Russian propaganda spreads to foreign audiences, particularly Arab countries, the information that Texas is allegedly planning to hold a referendum on secession from the United States in 2023. At the same time, the state authorities can supposedly recognize the "DPR" and "LPR" (these are the territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions illegally occupied by Russia).

In fact, as EUvsDisinfo writes, this is part of the pro-Kremlin narrative about the so-called disintegration of the US. Although Texas Congressman Kyle Biedermann introduced a bill that would have called for a "Texit" referendum in 2021, it ultimately failed. So in 2023, there is no planned referendum on the secession of Texas from the United States. The USA does not recognize the "independence" of the so-called "LPR - DPR" and condemns the regimes and countries that did this way.

The Russian media report it regarding the self-proclaimed "head" of the occupation administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, Yevhen Balytskyi. According to reports, more than 60% of Zaporizhzhia region residents see the region's territories as part of Russia in the status of a separate entity. It is not true.

According to the Industrialka publication, the occupiers scheduled a vote for September 11. Still, Balytsky already claims that "the liberated part of the Zaporizhzhia region will become part of Russia through a referendum," and 60% of residents will allegedly support such a decision. The Melitopol partisans reacted to Balytskyi's statements, warning the collaborator in leaflets that "Ukrainian night is near" and punishment is inevitable.

The results of actual sociological research conducted in Ukraine refute the fakes of Russian propagandists. The majority (89%) of those surveyed support the recognition of the actions of Russian troops in Ukraine as genocide of the Ukrainian people. 76% favor banning the Z and V symbols used on Russian military equipment, and 74% favor banning the St. George ribbon in Ukraine (5 years ago, it was only 45%).

Recently, pro-Russian propaganda spread fakes that the authorities and residents of the Kharkiv region "want to join Russia." The actions of the occupiers on the territory of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions are the same as in 2014 in the temporarily occupied Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions - an illegal referendum, the results of which are known in advance.

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

Such information is distributed on social networks. However, it is not true.

PJSC "Zaporizhzhiaoblenergo" denied the report about the disconnection of energy supply in the temporarily occupied territories. The company emphasizes that there are currently no planned power outages in the Zaporizhzhia region, and there will not be any. A similar message was published by the press service of "DTEK Donetsk Electric Networks." The enterprises confirm that there are problems with energy supply in certain territories. Still, they are connected exclusively with damage to power grids due to military actions or difficult weather conditions. However, if there is an opportunity, energy workers have been working around the clock since the first days of a full-scale invasion and restoring electrical equipment as soon as possible.

Earlier, propagandists spread fakes about the disconnection of gas supply in the temporarily occupied territories. In this way, they try to convince the residents of the temporarily occupied territories that they have been "abandoned" or "forgotten" in Ukraine and the occupiers "care" about their well-being.

The message was circulated on Facebook, which says that allegedly on the morning of July 10, a unit of the fifth special brigade of the Armed Forces of Belarus tried to cross the state border in the Zarichnen community of the Rivne region.

The saboteurs got into a minefield and were under mortar fire. This news was also spread by the local media Volodymyrets.City. However, it is a fake.

As the fact-checkers of the Brekhunets project write the message in a comment to the publication Rayon. Varash was refuted by Bohdan Kvachuk, the head of the Zarichnen community of the Varash district of the Rivne region: "The border in the community has not been violated!". It is not the first time that fake reports about the crossing of the Ukrainian border by Belarusians have spread. In this way, propagandists are trying to draw Belarus into active hostilities and intimidate Ukrainians, saying that the opening of the "second front" is close.

This message was spread by several Russian propaganda media, including TARS, Life, EADaily, RIA Novosti, OSN, Fifth Channel, and others. According to Stopfake fact-checkers, the propagandists refer to an interview of Vitaliy Ganchev, a Kharkiv collaborator appointed by the Russian occupation authorities as the so-called "head of the temporary civil administration" in the occupied part of the Kharkiv region.

No authorities of the Kharkiv region have made statements about the region's desire to join Russia. The Russian mass media spread the quote only by supporting the occupiers, a collaborator, Vitaliy Ganchev. The Russian authorities appointed him "the head of the temporary civil administration of the Kharkiv region." However, it is a fictitious body, just like the "position," and they have nothing to do with the official Ukrainian authorities. Vitaliy Ganchev is accused of treason and collaborative activity (Part 2 of Article 111, Part 5 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) - on April 21, the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office notified him of the suspicion in absentia. The press service of the prosecutor's office reports that the man voluntarily went to cooperate with the occupiers.

The statement that residents of the occupied part of the Kharkiv region want to join Russia has no factual basis. The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleg Synegubov, reported at the beginning of July that the occupiers temporarily control approximately 30% of the region's territory - part of the border areas in the north and the eastern provinces from Volchansk to Izyum. After a part of the region was occupied at the beginning of spring, people wanted to leave the territories temporarily under the control of the Russians and return to the cities under the supervision of Ukraine, Kharkiv RSA reports.

