The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the city of Lyman in the Kramatorsk district of the Donetsk region was completely "liberated from Ukrainian nationalists." The Russian media widely spread this “news.” Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on the national telethon that the situation in Lyman is complicated, but it is too early to talk about the occupation. "It's a war. The enemy is strong,, and the Armed Forces are also strong. That's why the fighting is fierce, " the official emphasized. She explained that until a particular stage of the war is over, it is incorrect to discuss any final results and draw conclusions. During the battles, a specific part of the settlement may be temporarily under the control of one side. Later, this situation may change dramatically.

Hanna Malyar said that Lyman is a large railway junction, so some believe that capturing this citywouldl significantly strengthen the enemy positions in the Donbas. However, if we consider all the factors, including the balance of power and the means of delivery of provisions, it is not appropriate to say so. After all, the logistics and average morale of the army must be established. Therefore, according to Malyar, one city Lyman will not significantly affect the ability of the enemy army.

In turn, the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko noted on May 27 that Lyman is mainly under the control of the Russian military.

At the same time, Ukrainian defenders managed to take and strengthen new positions.

We will also note that the occupiers have been trying to capture the estuary for a long time. On May 24, Kyrylenko said that they were entering the city and were being beaten out by the Armed Forces. The enemy drove to the subburn and tried to break through to the center of the city.

Russian propaganda, including Vladimir Solovyov's telegram channel, spreads the fake that 80% of Kherson residents want a Russian passport. Firstly, this figure is taken from the ceiling: there is no independent sociology in the region, and no one has conducted any polls. Secondly, this figure was invented by collaborator Kirill Stremousov - he simply told the Russian media that he "thinks so." That was enough for the Russian media to spread the news with such headlines.

Fact-checkers from CheckNews, a subsidiary of the French newspaper Liberation, have exposed lies and manipulation by former military man Henry Boke, who has recently appeared on television in foreign media as a witness to "Ukrainian war crimes, including the Azov," who seem to have seen with their own eyes. In particular, he claimed to have seen members of Azov "systematically shoot at the feet of captured Russian soldiers and then execute Russian officers" - all of which, according to Boke, took place in Bucha. The publication checked his message - and found no evidence that he could even see anything of what he was telling a foreign audience. Yes, the fact-checkers received information that Boke was in Ukraine several times, but most of his trips were for one day - he entered and left on the same date, for example, April 4. All border crossings took place in the Lviv region. And even the only time he was in Ukraine for almost three days (less than 72 hours from April 17 to 19), he was in Lviv and witnessed the Russian shelling of the city on April 18, as evidenced by his photos. He could not physically reach Bucha once when he was in Ukraine. Also, there is no evidence that he communicated with the Ukrainian military - only photos of checkpoints in his photo.

Researchers also spoke to his former colleagues in the military unit he served, claiming he lied a lot. You can read more about Boke here.

Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov, the Russian particular services-controlled telegram channel NachShtabu, and other pro-Kremlin media outlets reported that civilians were allegedly not allowed into their apartments in the village of Lyutizh in the Kyiv region because military personnel had settled there. However, according to NotaYenota, they call the village of Lyutizh - “Lyutezh,” and there is no such settlement in Ukraine. Along with these manipulative theses, Russian propaganda is also distributing videos.

There was a recreation center in the village of Lyutizh, where the Renaissance Spiritual Center, headed by Volodymyr Muntyan, a self-proclaimed Protestant and the 13th Apostle, holds its meetings. According to the NotaYenota project, this recreation center was transferred to the defenders of Ukraine for use. So in this video, civilians are not trying to get to their apartments, but representatives of the "Renaissance" are holding rallies. "Currently, rallies are being held around the base from sectarians of Renaissance Spiritual Center - this thesis actively posted on his social networks “Apostle” Volodymyr Muntyan and propaganda trash are picked up this thesis in their “news.” On his page, there are dozens of video appeals from the "parishioners" of the church, which tell either about the Armed Forces or about those disguised in the uniform of the Armed Forces, that there is looting, and so on. There is no evidence other than emotions in the video of the sectarians. As a result, the information on the video is completely distorted. "Renaissance sectarians are provoking the military," the fact-checkers said.

