Residents of the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region receive SMS messages from supposedly Ukrainian military men asking them to tell them about the positions of the Russians. The press service of the Kakhovka city military administration on telegram urges not to provide information if one does not know the person personally, because “most likely these are provocations”. The message also noted that information about the movement of the enemy should be transmitted only through official chats and verified channels, and it should not yet been discussed the movement of Russian equipment over the phone, one shouldn’t get too close to the infidels, delete the history of correspondence with the bot and photos from the smartphone. The Ministry of Digital Affairs urges citizens to continue using the “Yevoroh” (There is an enemy) chat and report on Russian technology using it.

The network recorded a number of fake Facebook pages of the heads of various Regional Military Administrations. It is likely that such accounts can expand disinformation and discredit regional authorities. The fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation investigated these accounts and created an exhaustive list of fake pages. In particular, the propagandists created fake pages:

Kyiv Regional Military Administration; 

Lviv Regional Military Administration; 

Volyn Regional Military Administration; 

Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration; 

Luhansk Regional Military Administration; 

Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration; 

Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration. 

Fake pages may have characteristic features: few subscribers and posts, created recently and spreading unverified information. Some Regional Military Administration leaders have verified accounts with a special tick mark. Above, we have added genuine Regional Military Administration pages.

Tucker Carlson, a fired FOX News host and pro-Russian propagandist, has tweeted the first episode of his new show. In it, he claims that the Ukrainians blew up the dam at the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, and the American government controls the media and hides important stories from the Americans. The video was distributed among others by Elon Musk, and as of now it has already been viewed more than 50 million times. Detector Media singled out the main propaganda messages in the video.

1 Ukraine blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant

The TV presenter claims that Ukraine, at the direction of Zelenskyi, blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. His argument is that if Volodymyr Putin ordered it to be done, it would be absurd because it harms Russia itself. Carlson is ironic that, despite the fact that everyone is used to thinking that Ukraine does not have the resources to do this, this does not negate the fact that it can do it.

Ukrainian members of the government and public organizations, in particular the organizations of the coalition Ukraine. The Fifth Morning claims that it was Russia that purposefully undermined the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant. The destruction occurred from the inside as a result of the detonation of explosives. Ukraine has no motive to destroy the dam, especially now.

2. The US should stop supporting Zelenskyi as he is doing bad things

Further, the TV presenter begins to be ironic towards the President of Ukraine, calling him “almost a saint”. He criticizes the information noise around Zelenskyi and his support among Western countries. In addition, Carlson hints that Zelenskyi is allegedly the real evil in the war against Ukraine, but it is easy for everyone to say that Russia is committing crimes. The TV presenter reproaches the President for choosing clothes for official meetings and calls him rat-shaped, almost accusing him of destroying Christian values. Therefore, according to Carlson, the United States should stop supporting Ukraine.

Although such statements are the subjective opinion of the TV presenter, among them there are objective accusations against Zelenskyi. However, reality proves otherwise – it is Russia and its army that daily commit war crimes against Ukrainians, including the forced deportation of children, the mistreatment of prisoners of war and the destruction of civilian infrastructure. Even the example of the dam blowing is indicative - while in the settlements controlled by Ukraine, people are being evacuated and given the necessary assistance, in the flooded temporarily occupied territories, the so-called “local authorities” have left civilians to fend for themselves with tragedy.

3. The American government is hiding “really important topics” from Americans due to “puppet media”

Trying to explain the appearance of his new show on Twitter, Carlson accuses US President Joe Biden and his team of censorship and silence on important topics. In particular, he appeals to the fact that the “puppet media” allegedly too actively covers the aggression against Ukraine, the problems of broadcasters and the topic of global warming, so the Americans do not know what is really happening in the world. The TV presenter compares the situation with freedom of speech in the last years of the USSR, recalling foreign radio stations listening “under the covers”. According to him, this new show will be analogous to those stations so that Americans know about “really important things”. For example, a former American intelligence officer allegedly announced the shooting down of an unidentified flying object with unknown creatures on board.

Tucker Carlson deliberately substitutes the concept, reinforcing the message about “conservative censorship”, which is quite popular in certain circles. Like, corporations deliberately block conservative figures just because they have conservative views. However, in fact, most of these cases of blocking the accounts of conservative figures are related to the fact that they disseminated information dangerous to the lives of social network users. For example, when they publicly spoke out against vaccines, called the coronavirus a global conspiracy, or called on people to protest on January 6, 2021 to take over the Capitol by force.

