Disinformation notes, statements on the negotiations are heard at the highest level, but Russia insists that they should take place exclusively on their own terms.

Thus, Russia is trying to convince the Western audience that it is Ukraine that does not want to end the war. Also, under the pretext of the negotiation process, Russia plans to suspend hostilities in order to build up military potential and continue the occupation of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian authorities have announced the only condition for possible negotiations with Russia - this is the immediate cessation of the war against Ukraine and the withdrawal of Russian troops from the border of Ukrainian territories in 1991.

Previously, propagandists convinced that no one needed a war, that it was necessary to negotiate. Allegedly, Ukraine has unleashed a war with Russia and refuses any negotiations, moreover, Zelenskyi was forbidden to negotiate.

Russian media write about this with reference to Volodymyr Putin. At a press conference, the Russian president said that the massive strikes against Ukraine's civilian infrastructure on the morning of October 31 are "partially" Russia's response, and allegedly "this is not all they can do". Also, according to Putin, Ukraine allegedly created a danger to civilian ships by its actions, using the "grain corridor" for the operation.

UN Deputy Secretary General Martin Griffiths during the UN Security Council on Monday, October 31, said that on the night of October 29, when there was supposedly an attack on Russian warships, there was not a single ship in the “grain corridor”, and not a single ship reported about the weekend incident, the UN spokesman stressed that the corridor as such is “just lines on a map” and when no vessels involved in grain exports are moving along it, it has no special status and is not a “shelter” or “shield” for any military actions. Advisor to the head of the President's Office Mykhailo Podoliak said that Ukraine had nothing to do with the explosions in the temporarily occupied Sevastopol and did not use any underwater or surface drones, except for those used on the front line.

The message that Russia is attacking critical infrastructure “in response” began to be promoted after massive shelling on October 10th. Then it was allegedly a revenge for the attack on the Crimean bridge, the responsibility for which Ukraine did not recognize.

Russian media are quoting Volodymyr Putin and calling Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine a "civil war." According to Russian "experts", Russia's attack on Ukraine is not a foreign intervention, but a "civil battle between two parts of the Russian people".

This message has been promoted since 2014. Thus, earlier they tried to hide the presence of Russian troops on the east side of Ukraine. Now propagandists continue to deny the aggressive policy of Russia against the Ukrainian people. Propagandists use the tactics of substitution of concepts and call the occupation of Ukrainian territories the theses of “reunification of Crimea with Russia”, “civil war in Donbas”. To replace the concept of war, the "special military operation" phrase is used.

There is no “brotherly” and “single Russian people”, this is a Russian myth. According to StopFake, after the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine became the only state that approved its independence by popular vote. The All-Ukrainian referendum on the independence of Ukraine was held on December 1, 1991. The Ukrainian people confirmed their desire to live in a free state - 90.32% of the referendum participants voted for the independence of Ukraine. The turnout in the referendum was 84.18% of the population of Ukraine. After the All-Ukrainian referendum, the worldwide process of recognizing Ukraine as an independent state began - in particular, Russia recognized the independence of Ukraine on December 5, 1991.

By showing aggression towards Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, Russia continues to violate international law and a number of international agreements in the field of security, in particular, fundamental treaties guaranteeing the sovereign equality and territorial integrity of states, as well as the rules of law governing the basic principles of warfare.

The publication Texty.org.ua drew attention to the change in the behavior of the Telegram channels of the leading Russian media. As the author of the study notes, until October 10, the largest number of reports about an air strike in Ukraine in Russian news was on February 24, the day of the start of a full-scale invasion. At that time, the most extensive media wrote that an air alert was announced in Kyiv, and Ukrainians were asked to take shelter. An airstrike in Israel at the end of July attracted more attention from Russian media than the daily sounds of sirens in Ukrainian cities caused by Russia. Until October 10, the Russian media didn't consider it an informational excuse. Since October 10, the Telegram channels of the five largest Russian media have been writing about almost all air alarms to enhance the effect, especially writing about each area in a separate message. In this way, the Russians are probably trying to emphasize their "greatness and power." Otherwise, in this way, they try to support the emotional mood of the Russians, who were greatly comforted by the missile attack. Reports of air strikes are also mixed with reports of power outages resulting from Russia's damage to 30% of Ukraine's power plants. A separate post is dedicated to each region, sometimes without specifying that it's about Ukraine. In this way, Russia uses an old tactic of creating the illusion that Ukraine is still, to some extent, "part of Russia."