A recent sociological survey by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS), which was conducted on May 13-18, 2022, showed that the absolute majority of citizens who continue to live in the occupied territory after February 24, 2022 - 82% - have a negative attitude towards Russia and only 6% have a positive attitude.    

The Center for Combating Disinformation called this message the main narrative promoted by the Russian media today and predicts that similar provocations will continue to appear in the media space to destabilize society and as an explanation for missile attacks. CPD writes that propagandists describe the need to cut Ukraine from the sea completely. The CPD explained the reasons for such statements: "Firstly, Russia is afraid of basing the naval forces of the collective West in the future. Thus, propagandists reinforce the disinformation campaign that Russia is actually at war with NATO and that the Armed Forces are just a proxy army. Secondly, the Kremlin understands that they cannot and will not be able to take Kyiv.    

The Russian propaganda media spread this information, saying that the USA is convinced that Ukraine will have to give up its territories to end the conflict. In such reports, they refer to a Reuters article about a speech by Avril Haines, who allegedly said that "Russia will achieve all the goals of its special operation." It is not true.

MythDetector fact-checkers refuted the fake. In fact, in a speech at the annual conference of the Bureau of Industry and Security of the Department of Commerce in Washington, Avril Haines spoke about the Russian-Ukrainian war and possible scenarios for its development. The Reuters agency devoted a separate article to this speech. It says that the Russian army is exhausted after four months of fighting and is unlikely to be able to achieve the goals set by Putin. "We feel a disconnect between Putin's immediate military goals and the capabilities of his army, a certain disparity between his ambitions and what the Army is capable of achieving," Haines said. Neither Avril Haines' speech nor the Reuters article talked about the Russian army's absolute superiority and Russia's victory in all scenarios. According to which the Russian military could win, only certain unlikely variants of the course of events are discussed. In this way, the propagandists again used a distorted quote to convince their audience of their "own power."    

The Russian propaganda media spread this thesis. Pro-Kremlin media reports say that the American media CNN emphasizes the superiority of the Russian army over the Ukrainian one and talks about some of the successes of the Russian offensive in Donbas.

From these points, Russian journalists conclude that Russia's success will lead to the division of Ukraine. At the same time, the propagandists ignore the statements that such tactical victories of the Russian army can only be a fleeting achievement in the absence of heavy offensive weapons in the Armed Forces. As StopFake writes, CNN states that the Russian military commander Yuriy Kotenok himself believes that the Russian troops do not have enough human resources to surround the heavily fortified cities of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk. In fact, according to fact-checkers, referring to CNN, Russian propaganda tells about the fact that the international media allegedly recognized the successes of the Russian army and prophesied "the division of the territory of Ukraine." But in the CNN article, there are no statements or evaluative judgments that territorial division awaits Ukraine in case of further military successes of Russia. More details.

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.

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

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

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

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed this in an interview with BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg. Steve Rosenberg recalled the facts from the UN report on the events in the village of Yagidne, Chernihiv region: "The Russian military kept 360 people, including 74 children and 5 people with disabilities, in the basement of the school where they set up headquarters for 28 days. The basement was very crowded. For many days people could only sit; there was no place to lie. There was no toilet, water, or ventilation in the room. Ten older adults died."

After counting the number of victims and describing the conditions of detention of civilians, the journalist asked Lavrov whether such actions of the Russian military were a fight against Nazism. Lavrov accused the UN Secretary General and UN staff of spreading fake news about war crimes. "Unfortunately, you know that international officials, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, including, unfortunately, the UN Secretary General, and many other United Nations officials, are vulnerable to Western pressure. And very often, they act as a mouthpiece for the fake news that the West spreads, "Lavrov replied. The village of Yahidne is located 140 kilometers north of Kyiv, near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. The Russian army occupied it a few days after the start of a full-scale invasion.

The Russian military drove 360 ​​villagers to the basement of the school, where they were held for 28 days. At the time of the hostage-taking, the youngest of them was one and a half months old, and the oldest was 93 years old. Among the detainees were 74 children and 5 infants.

The hostages were in the basement around the clock. The Russian military used them as a human shield for their headquarters, which they organized in the school building. People were left in a confined space without ventilation, medication, and the ability to move. They slept sitting or standing. According to the hostages, the daily ration was only 200 grams of soup for two.

с In the letter, the heads of educational institutions are allegedly instructed to compile lists of conscripts with the characteristics of the assessment of military-patriotic education. However, this letter is not valid. The information was refuted by the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science. "The Ministry's form, the original letter number, and the QR-code assigned by the electronic document management system was used to forge the letter. The distribution of the generated document is a confirmation of the information war aimed at creating public concern and discrediting the Ministry of Education and Science.