By the story of the former intelligence officer and the UFO, Carlson means the testimonies of David Grush, which he gave to NewsNation yesterday. The man claims that the US government allegedly has a special secret program to collect UFOs and the remnants of persons on board. Tucker Carlson condemns the fact that many American media like The New York Times have not published any material on this topic, so it can be considered hushed up. A Google search shows that a number of leading conservative media and tabloids not only in the US but also in the UK wrote about this “sensation”. It is currently difficult to verify the credibility of Grush's testimony, but both the FBI and NASA have UFO pages on their official websites.

We recall that Tucker Carlson regularly distributes Russian propaganda messages. Previously, he claimed that Volodymyr Zelenskyi is a “Biden puppet”, Ukraine is “not a democracy”, and Volodymyr Putin is “America's true friend”.

Such rhetoric around the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is beneficial for Russia and resembles the situation with the loss of the Boeing-777 flight MH17, since it dilutes responsibility and creates ambiguity. In fact, Carlson is helping Russia justify its aggression against Ukraine, confusing foreign audiences about Russia's role in this war, and further destabilizing American domestic politics.

According to the statements of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Russian troops blew up the dam of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant last night. Ukrainian officials claim that because of this, about 80 settlements are at risk of flooding. Since the reservoir of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant is connected with the operation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, temporarily occupied by Russia, the propagandists did not leave this topic aside.  Detector Media highlighted the main messages of the Russian propaganda on undermining the dam.

1. The dam collapsed by itself due to shelling / outdated design

Anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric claim that the dam collapsed on its own due to shelling by the Ukrainian army. There is also a version that the Ukrainian authorities did not properly care for the state of the dam and therefore they have now collapsed. As evidence, the authors of such reports cite the German newspaper Bild, which allegedly removed the phrase “Russia blew it up” from the title of its report on the bombing.

These versions were refuted by the Ukrainian authorities. The office of the president, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and a number of other state structures indicate that it was Russia that committed the targeted undermining. If one considers the situation with Bild, the report on the events at the Kakhovka HPP on the newspaper's website now has a completely different name.

2. Ukraine purposefully blew up a dam

Propagandists also accuse Ukraine of undermining. Allegedly, the goal is to ease the conditions for a counteroffensive or “deliberate escalation” for the “whims” of Western partners. Also, according to one version of the propaganda, the Office of the President needs this as an information drive in order to block other problems and crises. Like, this is indicated by numerous materials published in the Ukrainian media about the incident. They draw attention to a number of comparisons and emotional messages from Ukrainian opinion leaders. Allegedly, this is too dramatic and theatrical, and for this you need to prepare for a long time.

Such conclusions are groundless, since it is inappropriate to draw them on the basis of publications in social networks. Ukrainian civil society is a dynamic environment that can quickly and comprehensively respond to current events. Given this, the accusation of “staging” on the basis of the reports of his representatives cannot logically explain the situation. In addition, we are talking about people and the threat to their lives, some tend to express their opinion emotionally in a crisis situation.

Using these two messages, propagandists want to shift the responsibility for the actions of the Russians to Ukraine, looking for various excuses and explanations for undermining the dam.

3. Nothing happens in the temporarily occupied territories, everything is under control

The so-called leaders of the temporarily occupied territories, not far from the dam, report that the situation there is normal, and the so-called local authorities keep everything under control. Like, no flooding will occur, evacuation is also not planned.

Taking into account the fact that most of the settlements in the temporarily occupied territories are threatened with flooding due to explosions, such positioning is cynical and looks like a disregard for the lives of civilians. In addition, in this way Russia shows its true attitude towards the threat of an ecological catastrophe caused by undermining.

4. Ukraine is in a panic, and the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant will soon burst

While, according to propagandists, “everything is calm in Russia”, Ukraine is panicking. Like, drinking water is already being bought up in Kryvyi Rih, and Ukrainian officials are allegedly talking about the critical state of the threat to the ZNPP, which could cause it to break out.

Such reports about the situation with drinking water in Kryvyi Rih can only be found in anonymous channels with pro-Russian rhetoric. In addition, Energoatom officially announced that the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP, although it is an additional threat to the ZNPP, is currently under control, since water for cooling the plant is used from internal storage facilities. Local authorities of territories in the flood zone organize the evacuation of civilians and provide support.