Pro-Kremlin anonymous Telegram channels massively spread such messages.

On the evening of October 22 in Zaporizhzhia, the Security Service of Ukraine detained Vyacheslav Boguslayev, the honorary president of the Motor Sich joint-stock company, on suspicion of working for Russia. Investigators established that after 2014, the Motor Sich company continued to supply aircraft engines to Russian planes that bombed Ukraine. For the next few days, Boguslayev's arrest was actively discussed by Russian propagandists on social networks to prove that he allegedly had nothing to do with Russia.

At first, propagandists assumed that Boguslayev's arrest was a purge of Zelenskyy's competitors in the new political season. From 2021, the Ukrainian authorities allegedly arrested everyone whose opinion differed from Zelenskyy's policy. Propagandists claim that there is classified information on everyone who once cooperated with Russia, particularly on Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who once had business in Russia.

The West allegedly knows about it and decides when and whom to detain. Boguslayev became a "victim" of the "western curators of Ukraine" dispute. He reportedly earned money from Turkish bayraktars and has nothing to do with Russia. Russian propagandists emphasize that Boguslayev is a friend of Turkey and the USA but an enemy of Russia. Ukrainian politicians who fled to Russia spread the idea that Boguslayev's story is not about politics; it is only about money. Russian propagandists didn't accidentally whitewash Boguslayev's reputation.

Their messages were a kind of informational counterattack to the facts of the Security Service of Ukraine, which published audio recordings of the telephone conversations of the president of Motor Sich. These audios confirm Boguslayev's cooperation with Russia, that he didn't hide his pro-Russian views, and was repeatedly elected as a People's Deputy from the pro-Russian Party of Regions.

This information was spread in October by pro-Russian media and propaganda telegram channels. As evidence, they cite a photograph of BBC correspondent Jeremy Bowen wearing a helmet and flak jacket with the words 'The Press' written on it and a microphone in his hands as he lies on the ground, with a mound and branches behind him. Propagandists assure that it was a staged video shoot because a woman with bags appears in the frame instead of fighting and shells.

In fact, this image is a screenshot from Jeremy Bowen's TV report on March 6, 2022. He talks about how residents of Irpen are evacuating from the war zone under massive shelling by Russian troops. In this video, you can see how the woman and other people in the frame were also forced to sit or lie on the ground after hearing a loud explosion nearby.

After propagandists spread the word that the BBC video was allegedly staged, journalist Jeremy Bowen categorically denied the allegations. "The allegations are completely fake, #fakenews. Insult me ​​if you want. However, don't insult the thousands of civilians running across the Irpin Bridge to Kyiv from Russian shelling and war crimes," the journalist wrote on his Twitter.

The purpose of such fakes is to cause distrust in foreign journalists who show Russian crimes to the whole world and thus try to show that the Russian occupiers allegedly do not shoot at civilians and do not pose a threat to Ukrainian cities and villages.

Russian media spread such reports, allegedly quoting the commander of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Nayev. Serhii Nayev allegedly believes that with the joint efforts of Russia and Belarus, it will take no more than two to three months to "capture" Kyiv. It is manipulation.

In fact, Serhii Nayev spoke about the situation on the border with Belarus on the air of the national telethon. He noted that the accumulation of Russian equipment and troops together with the armed forces of Belarus indicates the possibility of a repeated attack on Kyiv. Nayev added that the Ukrainian military constantly monitors the level of this threat, and appropriate countermeasures are taken. According to Nayev, Ukraine is now ready for a possible attack from Belarus. Russian propaganda distorted the commander's words of the Joint Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine about a potential threat and gave the desired information as facts. The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the manipulation. Russian propaganda uses the possible joining of the Belarusian army in hostilities as a tactic to lure Ukrainians.

During the massive rocket attacks on October 10, Russian propaganda spread fakes that simultaneously with the rocket attacks on the cities of Ukraine, an offensive from Belarus and along the entire front line began. Propagandists also claim that Ukraine is trying in every possible way to draw Belarus into the war.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels spread this information. Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly signed an application for accelerated accession to NATO, "calls" for a nuclear attack on Russia and thereby "gives Russia an excuse" for aggression. Instead, it is alleged that NATO again "makes it clear" to Ukrainians that Ukraine isn't a member of NATO and, therefore, won't support Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities supposedly understand that they are "playing with fire," but they allegedly "don't care" about the results of such "games."