Russian media and pro-Kremlin telegram channels reported that two battalions of Poles had allegedly arrived in Ukraine and would soon be sent to fight in the Donbas. This fake began to spread against President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement about the bill on the special legal status of Polish citizens in Ukraine, which should become a "mirror respect" for Poland, which passed a law on support for Ukrainian citizens. It came into force on March 13 and regulated the legality of Ukrainians' stay in Poland and provided them with comprehensive support.

Despite this, StopFake writes, Russian propaganda spreads the thesis that the Ukrainian bill aims to " legalize Poles who want to take part in hostilities against Russia." In fact, for this purpose, the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine was created in Ukraine, where citizens of other countries serve. It includes Poles and volunteers from the Netherlands, USA, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries. But there are no separate Polish battalions in Ukraine. Only Belarusians have their battalion named after Kastus Kalinowski, recently enlarged to the regiment. The Polish Government Security Center also denied allegations that Polish troops had arrived in Ukraine.

Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said that the pace of the Russian military in Ukraine had slowed down consciously, allegedly deliberately, "to avoid casualties among the civilian population." Russian politicians and officials have spread similar messages that the Russian army is fighting in Ukraine "not in full force" or "everything is going according to plan." In particular, in this way, Russia is trying to justify its defeats in Ukraine and create the illusion of control over the situation.

Thousands of peaceful Ukrainians, including children, have fallen victim to Russian aggression. A report by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights shows that as of May 24, 3,942 civilians had been killed in a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. As of May 25, according to the Prosecutor General's Office, 238 children had died, and another 433 had been injured in the Russian aggression.

A pro-Russian resource published photos of documents allegedly belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which reportedly "surrendered to Russia." Borova village council reported that one of the photos showed a resident of their community who does not serve in the Armed Forces and at the time of the occupation was in the village and working at one of the local farms. "The occupiers came to him and took him away, but the boy returned home three days later. Therefore, we can assume that other photos of the documents from this post were obtained similarly and have nothing to do with reality, " the Borova village council said.

The Russian media spread this manipulative thesis, StopFake reports. It is part of a widespread message that Ukraine allegedly "abandoned" the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, saying that "people are forced to survive on their own, cook food in makeshift field kitchens." In fact, gas supplies to these areas have been cut off because shelling by the Russian military has damaged the main gas pipeline. On May 23, the gas transmission system operator of Ukraine announced that the damaged section of the gas pipeline had been located. Still, it was currently impossible to resume gas transportation due to active hostilities. The Luhansk Regional Military Administration clarified that the gas pipeline was damaged when the Russian military tried to cut off the Luhansk region from the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway. In Donetsk Region State Administration added that the central hub through which gas went to the Donetsk region is now in the temporarily occupied territory of the Luhansk region.

In an editorial, The New York Times reported that Ukraine's success in the war with Russia now looks unrealistic and that Ukraine may have to cede territory. According to the NYT, if the conflict leads to actual negotiations, "Ukrainian leaders will have to make painful territorial decisions, which will require any compromise." Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, does not consider it impossible for Ukraine to win the war with Russia and regain the territories occupied by the Russians.

"According to experts, Ukraine should freeze three times in winter, run out of electricity in March, and the Russian flag would rise over half of the country. Remember when you hear another horror story that the country will not survive next winter and people will be left on the streets without work. If every time someone said "it is impossible," we would give up, and our country would not exist. If you hear that "Ukraine will have to sacrifice territories because Russia is strong," these are the words of a loser who has already lost. We have no other country; we know what we are fighting for. That is why we will win,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

This is the information disseminated by the Russian media. Reports claim that the hospital in Rubizhny, "neglected due to lack of funds and resources," was allegedly repaired with funds from Ramzan Kadyrov's mother's fund. A video showing a tour of the new hospital was also made public on the Telegram account of the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. In that video, the Chechen fighters claim that before their arrival in the city there was "not a single institution that could not provide professional care. However, this is a fake. As StopFake fact checkers write, the infectious disease department of the Central City Hospital in Rubizhne was rebuilt with funds from the United Nations Development Program and the Japanese government back in 2017. Serhii Haidai, chairman of the Luhansk Military Regional Administration, said that before the war, this infectious disease department of the city hospital in Rubizhne had modern equipment and was considered one of the best in Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate accused the fifth president of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko and the Orthodox Church of Ukraine of Russia's attack on Ukraine - allegedly receiving the Tomos on autocephaly and the creation of the PCU became one of the reasons for the military invasion of Ukraine. Recall that Ukraine received Tomos on January 6, 2019, while Russia invaded Ukraine and occupied Crimea and parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions back in 2014.