Using these two messages, propagandists want to play on a false contrast and show Ukraine in a worse light than Russia. They say that in Ukraine they only panic and neglect their lives, while Russia calmly saves people. However, in reality, the situation is the opposite - the Russians are silent about the scale of the threat, and the Ukrainians are trying to cope with the consequences of the explosion.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Ministry of Health has issued a memo on radiation hazards. The document lists precautions and recommendations in the event of a radiation hazard in Khmelnytskyi and its environs.

Specialists of the Center for Countering Disinformation reviewed this case and found that the document does not exist. Fact-checkers turned to the Ministry of Health for a comment, where they were told that they did not create any recommendations on the radiation hazard in Khmelnytskyi. In addition, on the website of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine there are also no monuments with a mention of the radiation hazard in the Khmelnytskyi region.

In addition, the fact-checkers found out that photos with a fake attraction were distributed only in the Russian segment of social networks.

Let us remind you that this “memo” refers to a series of fakes about the so-called radiation hazard that was “approaching” on the territory of the Khmelnytskyi or Ternopil regions. Propagandists convinced that cities had leaked dangerous substances and radiation. Thus, the authors seek to destabilize the mood of Ukrainians and once again intimidate them with “nuclear bombings” by Russia. We recall that earlier analysts of Detector Media also investigated the case related to “nuclear weapons” in Ukraine. We analyzed the message where the propagandists claimed that the Ukrainian military was using banned weapons with a high content of uranium.

On June 10-11, an international summit For Peace in Ukraine is scheduled to be held in Vienna. It will be attended by representatives of “Russia, Ukraine and various NATO countries that support the goals of peace” in order to “put an end to the war and prepare for negotiations”. However, the “summit” will be the responsibility of an organization whose leadership, in their statements, spreads the messages of Russian propaganda, like most of the people on the list of participants. The goal of the summit is to prepare an appeal “Vienna Call for Peace”, which is planned to be submitted to the Embassies of Russia, Ukraine and NATO countries, as well as international organizations for further work on a “peaceful settlement of the war”.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the event. They analyzed the official program of the summit and found many repetitions of Russian propaganda in it. For example, the organizers note that they “condemn Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine”, but then they write that NATO is responsible for it. Like, NATO provoked Russia to attack. The program of the event does not include meetings on the return of temporarily occupied territories to Ukraine, reparations or punishment of war criminals - these topics are simply ignored.

The event is organized by a number of public organizations, including the International Peace Bureau and the Alliance for Peace, Neutrality and Non-Violence. Former International Peace Bureau Executive Director Rainer Braun is spreading Russian propaganda, VoxCheck analysts have found. In particular, he said that the expansion of NATO is the reason for the invasion of Russia, and sanctions against it will make the Europeans suffer. Despite being fired from the organization in 2019, it continues to invite him to its events. In addition, the Bureau itself publishes statements that Ukraine allegedly “violates the right to refuse military service”, although it does not mention forced mobilization in Russia and the occupied territories. The Action Alliance promotes the ideas of “neutrality”. using for this purpose the statements of persons accused of treason, in particular Ruslan Kotsaba, who has now joined the new project of Viktor Medvedchuk Another Ukraine. The event will also be financed by organizations spreading Russian rhetoric.

Among the speakers, one can find the theoretical linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky from the United States, who promotes the messages of Russian propaganda in his speeches. In particular, he believes that NATO provoked Russia into a war against Ukraine. Member of the US House of Representatives Dennis Kucinich is also represented at the plenary session of the summit. Since 2014, he has been condemning US sanctions against Russia, and has also been spreading messages about “Ukrainian Nazis” and a “coup d'état”. Last year, Kucinich accused Joe Biden of starting World War III, and this year he organized a rally against aid to Ukraine. Speakers include Jeffrey Sachs, an American economist, Yurii Sheliazhenko, executive secretary of the Ukrainian Pacifist Movement, and others spreading Russian rhetoric.

In fact, holding this event will help Russian propagandists to further spread their disinformation and strengthen its anti-Ukrainian messages. Like, the whole world is behind Russia. However, the military and political support of NATO countries is larger than such events.

Analysts of the project Beyond the News investigated the information field of the Chinese media and found that local journalists repeat Russian narratives in their materials. For example, Chinese media often refer to Nazism in Ukraine.

For example, in the Global Times, reporter Frank Bro connected Peyton Gendron, who killed ten people in the American city of Buffalo, New York, with the Azov regiment. That is, according to the author, Azov is “a controversial ultra-nationalist armed group in Ukraine”.

