The Russian Defense Ministry, Russian propaganda media, and telegram channels are actively working to justify the situation in Bucha, where at least 400 murdered and tortured residents were found after Russian troops left. Russian propaganda does not have a unified approach for this case, so it spreads completely different messaging and manipulative messages, from versions about staging and fake photos to the version allegedly killed by the Ukrainian military "for the picture" for foreign media. "The Media Detector recorded 18 variations of propaganda messages. Not all of them are related, but all of them are aimed at justifying Russia.

The most popular message promoted by the Russian authorities is a "staging" or "provocation" by the Ukrainian authorities to force the West to give weapons and aircraft, discredit the Russian army, disrupt peace agreements, and incite violence.

Along with this message spread allegedly:

- "not a single civilian was harmed while Russian troops were in town";

- "residents of Bucha were able to leave the city while Russian troops were there";

- "photos of the dead in Bucha were shown only on the fourth day after the Russian troops left";

- "the video from Bucha shows the dead moving their arms and removing their limbs in order to avoid being hit by the wheels of military equipment, and getting up".

Another group of messages is based on a technique that Russia has already tried - shifting responsibility to the Ukrainian defenders. Among other things, they spread the theses that:

- "the residents of Bucha were killed by the local terrorists";

- "the residents of Bucha were killed by artillery fire from the AFU and Azov when they entered the city";

- "there are white bandages on the bodies of the dead - they were used by the Ukrainians";

- "tying hands is the handwriting of the Ukrainian military and terrorists".

Bucha had been under the occupation of the Russian army since the beginning of March, only on April 1 the AFU reported liberation of the city. After Bucha was returned under the control of the AFU, hundreds of dead were found there. These crimes by the Russian military are already referred to as the "Bucha massacre. President Vladimir Zelensky visited Bucha on April 4 and said that Russia committed war crimes and genocide in Ukraine. The European Union accused Russian authorities of committing atrocities.

"Detector Media" urges readers to take care of their mental health and try not to distribute the photos to their acquaintances and loved ones, because the purpose of such activities of the Russians is to terrorize the Ukrainian population. They seek to intimidate and break the spirit to make it harder for Ukrainians to resist.

This thesis is spread by the Russian media and pro-Kremlin telegram channels The Center to Counter Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine warned that another attempt by Russia to prepare an information field to justify war crimes and an attempt to intimidate the population against the background of redeployment of occupation troops to Donbass and the south of Ukraine. "A similar disinformation campaign in the Russian media was recorded on February 27 to spread panic among the population. The enemy reported alleged Ukrainian provocations with phosphorus in Gostomel. On March 25 and April 2, the Kafirs used phosphorus in ORDLO. Then the Kremlin media tried to shift responsibility for the use of banned weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces," the report said.

Several Kremlin media disseminate such information regarding the so-called "LPR forces". According to StopFake, the killings of civilians are attributed to the Ukrainian army, which allegedly "drove people out of basements and used them as human shields".

“There are no photos and video evidence of such "burials". However, this is not confirmed by locals. On the contrary, the Russian occupation forces continue to fire on civilian targets and kill the civilian population of Ukraine," the fact-checkers wrote.

According to the Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, the enemy is producing a wave of disinformation aimed at the residents of Kherson. "Kherson is the only large Ukrainian city that has been under temporary Russian occupation since the beginning of a new phase of the war. Russian propaganda is actively "working" with the minds of the local residents, and through its agents in Kherson is spreading false messages that are beneficial to Russia and discredit the actions of the Ukrainian authorities," the Center said in a statement. Among the messages there are the following: "Kherson has been left", "Ukraine does not need Kherson", "Ukraine has left the civilians without means of subsistence."

In fact, this is not the case at all. "Ukraine will never leave the people of Kherson in trouble. Сonsidering the situation at the front line, the Ukrainian army is reckless to start fighting within the city, sacrificing civilians. Ukraine highly appreciates the efforts of the local residents, who, despite the temporary occupation of Russia, go out to rallies in support of Ukraine," the Center added.

This information was shared by French journalist Anne-Laure Bonnell. Fake has already been refuted by fact-checkers from StopFake. According to the report, since the beginning of the open invasion of Ukraine, the Russian occupation forces have been intentionally shelling residential areas and civilians in Donbas.

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Social networks and Kremlin media sources spread a fake video of Ukraine allegedly blowing up a dam blocking water from the Dnipro river, so that “the water went” to the occupied Crimea. The leader of the Crimean occupation administration, Serhiy Aksyonov, says that the dam was destroyed by "our military (occupiers — DM)".

According to StopFake, the video does not show the dam that blocks the water supply to the occupied Crimea. This can be seen in the photo.

Such announcements have appeared on the internet during the day. However, the Vasylkiv City Council denies this information. “The Territorial Defense Forces and Kyiv Regional Council are not evacuating the population due to the residents' life threat in the region. In some districts of the region, the situation is complicated, but controlled, because of russian occupation troops’ attempts to take over our cities and, eventually, Kyiv”, — the city council informed.

People are also asked to stay in safe places, shelters, at home. Don’t leave them.

This message is spread by Ilya Kiva the People's Deputy from a pro-Russian and Eurosceptic political party: Opposition Platform — For Life, on his telegram channel. He urges everyone to be objective but claims that all the stories about the victories of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in battles with Russia are supposedly faked. He says that there are already a lot of Russian tanks and special forces in Kyiv and that they are preparing to storm the administrative buildings.

Kiva also states that "Zelensky and his mono-majority are involved in the current situation in the country." In fact, according to official data, since the beginning of the open large-scale invasion of the Russian-occupation forces into Ukraine on February 24, they have lost more than 2,800 soldiers, 80 tanks, and 516 armored vehicles. The Ukrainian military keeps the defense in many cities of Ukraine.