At the same time, the State Service for Ethnopolitics and Freedom of Conscience (SSF) reacted to the statement of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate, noting that it contains statements that can be regarded as inciting religious hatred, insulting the feelings of believers and justifying the war of Russia against Ukraine. They recalled that the PCU is an officially registered religious association that responds to the request of millions of Ukrainian Orthodox believers to belong to such an Orthodox Church, which has no affiliation with a religious association in Russia. The PCU, in turn, accused the UOC MP of spreading the ideology of the "Russian world" in society: "For decades, its representatives have consistently promoted, spread, supported and propagandized both among their faithful and in Ukrainian society the ideology of the "Russian world" - and the key justification for Russian aggression against our state It is this fascist-type ideology that now dominates in Russia, one of the main creators, inspirers and propagandists of which is the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Kirill Gundyaev, was and remains the basis for justifying the Russian war against Ukraine, occupying our land, killing our people, destruction of our cities and villages, attempts to destroy our statehood and the very identity of the Ukrainian people.

 This information was disseminated by the Russian propaganda media. In particular, it was voiced on the air of the First Russian Channel. There was a story about the Ukrainian hostages, which claimed that they were in very good condition, had three meals a day and the possibility of personal hygiene and medical care. At the end of the story the journalist said that the Ukrainian authorities are not interested in the fate of the captives at all and do not negotiate with Russia. The My Thdetector project factchecker paid attention to the story. However, none of this is true. Specifically, as of May 6, Russia and Ukraine had exchanged hostages ten times, resulting in the release of at least 331 Ukrainian citizens (including military and civilians). The last time Ukraine and Russia exchanged hostages was on May 6, this exchange resulted in the return of 41 people to Ukraine - 28 military and 13 civilians.

Russian propaganda media spread information that after Kherson was occupied by Russian troops, the AFU began "continuously shelling" the city. Such reports add that Russian air defenses "protect" civilians. Kherson, and the shelling of Ukrainians is also carried out from the direction of Nikolaev, in particular, spread such information by the propaganda website Ukraina.ru and calls such actions the point of no return, saying that this is done to scare the region, which is ready to cooperate with the Russians.

However, the Ukrainian army is not shelling temporarily occupied Kherson. According to StopFake, information about heavy explosions in the city center on May 12 was not confirmed by local media, nor was any evidence provided by Russian journalists. At the same time, the Russian army continues shelling the Kherson region, particularly with phosphorus shells, as do convoys of civilians trying to leave the occupied territories. Read more.

Pro-Kremlin media outlets, including Ria Novosti, have spread a commentary by the ambassador of the so-called "LNR" in Russia, Rodion Melnik, that Ukraine plans to mobilize 1 million people for war with Russia. Rodion Melnyk, former general director of the Luhansk regional state television and radio company, a Party of Regions regional council deputy and deputy head of the so-called "LNR," called Ukrainians "underdogs" back in 2012 after reading Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov's Facebook post that the war was entering a protracted phase and decided to show his talent as a "diplomat" by twisting words about Ukraine's alleged plan to mobilize 1 million people.

"The U.S. and allies raised the stakes in the agreement, Kiev needs to raise its share - 1 million soldiers! The agreement called 'war in Ukraine' was made from several sides - the US&UK and others. give weapons, ammunition and money for survival, while Ukraine invests in 'live goods' - will supply cannon fodder," Melnik's words were spread by a number of pro-Russian media outlets.

Oleksii Reznikov noted that tectonic changes have occurred since the beginning of the war and processes have been launched that, with the help of international partners, will ensure the increase of Ukraine's defense potential. In this context, his statement about one million military.

"This applies to both procurement and production of the necessary. We are focused on the need to provide one million people who will overcome the enemy," Reznikov shared Verkhovna Rada deputy Galina Tretyakova explained on Facebook that "we are not talking about mobilization, but about a strategic reserve."