Of course, this is not true. However, fact-checkers have explored the foundations of these myths about the Azov Regiment. They explained that usually the Chinese media use the topic of the existence of Nazi Ukrainians as a justification for the Russian invasion. Fact-checkers emphasize that since 2015, Russian propaganda began to identify nationalism with Nazism, and consider Ukrainian nationalists to be one of their main enemies. It seems that being a Ukrainian is already a reason to receive accusations of Nazism from the Russians. But it is not true. And the term “nationalism” itself is not something bad, but is characterized by loyalty and devotion to one's nation.

The thesis of Chinese journalists that the Azov regiment is an armed association is not true either. Azov has never been an unofficial formation. Even at the beginning of its creation in 2014, the volunteer unit was subordinate to the Ministry of the Interior. Subsequently, it became a separate special forces detachment of the military unit 3057 of the National Guard of Ukraine.

This “document” was circulated on social networks, in particular on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It says that the commander of the 124 Territorial Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmytro Ishchenko, “orders to organize the security and defense of the highly mobile M142 HIMARS missile system” in Kherson, as well as “physically eliminate” curfew violators who resist or create a security threat. .

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, and determined that the order allegedly issued on May 9 and the “document” were fake. The text contains many errors and russianisms (including) and punctuation errors, which should not be in official documents.

Also, the seal of military unit A7053 contains the wrong code of the Unified State Register of Enterprises and Organizations of Ukraine (EDRPOU) - 12375678. StopFake analysts note that there is no subject with such a code in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Individual Entrepreneurs and Public Formations.

The press service of the 124th separate troop brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also refuted this “order”. On their Facebook page, they reported that the “document” distributed by the propagandists was fake.

By spreading such documents, propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian army, destroy its credibility and show the cruelty and inadequacy of the leadership of military units. Also, Russian propaganda is not the first time trying to intimidate Ukrainian society. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the military in Mykolaiv were ordered to shoot deserters.

The Kremlin propaganda media and anonymous telegram channels are spreading information that Mykhailo Podoliak, adviser to the President's Office, is allegedly blackmailing the West. On the Rada TV channel, he allegedly warned Western partners that “in the event of a cessation of arms supplies to Ukraine, Europe will face numerous terrorist attacks and a large-scale war”. Russian propaganda writes that this is Podoliak's response to the statement by the head of EU diplomacy, Joselle Borrell, that “Ukraine without the support of the West would have to surrender within a few days”. This is manipulation.

As experts of the StopFake project note, Mykhailo Podoliak did not blackmail the West with terrorist attacks. On the air of the Rada TV channel on May 10, 2023, he stated that Russia continues to pose a security threat to the entire democratic world. And if the countries of Europe stop supplying weapons to Ukraine, this could lead to further aggression against Ukrainians, the scaling up of the war in neighboring countries and an increase in the number of terrorist attacks in Europe.

Mykhailo Podoliak commented on the words of Joselle Borrell. He noted that Mr. Borrell absolutely sincerely believes in the victory of Ukraine and does everything as efficiently as possible. He noted that “it is simply not necessary to say that Ukraine could become a puppet state if the West stops helping”. According to Podoliak, this is impossible, because under any scenario, “a third of the population of Ukraine will be destroyed”, a genocide will be committed.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to undermine the authority of Ukraine in the international arena, as well as to intimidate the whole world with war. Propagandists transfer the responsibility for Russia's crimes to the victim. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the United States said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine would undermine the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant during the counteroffensive.

In shaping the image of the Crimean Tatars, Russian propaganda uses a number of predatory narratives that Russia has nourished for centuries. Some of them are taken from tsarist times. In particular, we are talking about the Slavic, and not the Crimean Tatar nature of the Crimean peninsula. Russian propaganda repeats Soviet narratives about the “unreliability” of the Crimean Tatars and about the “positives” of Stalin’s deportation. Read more about how Russian propaganda discredits the Crimean Tatars here.

The modern propaganda machine is spreading the message that Crimean Tatars are political and religious extremists. According to the pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels, the qırımlı cooperate with the Ukrainian special services, carry out subversive activities, mine territories, lead the Defense Forces to targets, and participate in sabotage. We looked at four key organizations against which propagandists are spreading more defamatory messages regarding the message of Crimean Tatars as “political and religious” extremists. A number of theses about Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Noman Çelebicihan battalion, the Turan battalion and the Mejlis in almost 100% of cases describe them in a negative way, contain unfounded accusations of criminal activity; manipulative statements that personally and expediently discredit members of organizations.