Please do not trust senseless messages from the enemy and false "documents," the ministry explained.

Such messages were spread by Russian telegram channels and the media on the eve of the visit of EU leaders to Ukraine. Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov quoted French President Emmanuel Macron to support his thesis, saying that Ukraine should negotiate with Russia on its own. We should notice that Russia has repeatedly used manipulation to pressure the world to change the situation in its favor. These manipulations are refuted by statements made at a joint press conference of Germany, France, Italy, and Romania leaders after they visited Ukraine. "We always support the dialogue because one day the conflict will end, and negotiations must begin. But the terms of the talks must be determined by Ukraine: France and Germany will never be mediators behind Ukraine and will never demand conditions from Ukraine," he said. President of France Emmanuel Macron. "Russia is trying to force the borders inside Europe. And this is unacceptable. Therefore, Germany and other countries have sided with Ukraine from day one," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "Italy wants to see Ukraine as part of the European Union. So, it will support Ukraine's status as a candidate and in the future accession to the EU. This path involves deep reforms," ​​said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. "Today in Kyiv with my European colleagues - Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister Mario Draghi - to show our strong support and full solidarity with President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian people," said President Ioannis. It should be noted that after such statements by EU leaders, the Russian media again began to actively threaten Russia's use of nuclear weapons, which is also an element of pressure and intimidation.

Fake accounts spread on social networks that, despite the situation in Ukraine, the hotel administration wants to give guests a happy summer vacation. "Payment can be made both in rubles and in hryvnias. Our position is neutral; we do not choose either side. We are for peace and summer vacation by the sea," the swindlers wrote online. Earlier, similar ads could be found for the Crimean hotels of this chain.

The Russian military is intimidating residents of the temporarily occupied Skadovsk in the Kherson region by threatening the spread of anthrax in the city. However, this is not true. As Suspilne writes, the message was refuted by the deputy chairman of the Kherson regional council Yury Sobolevsky. "All burial places of a dangerous ulcer were preserved, constantly inspected, about what made the act. The state food and consumer service were engaged in it. The situation was completely controlled. We don't know what it is now; our service doesn't have access to burials. However, if the Russian military won't damage anything, there is nothing that threatens the population," Sobolevsky said. Skadovsk Mayor Oleksandr Yakovlev also denies the fake - the cattle burial ground is outside the city, and no actions providing damage to it are carried out. "He is absolutely safe because he was registered and had proper care. All these years, the cattle cemetery did not pose a danger to anyone. I contacted the head of the organization where the cemetery is located; everything is fine with him," Yakovlev said. It is not the first attempt to intimidate the inhabitants of the occupied territories and the whole of Ukraine by spreading infectious diseases. The same technology is used every time - firstly, it is about the situation in one city. It gradually spreads to other cities, imitating the epidemic and intensifying people's panic. Earlier, we wrote about the same technology of distribution of fakes about cholera in the Ukrainian cities, in particular in Odesa, Kyiv, Mykolaiv, Berdyansk, Bila Tserkva, etc. We have also already denied information about the spread of the plague in Odesa. Russia may continue the same information operations on outbreaks of fake infections, diverting attention from the real problems in the occupied territories.

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.

Russian propagandists spread such information. In particular, she appeared in pro-Russian telegram channels. Such reports say that Ukraine has stopped paying salaries to public sector employees in the occupied territories and has stopped paying pensions and other social benefits. The authors of such reports claim that there will be no more payments from Ukraine for Energodar residents. However, this is a fake. It was refuted by the mayor of Energodar, Dmytro Orlov. "Dear citizen of Energodar, all this information is not true! The rashists and their collaborating henchmen in the occupied territories are increasing the number of fakes, the main purpose of which is to "stimulate" people to obtain Russian passports. After all, they saw that fewer people were willing to receive this dubious paper in Energodar and other territories than they had expected. That's why they use almost everything: persuasion, blackmail, intimidation, and artificially created feelings of hopelessness. Do not succumb to provocations! We understand that with limited access to the Internet, it is difficult to obtain timely information. But you should know: Ukraine will never voluntarily give up its citizens and is doing everything to bring the day of your liberation closer," the mayor of Energodar wrote.

Information about this is spreading on social networks. Allegedly, the mayor Ihor Terekhov called on the chief doctors to buy a batch of atropine to protect themselves from chemical attacks. However, ше is not valid. The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, refuted a fake in the address to citizens. "It's a blatant lie as if I called on the chief doctors of city hospitals to buy atropine in case of chemical attacks. Today I gathered the chief doctors of hospitals and staff, but only to say words of gratitude for their work and congratulate them on the Medical Worker Day. I urge you not to believe in fakes. Now they are purposefully produced and distributed. We should not be broken or defeated, so they are trying to intimidate, demoralize and sow panic. But the Russian occupier will not succeed!" Terekhov said.