"The state is oriented to the needs for one million troops. Oriented, not mobilized - postpone panic!", - commented a representative of the Odessa OVA Serhii Bratchuk. By the beginning of the war the number of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was about 250 thousand. According to Ukrainian law, it cannot exceed 261,000 people, including 215,000 servicemen. The law states that during a special period this number may be increased by reservists and mobilized soldiers. On February 25, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree on general mobilization. On 3 March, he signed the law on general mobilization adopted by the parliament. Roman Gorbach, head of the personnel department of the staff of the command of the Army of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that the mobilization in Ukraine will continue until May 24, now it is carried out at a slower pace, as its indicators are 100% fulfilled. "Mobilization was announced for three months, and its extension will depend only on the operational situation in the combat ranks. This applies to both officers and soldiers," he said..

The Russian Defense Ministry comes up with more and more series of series about "biological weapons" and "insidious" Ukrainians armed with biological weapons at briefings. This time, the Russian military took the old fake about "tuberculosis-infected leaflets" that were allegedly scattered by the Ukrainian military in 2020 over the Slavyanoserbsky district of Luhansk Region - and added new slides to it.

This fake was already refuted back in 2020: then a representative of the LNR Interior Ministry said that fake ruble banknotes were scattered near a district school, which people picked up, and during the day they became ill. The local laboratory seems to have found tuberculosis on these hundred dollar bills. The only real fact in these reports is that the Ukrainian volunteers did indeed spread the leaflets by drone - and did so regularly. The difference this time was that the texts were printed on paper that resembled ruble bills - and therefore attracted more attention from locals. Everything else is fiction: people could get sick for any reason, but tuberculosis is a disease that has a long incubation period of up to a month, so no one can catch it instantly and feel worsened within a day. You can read more refutation of this fake here. But the Radio Liberty article clearly was not read by the Defense Ministry - so they just repeated the fake about "deliberate contamination with counterfeit money" in the Luhansk region.

According to StopFake, Russian media on the day of the signing of the historic decision to provide large-scale U.S. economic aid to Ukraine under the "Lend-Lease," produced only a few dry publications. Slightly more was expressed by pro-Kremlin telegram channels.

"For Russian propaganda, the very fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces received additional weapons is almost the biggest irritant. But the Kremlin does not want to talk much about the lend-lease for Ukraine. Many Russian media practically ignored this event on the day the law was signed. RBC, TASS, RT, and other propaganda media mentioned only formally, without revealing details, that Joe Biden had granted the lend-lease to Ukraine on May 9, and Vladimir Zelensky called this decision "historic." But some Russian information resources, apart from drawing historical parallels with 1941, still decided to remind their audience of the disastrous economic and even military consequences of this decision for Ukraine and its army," the fact checkers write. Earlier, Russian propaganda had already spread the idea that many future generations of Ukrainians would pay for the weapons the U.S. would bring to Ukraine under lend-lease. More details

Social media are spreading the most common fake about what is being created in the so-called Ukrainian bio-laboratories, which are allegedly funded by the United States. Russian propaganda has already spread fakes about the fact that the laboratories are producing biological weapons, in particular, infecting mosquitoes and birds that will harm Russians. Now there is a widespread fake about the so-called experimental discovery of the human hybrid with pigs. These reports are supplemented by the image of a figure in the form of a nepivludini-napivsvine, which is allegedly the result of experiments in the laboratories of Ukraine. However, as the experts of the Maldita project write, it is not true, as the photo is a work by artist Liri Mahanuko.

More details

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, this is the thesis spread by Russian propagandists in the media. In particular, reports say that the U.S. and its allies are trying to prolong the war in Ukraine in order to dispose of obsolete weapons and try out modern weapons in real combat conditions. "With the start of the war, 14 partner countries are providing Ukraine with the latest weapons and equipment, past armed conflicts in Syria, Libya and Afghanistan. The supply of Western weapons has significantly changed the situation on the front: the occupiers have gone on the defensive in almost all positions, and in some directions the AFU has gone on the counteroffensive. Ukraine achieved a decisive advantage over the Russians thanks to the combat capability of the army and the courage of the people," the Center reported. In fact, the war in Ukraine is being dragged on not by NATO or the US, but by Russia, which does not stop fighting and destroys Ukrainian cities, kills civilians, and hits infrastructure and residential buildings every day. Previously, Russian propaganda has repeatedly stated in various terms that Ukraine is ruled by the West and is at war with Russia because of pressure from NATO and the United States.