1. Immediately in 2014, the Russians launched a campaign to persecute the Crimean Tatar community by outlawing the Mejlis, the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people. Russia accused the Mejlis of fomenting inter-ethnic tension and facilitating the extremist activities of the Crimean Tatars on the peninsula. Russia discredits the only supreme executive and representative body of the Crimean Tatars, recognized throughout the world and officially representing the nation at the international level. The Mejlis were critical of the Russian annexation of Crimea and defended the rights of Crimean Tatars, including the restoration of their property and cultural heritage. In 2016, Russia banned the Mejlis and labeled it an extremist organization, leading to harassment of its members, including arrests, detentions, and intimidation tactics.

2. The propaganda machine is also conducting a discrediting campaign against members of the volunteer Crimean Tatar battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan, who has been fighting on the side of Ukraine since 2016. Russian propaganda often accuses the members of the battalion of extremist political beliefs and participation in the food and energy blockade of Crimea. Russia has recognized the battalion as a terrorist organization. A large number of those detained for their alleged links to the battalion reported that they were tortured to extract confessions. So, it is highly likely that most of those arrested and found to be involved in the battalion are innocent. Over the past year, several members of the community who are charged with participation in the battalion have already received harsh sentences of 5 to 8.5 years in prison.

3. Russian propaganda in every possible way denigrates the activities of the Turan battalion, created in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The ideological basis of the battalion is ethnic and religious solidarity with the Crimean Tatars. In particular, propaganda accuses the participants of neo-Nazism. Turan is the name of the territory inhabited by Iranian-speaking nomadic peoples. The battalion is formed partly from fighters from other units of the Ukrainian army, and partly from those who have not served before, but live on the territory of Ukraine. Religion in it is an important factor, as the head of the battalion Almaz Kudabek assures: those who protect the interests of the Kremlin and kill Ukrainians automatically renounce their religion.

4. But the most frequent targets are members of Hizb ut-Tahrir, an international political organization seeking to create a unified Muslim state where the Islamic way of life will be restored and where Muslim law will prevail. Although some of the ideas of the organization run counter to democratic values, it is still not criminal, and is also far from terrorism and violent actions. Propagandists accuse the members of the organization of religious extremism and a powerful anti-Russian underground on the peninsula. In fact, Hizb ut-Tahrir insists on peaceful methods of struggle. The work of Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in Russia, China, and most Arab and Central Asian countries. In other states, in particular in the UK, Hizb ut-Tahrir operates openly. The community operated in the same way legally in Ukraine. However, after the annexation of Crimea, the Russians arrested more than 70 people in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case. Russian human rights activists consider the persecution of members of this organization politically motivated.

Russia is persecuting the most active members of political associations, and its propagandists do their best to discredit any Crimean Tatar initiatives. This indicates that the Russian intelligence services see a threat to the ability of the Crimean Tatars to organize themselves and identify their own political position that contradicts the Kremlin.

A clone page of the French newspaper Le Parisien has been spotted online, where the authors broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric and spread disinformation. For example, on a fake website, the newspapers published an article titled “Mass Escape for the sake of salvation from military slavery. Ukrainians are trying to avoid inevitable death on the front lines”.

Of course, such material has nothing to do with the official newspaper Le Parisien. However, in the fake material itself, misinformation was spread about evasion of mobilization and desertion, which seem to have been “long since common in Ukraine”. In addition, the authors of the material argued that the Ukrainian army is incompetent and loses to the Russian, more combat-ready army.

French journalist Fabrice Despres drew attention to the fake Le Parisien page and explained that the design of the fake site is really very similar to the original one, only the domain name is different. For example, the address of a fake website is leparisien.ltd, and a real newspaper is leparisien.fr. The navigation set up on the fake site (link to other materials\subscription) directs the reader to the real Le Parisien site. Moreover, the false page does not ask one to agree with the collection of cookies.

They are currently investigating who is behind the spread of disinformation and anti-Ukraine narratives.

In social networks, in particular, in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook, information was disseminated about payments from Privat bank and Raiffeisen bank. Allegedly, users of a particular bank can receive a cash reward in the amount of 7300 hryvnia. To receive a reward, the authors of the messages offer to follow the link.

Fact-checkers of NotaYenota say that in this way the authors mislead Ukrainians as most of the messages are replicated by the social network using an advertising tool. That is, unknown people set up ads on a social network with a message about “cash assistance”. Thus, the likely number of users who may encounter a fraudulent post increases. Fact-checkers also explained that in Ukraine there is a single register of social payments - eDopomoha (eHelp). There one can find up-to-date information about payments. All other sites offering assistance with a similar domain (for example, “edopomoga gov.ua”) are fraudulent.