In fact, pro-Russian propagandists began pushing this message again after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a resolution calling Russia a terrorist regime. The amendment was also included in the resolution calling for air defense systems to be provided to Ukraine.

After Russia's massive missile attacks on Ukraine on October 10-11, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that strengthening Ukraine's air defense would be NATO's top priority. Other Western partners also reported new arms deliveries to Ukraine.

By spreading such messages, Russian propagandists are trying to justify the war crimes of the Russian army and promote the narrative that Russia is alleged "only defending itself" or that "the West is provoking Russia to war in Ukraine."

Some of these stories are published under the hashtag "Russian Whisper," which is used for the stories of the residents of Kyiv, which they allegedly tell propagandists. Propagandists published the story of Olya, who allegedly lives in Kyiv without electricity and writes to Russian propagandists that "not everyone here is abnormal," that she is "very much waiting for the Russians" and cannot talk about it because otherwise, she will not live to " of your victory." The fake checkers of the NotaYenota project drew attention to how the Russian letter "ы" is written in the message - the Ukrainian soft sign and the letter "I"- this writing indicates the fakeness of the message. The Russian letter "Э" was also used in the text. Another of the posts under such a hashtag promotes "historical scraps" about a girl whose passport was written that she is Ukrainian, although she has a Russian surname. The post also talks about "Ukrainization in the 20s and 30s", which was allegedly carried out by force, and it was in the USSR that Ukrainians were created. This message is related to the thesis from the article and the speeches of the Russian president. This girl's friend wrote in her passport that she is "Russian," and now she allegedly fasts with Ukrainian symbols. It is how Ukrainian propaganda supposedly "washes the brain."

With the help of so-called "eyewitness accounts," propagandists promote messages about "Ukrainian Nazism" and "discrimination against Russian speakers" and create the illusion that the Russian army is expected in Ukraine "as liberating heroes."

Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin tried to motivate Russians at a "holiday" concert on the occasion of the illegal "accession" of temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia. For this purpose, he suggested reviving the "originally Russian" battle cry "hayda." As it turned out, the cry is not Russian; its etymology dates back to the times of Kyivan Rus. As the fact-checkers of the "Brekhunets" project write, such a word doesn't exist in any "canonical" Russian dictionary. Experts explain that "hoyda" is an exclamation used as a predicate in the meaning of "hoydáty" (swinging). It is the meaning of this word in the dictionary of the Ukrainian language. Also, "swing" was a characteristic of a thin, tall girl in Bukovyna.

Modern Russia has no direct relation to this exclamation. It is an example of another "borrowing" by Russians of someone else's and passing it off as their own. Earlier, propagandists wrote that Ukraine didn't have "historical rights" to the "Northern Black Sea Region" and that the residents of Zaporizhzhia were allegedly "declared" Ukrainians without their knowledge, "in fact," they "have always been Russians."

The Center reported it for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the NSDC. On October 12, the Russian FSB said the "prevention of two acts of sabotage" allegedly committed by "Ukrainian agents" who entered Russia through Estonia. One was "detained" in the Bryansk region after seizing an improvised explosive device, the other in the Moscow region with two "Igla" MANPADS.

The video about the detention of "Ukrainian saboteurs" is a production. The Center drew attention to the fact that the "Ukrainian saboteur" allegedly drove around the Moscow region in a car loaded with weapons and Ukrainian license plates. This video was shot simultaneously from several angles to make it look more dynamic; they probably had to do several takes. It is indicated by the difference in the distance between the cars in different frames.

The FSB also announced the "opening" of the case of sabotage on the Crimean Bridge. As evidence, the Russians showed an X-ray of a truck that was allegedly mined, but the truck was missing one of its rear axles.

Unlike the rest of the wheels, the spare wheel shines through as if an empty tire had been glued to the bottom.

Russian propaganda systematically uses staged videos about the involvement of "Ukrainians" in crimes already committed on the territory of Russia or about preemptive arrests. Earlier, propagandists filmed a film about the "exposure of SBU agents" in the temporarily occupied Kherson region.