This is not the first time Russia has tried to engage NATO to "justify" its aggression against Ukraine, including civilians. This time the fake was spread by Russian President Vladimir Putin during the May 9 parade. He explained the war against Ukraine, which Russia still calls a "special operation," by saying that allegedly "NATO and Ukraine were preparing for a punitive operation in Donbass, for an invasion of Russian historical lands, including Crimea," and he mentioned "possible nuclear weapons. Ukraine." Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the Office of the President, refuted these statements: "The NATO countries were not planning to attack Russia. Ukraine was not planning to attack Crimea. The Russian military is dying, not defending its own country, but trying to occupy another. There were no rational reasons for this war other than the painful imperial ambitions of the Russian Federation."

It is noteworthy that Putin said nothing new in his speech, nor did he mention "denazification and demilitarization." Except for the parallels with World War II. The Ukrainian media recently wrote that according to Russian sociologists, most Russians do not understand the meaning of the word "denazification. According to TSN, this information is confirmed by the broadcasts of propagandist Dmitry Kiselyov: in the first program, after the start of the full-scale war, he spent about seven minutes explaining the meaning of "denazification," but in the April broadcasts Kiselyov either did not use the term at all or did it once during the program.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced provocations from Ukraine on May 8 that the "Kiev regime" was allegedly preparing to fire Tochka-U missiles at crowds of people in the Lviv and Volyn regions. This "announcement" was disseminated by the Russian media, in particular the propaganda publication RIA Novosti. Of course, according to the Russian version, Kiev "plans to carry out another sophisticated provocation with the deaths of civilians to further accuse the Russian armed forces of indiscriminate missile strikes," and they add that "as it was at the train station in Kramatorsk.".

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyy urges residents not to succumb to Russian provocations and not to leave the city. "Never trust Muscovite news, reports and telegram channels. Let's agree that for us there are none," Sadovy stressed. "There is no need to leave the city anywhere. Don't waste fuel. Better take care of shelter in case of an alarm," he added. Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President, stressed that Ukrainians should be very careful on May 9 because of the threat of shelling and provocations by the Russian occupiers. "I do not expect such unconventional, which can create certain panic moods. I expect the behavior of a classic Russian. It is to stab one in the back. In this case, to throw another extra missile on some peaceful city of ours," he said in an interview for Radio NV.

Read more here about how Russian propaganda applies the methods, tested after the 2014 downing of the Malaysian Boeing to the story of the shelling of the Kramatorsk train station.

Journalists of Radio Liberty exposed the lies of the Russian command about the sunken missile cruiser Moskva. The reason for this was the published photo of conscript Sergei Grudinin, who "disappeared" after the destruction of the ship.

Despite the fact that members of the soldier's family still know nothing about his whereabouts, the command published a video of the "Moscow" sailors who allegedly survived the sinking of the warship.

The video raised doubts about its authenticity. At the same time, members of Grudinin's family say they still know nothing about his whereabouts."It seems to be a shot from the same video, but the sailor depicted in it has not returned to his family, and his mother, after first being told that he survived, was later told that he was missing, and even later that he was dead," Radio Liberty writes.

Grudinin's aunt, Tatiana Grudinina, told the radio station in late April that her nephew was still missing. She said that his mother Tamara Grudinina had been told by the Defense Ministry hotline that her son was alive, but later she received a telephone call from a man who called himself Vakula (the last name of the deputy captain of the Moskva) and said that Grudinin had disappeared. Some time later, another representative of the Russian Navy called the woman and told her that her son had "drowned with the ship. Radio Liberty's Krym.Realii contacted Grudinin's parents in Amur Region in the Russian Far East and asked them to confirm that the man in the photo was their son. They said they did not want to talk to journalists, citing psychological trauma.

"Grudinin was an enlisted man, which means by law he should not have been sent to a war zone. At a time when Russia is waging war against Ukraine, with some fighting taking place on the Ukrainian coast of the Black and Azov Seas, the Defense Ministry said that the ship did not take part in hostilities," the publication reported. As a reminder, on April 13, the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck two Neptun missiles at the Moskva missile cruiser. As a result of the strike, a large fire broke out on the flagship of the Russian Navy and its ammunition detonated. The very next day Russia had to admit that the cruiser sank. It later became known that the crew of the Moskva cruiser, which had sunk, had not been evacuated. It was reported that more than 500 crew members could have been on board.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that the Security Service of Ukraine was preparing provocations using chemical weapons. Another Russian fake is reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council in Telegram.

"The Russian Defense Ministry said that "according to available information, the SBU is planning chemical weapons provocations in a number of settlements in the Kherson and Dnepropetrovsk regions for further accusations from Russia. We warn you: this is a fake!", the report reads.