In social networks, in particular in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook, information was disseminated that the EU government is introducing a project for the issuance of financial assistance to people of retirement and pre-retirement age. Like, people can get up to 200 euros per day by participating in this program. The authors also claim that the funds are provided by the Provision Fund. Then the message asks to follow the link for the registration.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project worked on the case and found out that the program for paying 200 euros per day does not exist at all. The Provision Fund itself exists in the USA. The purpose of the fund is to create additional funding for residents of Sheridan County, Wyoming, in areas that do not have sufficient funding from the government. That is, this fund has nothing to do with the EU. In fact, group admins use the financial assistant thesis as a bait to increase the reach and membership of the channel. As fact-checkers explained, the group can later change its subject and spread fake information, and due to the large number of subscribers, potential readers will get the impression that this resource can be trusted. However, this is not true.

On May 8th, Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed a decree on celebrating Europe Day in Ukraine on May 9th. The Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II is proposed to be celebrated on May 8th. Against the backdrop of these changes, many disinformation messages were circulated in pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels, with the help of which Russia imposes its own interpretation of events on the audience. Analysts of Detector Media have identified the most common of them.

1. Zelenskyi gave back Victory Day to Russia, although the Ukrainians are the victorious people. 

Indeed, the Ukrainians fought against Nazism as part of different armies of the world, because they were a stateless people. More than 7 million Ukrainians fought the Third Reich in the Red Army. In addition, they fought in the armies of the United States, Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Canada and other countries. That is why the authorities proposed to celebrate the Day of Remembrance and victory over Nazism together with the rest of the world. However, this does not mean that Ukraine is abandoning the role of the winner altogether, as anonymous telegrams are trying to convince the audience, reinforcing the recurring propaganda narrative that “Ukrainians are Nazis”, because they are abandoning the so-called Victory Day over this phenomenon. This decision only means that now Ukraine will celebrate Remembrance Day on May 8th, like most countries of the world.

2. There is no point in celebrating Europe Day because the European countries surrendered to the Nazis or were their allies.

In fact, even in the countries occupied by Germany and the allied states, there was a powerful resistance movement against the Nazis. Moreover, such states as Czechoslovakia and Poland, although they were under occupation, had their own military formations as part of the armies of other countries. For example, people from Transcarpathia, who at that time were citizens of Czechoslovakia, in 1943 made up the majority in the First Separate Czechoslovak Brigade. This unit fought against the Nazis as part of the Red Army and distinguished itself in the battles for the liberation of Kharkiv and the Kyiv offensive. As for the struggle against Nazism in European countries, we should mention the Warsaw Uprising, the Slovak National Uprising, the Resistance Movement in France, etc. That is, Europe also fought against Nazism. By spreading such messages, anonymous telegram channels are trying to discredit European allies by outlining their historical past to the Ukrainian audience. Thus, propaganda theses are being promoted that only the “fraternal Russian people”, without the help of Europe, together with the Ukrainians defeated Nazism.

3. Ukraine refused May 9 to please Western partners.

With this message, anonymous users of social networks are promoting the thesis of Russian propaganda that Ukraine is a puppet of the West in order to deprive Ukraine of legitimacy and sovereignty in decision-making in the eyes of propaganda consumers. In fact, the celebration of Europe Day was synchronized with this holiday in the EU countries, and the celebration of the Day of Remembrance and Victory will also take place along with Europe.

4. The authorities will ban Ukrainians from bringing flowers to the monuments to those who died in World War II. For this one can get a prison sentence.

In fact, according to the law on decommunization, honoring the memory of those who died in World War II, laying flowers at monuments or taking to the streets of veterans with medals (which anonymous telegrams were also noted) is not considered a crime. Only the public display of Nazi and communist totalitarian symbols is punished. At the same time, these symbols are not considered prohibited if they are placed on state awards, commemorative medals and other awards that were awarded before 1991 and during 1991-2015 in connection with the anniversary of the events of World War II. Anonymous telegram channels spread such messages in order to intimidate the audience and discredit Ukraine, identifying it with totalitarian states.

The press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure reported that the Russians are attacking an online service for booking a border crossing for the eCherha (online waiting list) transport. Russian propaganda channels are calling for a cyberattack.