Reports spread on social networks that Russia allegedly established the identity of the man who committed the "terrorist attack" on the Crimean Bridge. He turned out to be a Ukrainian. His passport allegedly evidences it. Photos are added to messages. This photo is fake.

The photo of the passport of the "terrorist" actually turned out to be a photo-edited image illustrating a sample passport of a citizen of Ukraine (ID card) on Wikipedia. The authors of the fake changed only the name, photo, and gender, and all other "document details" remained the same as in Wikipedia. Fraudsters also added alleged blood stains or damage "due to a terrorist attack" with the help of a photo editor. The same picture was also used for a fake Twitter account.

In fact, there is no objective evidence of Ukraine's involvement in the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. The Ukrainian authorities also rejected any accusations in this regard.

Almost every day since the beginning of the war, Russian officials shout from the stands that the West is "pumping" Ukraine with heavy weapons.

The last such statement was made on October 5 - the Russian ambassador to the USA said that the "decision to prolong the pumping of Kyiv" with heavy weapons makes the USA a party to the conflict. Interestingly, at the same time as this statement, a study by The Wall Street Journal was published, which indicated that the number of weapons left by the Russians during the last "regroupings" now makes Moscow the largest supplier of heavy weapons to Ukraine.

For example, the West supplied Ukraine with 320 tanks - and Russia kept 460; The West provided 210 BMPs, and Russia - 448. Moreover, there are even 40 units of missile systems, while Western supplies provide 70 units.

However, the researchers write, not all equipment is caught on video, so the real number of Russian (working) weapons may be more.

Russian media and pro-Russian Telegram channels write it regarding the press secretary of the President of Russia Dmytro Peskov.

They said that there is no final decision on the extent to which the region will be "joined" to Russia, so the opinion of the residents will be asked. It is manipulation.

Before the illegal pseudo-referendums, the collaborator Rogov said that the Zaporizhzhia region would "join" Russia within the current administrative borders. Moreover, the Russian media deliberately coined the term "territories occupied by Kyiv", which is a technology for replacing concepts. Carrying out the so-called "expression of will" in violation of legal norms and "under the muzzles of machine guns" shows that Russia is not interested in what the residents of the temporarily occupied territories want. The situation at the front changes daily, so propagandists manipulate and leave room for an information retreat.

There can be no question of "joining" the temporarily occupied territories to Russia. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, the decision on territorial integrity is made exclusively by the citizens of Ukraine in an all-Ukrainian referendum.

Russian propaganda tries in every way to justify the occupation of Ukrainian territories. To do this, they create the illusion of support for their actions by the residents of the occupied territories. They previously wrote that the turnout for the pseudo-referendum in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region "exceeded 50%." Foreign "observers" also allegedly confirmed the "transparency" of Russian pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

It was prepared in the administration of the Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, reports the publication "Meduza", which received such a method from its sources.

According to "Meduza", the document states that Russia won wars "only in the whole world" and only when Russians believed in "people's war".

The mass media should convey the main thesis that "the people of Russia should unite before the threat of NATO." The Kremlin claims that the alliance intends to "dismember and rob" Russia. Therefore, it is forbidden to "put the entire burden of responsibility on the contractors and the people's militia of Donbas."

The manuals contain information that Russia is supposedly at war not with Ukraine, but with NATO. Therefore, by conveying such theses to ordinary Russians, it is planned to reduce the level of dissatisfaction with mobilization.

Obviously, the methods didn`t work. According to British intelligence, Putin's quick recognition of mobilization problems in Russia shows its ineffectiveness.

he Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" wrote about it, referring to the NATO intelligence report. The information was picked up by other foreign and some Ukrainian media. The Center for Combating Disinformation stated that it is not true.

According to the monitoring of the CPD:

As of October 3, 2022, such information has not been published on the NATO website.

NATO has regularly recorded the activity of Russian submarines since the Cold War. The Alliance made statements about the modernization of navigation systems and armament of Russian submarines as early as 2016. The Center emphasizes that such unsubstantiated statements by the media only increase Russia's information terrorism. Even Russian propagandists, who willingly spread the news about the training of strategic nuclear forces, this time cautiously quoted the newspaper "La Repubblica" and believe that the probability of the actual use of such weapons is quite small.