Russian propaganda media spread this information. In particular, the publication RT. In Kharkiv, the Ukrainian army deployed artillery and MRL in the city hospital №28. In their texts, the journalists refer to the head of the National Defense Management Center of Russia, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev. However, this is a fake. Journalists from the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center asked the city council for comment, where they denied Mizintsev's words and called them nonsense. Recently, similar information about weapons depots has been spread about other hospitals in the city. The Department of Health of the Kharkiv City Council also noted that there is no army or terrorist defense in medical institutions in Kharkiv. We will remind the Russian propaganda, not for the first time invents stories about warehouses of the weapon in Ukraine placed on civilian objects, particularly in hospitals, schools, and shopping centers. Recently, the fake about the placement of firing points in Odesa schools was refuted by the head of the Odesa RMA, Serhiy Bratchuk.

According to the journalist Andriy Tsaplienko, the Russian occupiers are distributing a fake newspaper about the "lost Zaporizhzhia region," which allegedly quotes the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny. The newspaper claims that the article alleges that Ukraine allegedly "lost the Zaporizhzhia region" because it "used its reserves to defend Azovstal."

The Russian newspaper Izvestia published an article stating that more than 100,000 Zaporizhzhia residents had already applied for Russian citizenship, and thousands had prepared the necessary documents. The publication refers to the statement of the collaborator Vladimir Rogov, appointed by the occupiers as the head of the so-called council of the military-civil administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, on the air of the Russian propaganda TV channel "Solovyov Live."

"There are already more than 100 thousand people - this is 100% who are now in queues. And thousands of people who have already prepared packages of documents," Rogov said. The article also mentions the following: "In the first three days, the city's passport office [Berdyansk] processed 25 applications for Russian citizenship. There are 70 more people on the list… Several residents of Melitopol have also already been given Russian identity cards, Rogov said on June 11. On the same day, Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Kherson region's Military-Civil Administration (MCA), received Russian citizenship. In addition to him, the first passports of the Russian Federation that day were handed over to 25 more residents of the region."

The high-profile title of the article is another fake propaganda machine. First, Zaporizhzhia is not occupied but is part of Ukraine. Therefore, mentioning Zaporizhzhia in the title is already a manipulation to attract attention. Secondly, in addition to the actual regional center, there are two large cities in the region - Berdyansk (population - of 109 thousand people as of 2020) and Melitopol (almost 150 thousand people as of 2021), which are now temporarily occupied. That is, when the occupiers talk about 100 thousand inhabitants of Zaporizhzhia, it is rather about the number of Ukrainians who remained in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region for various reasons.

In addition, the occupiers are actively spreading information that obtaining Russian passports has also begun in Kherson. However, for Kherson (a regional center with a population of almost 280 thousand as of January 2022), they show much more modest figures - there only 1.5 thousand people "expressed a desire to change citizenship."

Information about this is disseminated in pro-Russian telegram channels. The reports say that the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, allegedly ordered to hand over Avdiivka to the occupiers and ordered the living soldiers. They remained there to be declared missing. However, this is not true. There is no such presidential decree. "Avdiivka is Ukraine. It was, is, and will be ours!" This information is an insignificant, clumsy fake. They are cynically trying to destroy us. We are heroically resisting. Victory is ours because it has long been known who will come to us with a sword, die by the sword, " wrote the head of the Avdiivka city military-civil administration Vitaliy Barabash.

The information that the cholera epidemic is starting in these cities of Ukraine is spreading on social networks. These reports say that cholera was found in the city waters of Kharkiv and Bila Tserkva. However, this is not true. MOC "Kharkivvodokanal" reports that the quality of drinking water in the city is monitored daily by the epidemic and sanitary-chemical safety indicators. "There are no deviations from the requirements of the State Sanitary Rules and Norms 2.2.4-171-10; tap water is completely safe. We urge you to trust only official sources of information, "Vodokanal said. BILOTSERKIVVODA PLC also reports that drinking water quality is controlled, and currently, tap water is completely safe. We remind you that earlier information about cholera-contaminated water was disseminated in Odesa and Kyiv.

Such information is disseminated online, as well as in ads posted on the streets of the city. The reports say that the Kharkiv utility company "Zhylkomservice" allegedly appeals to citizens to leave their apartments open. The ads add that this is allegedly necessary to place territorial defense fighters firing positions in the flats. However, this is a fake. According to the Kharkiv City Council, communal services did not ask citizens not to close their homes. "We urge citizens to be careful and be sure to close windows and doors before leaving the apartment," the city council said. We will remind you that the Russian propagandists repeatedly lied that the Ukrainian military arranged firing points in the territory of civilian objects, for example, on the domain of the Odesa film studio.