The Ministry notes that the system is now working without failures, however, in case of changes, they promise to inform drivers and carriers, they promise to inform them promptly. The department assures that the personal data of drivers and data of vehicles registered in the system are protected and cannot be accessed by unauthorized persons even in the event of cyber attacks.

Russians often resort to cyberattacks on Ukrainian web pages or services, and the attacks are coordinated through Russian propaganda channels on social networks.

Such a “document” was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The order states that the Ukrainian military is seeking to regroup and withdraw troops from the Bakhmut area. The document says that allegedly  Zelenskyi forbade the withdrawal of troops, and left them there “to the last”.

The Center for Countering Disinformation investigated this case and found that the document was fake. As analysts explain, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The “document” contains incorrect military terminology;

The barcode of the counterfeit document is damaged, making it impossible to verify it;

The “Order” was issued with significant violations of the rules of official document flow.

Verified Twitter accounts are spreading misinformation about an imminent nuclear strike on Kyiv. 

This was told by the journalists of the Vice edition. They explained that after the explosion over the Kremlin, the so-called official Twitter accounts began to spread misinformation about the nuclear attack on Kyiv.

For example, a pseudo-verified account called DEFCONWarningSystem posted a post explaining that “we are currently evaluating rumors of nuclear movements in Russia”. Although this account has nothing to do with the real official agency.

After that, Twitter did not remove the verified checkmark in the account. If one clicks on the checkmark, the following message will pop up: “The account is not associated with any government agency and does not represent the alarm status of any military unit. Users should draw their own conclusions and not rely on account information”.

At the same time, this account also spreads apocalyptic information about Christian movements. That is, this account invents conspiracy theories. It has been verified by Twitter.

Another twitter “verified” account said that the authors had heard about the movement of nuclear bombers, and assured that these reports were “grossly unconfirmed”.

Although these accounts are unofficial, someone could write on their behalf. There was no confirmed information about the so-called nuclear strike on Kyiv. The authors of the channels began to talk about the so-called rumors, which also did not exist.

Such a “document” was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” says that the Ukrainian military has increasingly begun to leave their positions, refusing to perform tasks at the forefront. They also allegedly sabotage the orders and instructions of the commanders.

This case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project, who found that the report was not real. The fact-checkers sent a request to 123 TD brigade. They replied that they did not create such a report.

In particular, the “document” contains elements in its design that do not comply with the standards of modern Ukrainian office work. For example, in this case, the document should not be signed for the “commander of the OUV KHERSON (operational group of troops KHERSON)”, but is required to write for the highest military authority (for example, the headquarters of a military unit) and the authority of the Military Law Enforcement Service. This is a different type of document, namely a report. Therefore, there are other instructions for its design.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The document says that the commander of the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade ordered cars to be taken away from peaceful Ukrainians. Like, the need arose due to “significant losses of equipment” on the battlefield. In addition, the commander allegedly ordered campaigning among the personnel so that they use their own cars for official purposes.

This case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project, who determined that the order was not real. Fact-checkers sent a request to 123 TD brigades. They were told that the leadership of the brigade did not issue such a document, and it was fake.

In particular, the “document” contains elements in its design that do not comply with the standards of modern Ukrainian office work. For example, the name of the author of the document should be indicated in full, and the last name should be written in capital letters. On the fake document they wrote “Yu. Chaplenko”, but the correct option is “Yurii  CHAPLENKO”. Also, in the header, now you need to write not “the city of Kherson”, but simply “Kherson”.

Romanians have started receiving emails en masse on behalf of a real parcel delivery company. Such messages say that the alleged delivery address of the parcel is incorrect. Fraudsters ask to update the data within a day, otherwise “the parcel will be returned back”. That is, if during this time people made a delivery or sent a package using this service, they received a message from hackers about incorrect data.

This was reported by journalists from Digi24, who found that letters from a so-called courier company look like real ones, but no company can ask people for detailed bank account details (i.e. PIN or CVV). That is why journalists are convinced that this is a fraudulent scheme. After checking, it turned out that the IP address of the site from which the letters are sent is Russian. Accordingly, the message is sent by the Russian network of hackers.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” states that the commander of military unit 3056 ordered his personnel to shoot deserters at checkpoints. As if to prevent desertion, the “document” gives precautionary measures, including “organizing firing points”.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and found that the document was fake. This was stated by the most military unit on its Facebook page. In addition, as analysts explain, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The fake document does not comply with the formatting rules. For example, the military unit of 3056 is part of the National Guard, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and not the Ministry of Defense;

The authors indicated the wrong name of the commander. So, the commander of military unit 3056 since 2021 is lieutenant colonel Ruslan Kuzmich. However, in the order, instead of “R. Kuzmich” it says “R. Kuzmych”;

They also indicated the wrong city for issuing the order. Military unit 3056 is located in Kherson, from there it sends all the documents.