The Center specifies that the Russian Defense Ministry's statement that "on the instructions of the US and UK handlers, units of the AFU and the National Security Forces are setting up fortifications at the Luhansk chemical enterprises is yet another fake. At the same time, neo-Nazis were replacing chemical tanks to destroy them when leaving their positions.

This is not the first Russian lie about the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian security service. In April, the Russian Ministry of Defense already reported that "the SBU is planning chemical agent provocations near the Yuzhny port in Odessa to accuse Russia of allegedly targeting civilian infrastructure.

In March, Russia spread a fake that the SBU was allegedly "preparing, with the support of Western countries, a provocation using toxic substances against civilians."

Officially noted: The SBU cannot even in theory prepare any provocations with poisonous substances. Because we do not act by the methods of kafirs! Our task is to protect Ukraine. And we carry it out successfully together with all the people. And the invaders and kafirs will surely answer for their atrocities!", - stated in the SBU.

The Ukrainian service pointed out that theses about "SBU provocation" appeared in March after the Russians shelled a peaceful convoy near Mariupol and dropped a bomb on the building of the city drama theater, where hundreds of women and children were hiding. The SBU notes that such statements are only an attempt to distract attention from yet another war crime committed by the Russians.

Interesting explanations for the fact that the war in Ukraine did not end in 48 hours, as the propagandists promised, and clearly did not go as planned are provided by the Russian intelligence-controlled telegram channels that pretend to be Ukrainian. And they come up with all new means to convince those who began to doubt the existence of even any plan other than the total destruction of Ukraine and Ukrainians.

That's why the Legitimny channel today spread the message that "Putin's denazification" of Ukraine is not a fiction of the propagandists, but a real plan. Which now, writes "Legitimny", will be obvious to everyone, as Russian missiles, aviation, DRGs and drones will be destroying monuments to Stepan Bandera.

According to Wikipedia, monuments to Bandera are located only in 5 regions of Ukraine - Ternopil, Lviv, Khmelnytsky, Rivne and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. None of them were damaged. So far Russian intelligence has not provided an explanation for this and has not figured out why the detailed "denazification plan" began with the destruction of Kharkiv, Mariupol, Volnovakha and other Russian-speaking cities, and on the 70th day of the war they remembered the monuments to Stepan Bandera.

Recently, the Russian press wrote that polls requested by the Kremlin showed that Russians do not understand the term "denazification" and the "denazification" plan itself.

Russian propaganda media and anonymous telegram channels occasionally report that the weapons that Ukraine receives from allied countries are outdated and bad and do not meet modern characteristics: this thesis benefits Russia, because by showing that Ukraine allegedly has old weapons that were provided to it by EU countries and the US, propagandists seek to discredit Ukraine's allies and devalue their support and assistance to Ukraine in this war.

Also in this way Russia wants to create the appearance that even with weapons from allies Ukraine will be weak, because the equipment is supposedly not suitable for fighting in modern warfare, however, according to the Center to Counteract Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, there are samples of artillery transferred by Ukrainian allies. As an example, experts of the Center compare characteristics of two howitzers - Soviet-Russian Msta-B and American M777, which are transferred according to the lend-lease from the USA. "Msta-B versus M777: caliber 152 mm versus 155 mm; barrel length - 47 caliber versus 39 caliber (52 newest); range - 3VOF45/ERFB shell: 24.7 km versus 30 km (40 km with 52 caliber barrel)," the Center reports. On the basis of these characteristics it is clear that the new American howitzer hits 5 km further than the Soviet-Russian one. Consequently, this weapon is not obsolete and unsuitable for military operations, on the contrary, it will have a counter-battery advantage. The M777 also has a digital fire control system for M982 Excalibur ammunition with GPS targeting.

Russia is trying to legitimize this narrative in the information space, because it is becoming increasingly difficult to explain the protracted nature of hostilities to Russians, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation. The point is that one of the first theses that Russia is at war with the whole world was voiced by Major General of the Russian Federation Minnekaev at the end of April. He compared the "special operation" to World War II, noting that "both then and now the whole world has turned against Russia." Later, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said that "NATO has entered into a proxy war with Russia," while Russian State Duma Speaker Volodin suggested that the leaders of the countries supplying weapons to Ukraine should be prosecuted as war criminals.