As experts say, there are no documents or orders to “neutralize” the fugitive military man. If a military man arbitrarily leaves the place of military service, he receives punishment in accordance with the current legislation. According to article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, desertion during martial law is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 to 12 years.

In a propaganda TV report, the Russians told fake news about the “shelling of Donbas by Ukrainians”, where they showed footage of a destroyed house in Uman. Allegedly, “Ukrainian militants” are once again shelling the Donbas and Luhansk region. According to the authors, the AFU shelled the town of Yasynuvata and two villages: Nikolske and Yakovlivka. Moreover, they note that during the massive shelling, Ukraine allegedly fired more than 20 missiles.

Journalists of “Ukrainska Pravda” (Ukrainian Truth) drew attention to this, referring to the material of the “Nastoiashcheie Vriema” (Current Time) project - created on the initiative of Radio Svoboda (Liberty) and Voice of America. Actually, in the footage in the propaganda story, there is no shelling of Donetsk, but the consequences of the shelling of a residential building in Uman. The authors stole the video from the telegram channel of the press service of the State Emergency Service. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klimenko, said that the occupiers hit with a Kh-101 missile. As a result, a whole entrance collapsed, where 109 people were registered. 27 apartments were completely destroyed. More than 33 cars were also burned or damaged.

At the end of April 29, the search and rescue operation was completed. The press service of the State Emergency Service reported that as a result of striking at a multi-storey building, 23 people died, including 6 children. 19 people were injured, and 17 were rescued from the debris.

Similar information appeared in the social networks of the Lithuanian segment. The reports say that Lithuanians received fake letters in the mail on behalf of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense. The letters note that Lithuanians are allegedly recruited into the trilateral Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade named after Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi the Great Hetman, and then sent to the Ukrainian front.

The Institute of mass information drew attention to this case and explained that the department of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense refutes this information. The ministry also stated that Lithuanian citizens are not called up to serve in the trilateral Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade named after Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi the Great Hetman as this international brigade operates under a separate mandate.

Unknown people use the kariuomene[.]com domain to spread false information, through which they send fake letters and convince Lithuanians that they will be sent to the front.

In early April, Russia adopted a large package of amendments to the Federal Law “On military duty and military service”. In the previous edition, the law allowed military registration and enlistment offices to send draft notices by registered mail. Now they have adopted an amendment that allows serving electronic draft notices on the website of the Russian “state services”.

According to Meduza, the Russian media received “recommendations” to cover the bill. The author of the “recommendations” is the Russian Ministry of Defense, and they allegedly “quickly correct the shortcomings of the military accounting system that they discovered in 2022”.

Russian propaganda should explain to conscripts that “the new system is human-oriented, convenient, minimizes direct contacts with military registration and enlistment offices and the possibility of errors”, and “those who deliberately evade military service do not fulfill their constitutional duty, and it should be clearly understood that they will be held accountable”, and “a person who has run away from service cannot be in more privileged conditions than a person who is fulfilling their constitutional and civic duty”.

Thus, propagandists want to smooth out the reaction of society to the adoption of new norms. The very adoption of the new system seems to be connected with rumors about the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian troops - Russia should counter something in response, for example, “millions under arms”. Earlier, Detector Media wrote about the manual of the Russian media on how to cover “partial” mobilization.

There are fake websites of the Ukrainian edition “Ukrainska pravda” (Ukrainian truth) and the news agency “Ukrinform” on the network. The authors of the fake site publish fake news there, and then telegram channels that broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric intercept this “news” and talk about supposedly Ukrainian agendas.

Specialists of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council determined that in this way the authors affectionately spread the desired anti-Ukrainian narratives or fakes. Fact-checkers give an example of news allegedly from Ukrinform, which says that a bill has been submitted to the Ukrainian Parliament forbidding making videos and taking photos in cemeteries. However, there is no such bill, it is not true.

At the same time, the editor of “Ukrainska pravda” reported that their online media had nothing to do with the new site. Analysts of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation urge to check the domain (name) of the site, and if it differs from the original one (has characteristic ru-domains or the site name is disfigured, letters are omitted, etc.), this is not a real site.