Propagandists are spreading information on anonymous Telegram channels that a Ukrainian special forces unit consisting of “mercenaries”, including thousands of fighters from the American private military company Forward and hundreds of units of equipment. However, this is a fake.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security draws attention to this. Its experts have found out that this story is yet another fictitious Russian fake, which is part of a long-term information campaign trying to promote the image of “NATO mercenaries” allegedly participating in military actions on the side of Ukraine. Russian propaganda has been actively using these fabrications since 2014 to create a myth that Ukraine is under the external control of NATO and Western countries.

In reality, Forward Observations Group is a tactical gear and medical supplies company founded by American veteran Derrick Bales. This company has nothing to do with military operations in Ukraine. It is called a “private military company” only by Russian disinformation agents.

The Kremlin uses such fakes to impose the idea that the war in Ukraine is not simply Russian aggression, but a confrontation with the entire West, in particular NATO. This helps mobilize support among the Russian population, making them believe that Russia is defending itself from foreign anger. The spread of fakes about “Western mercenaries” helps Russian propaganda explain its military failures. The successes of the Ukrainian army are often portrayed as the result of help from “all-powerful” Western forces, rather than as achievements of the Ukrainian military. The Kremlin also constantly tries to portray Ukraine as a state that is unable to independently resist Russia and needs “mercenaries” for support. This is part of the narrative about the weakness of the Ukrainian army and the alleged “external control” of the country.

Propagandists claim in the media that the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) allegedly shoot prisoners of war, abuse civilians, shell residential buildings in the Kursk region, and also create concentration camps in the border regions of Russia. However, this is not true.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security draws attention to this. Its specialists have found out that propagandists have been spreading similar fake statements about the “crimes” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for years, but they have no evidence. In reality, the Ukrainian Armed Forces act in accordance with international law and strictly adhere to the Geneva Conventions. Not a single Russian fake about the “atrocities” of the Ukrainian military during the entire war has been confirmed by any independent investigation or international organizations. In addition, Russian prisoners of war held in Ukraine have all the necessary rights and are treated in accordance with international norms.

Russian propaganda is trying to create an image of Ukrainian soldiers as criminals and punishers in order to undermine international support for Ukraine and justify Russia's aggression. Such fakes are also aimed at inciting aggression and hatred among the Russian population towards Ukrainians, stimulating support for the so-called “special military operation” and attracting new volunteers to the war. The spread of such fakes helps Moscow distract attention from its real crimes in Ukraine, in particular, mass murder of civilians, torture and inhumane treatment of prisoners.

On the night of September 18, Ukrainian forces attacked an arsenal for storing ammunition, missiles and explosives located in the city of Toropets in the Tver region (Russia). The Polish pro-Russian segment of the Telegram wrote that the shelling was carried out by an ordinary drone, which most likely did not fly from Ukraine, which is more than 500 kilometers away, but allegedly almost three times closer to Latvia.

However, this information is not true. BBC News Ukraine, citing a source in the SBU, reported that in Toropets it was the Ukrainian Armed Forces that “wiped off the face of the earth a large structure of the Main Missile and Artillery Directorate of the Russian Defense Ministry”. Propagandists also claim that there is “more than 500 km” from the Ukrainian border to the Russian arsenal in Toropets, but in reality the distance is less than 500 km – about 480 km. For example, the Ukrainian attack drone “Furious” is capable of flying such a distance.

By spreading this disinformation, propagandists are once again trying to convince everyone that NATO is directly involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Earlier, we recorded a fake that Ukraine, together with the US, was “planning” missile attacks “on children”.

There are reports online that a man who joined the team of ‘language inspectors’ was allegedly beaten in Ivano-Frankivsk. His wife allegedly complained about this incident by posting a corresponding message on Facebook. She also allegedly wrote statements and complaints to the relevant authorities.

However, the Center for Counteracting Disinformation, after verifying this ‘news’ at the Main Directorate of the National Police in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, reported that there have been no recent reports of any crimes committed on the basis of language in the city.

‘Language Patrol’ is a volunteer initiative of Ivano-Frankivsk Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv. Its idea is that volunteers will tolerantly make comments when using Russian and offer to attend language courses. At the same time, ‘language inspectors’ will not have any special powers, they will not punish violators.

The Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language, Taras Kremin, commented on this initiative, noting that Ivano-Frankivsk was the only regional center that did not have a language program, so the mayor can create working groups that will monitor compliance with language legislation.

Russian propaganda spreads such fakes to create the illusion of a split in Ukrainian society around the language issue. Earlier, we recorded disinformation that Ivan Franko LNU opened recruitment for a team of ‘language inspectors’.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that the SBU found several ruble bills during a search of the Sviato-Vvedenskyi Monastery in Kyiv and on this basis reported suspicion to Archimandrite Volodymyr (UOC MP). Therefore, he allegedly faces five years in prison with confiscation of property.

However, this information is not true, writes StopFake. The official statement from the SBU states that it did indeed notify one of the clerics of the UOC MP of the suspicion. At the same time, the reason for this was not ‘a few ruble bills’, but the cleric's justification of Russia's war against Ukraine and his dissemination of fakes about the socio-political situation in Ukraine.

The cleric is accused under Part 2 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. It defines punishment for acquittal, recognition as lawful, denial of armed aggression of Russia against Ukraine due to the distribution of relevant materials. Any punishment for possession of Russian rubles under this article is not provided, as it is not provided for by any other articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Russians continue to create fakes on religious topics in response to the law adopted in Ukraine banning religious organizations with a governing center in Russia. We previously wrote about the messages promoted by Russia, reacting to the ban on the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

A number of pro-Russian sources have spread the “news” that those evacuated as a result of the flood in Poland have nowhere to stay, because “all the places are occupied by Ukrainians”. As evidence, the propagandists cited a publication by an allegedly injured Polish woman named Dagmara Malynowska, who wanted to evacuate to a hotel with her child, but they were allegedly refused.

Therefore, the woman and her daughter were apparently forced to spend the night in a camp on the site of a school, where the child contracted pneumonia. Finally, as the Russians claim, Dagmara called on the authorities to check why Ukrainian refugees are provided better conditions than Polish citizens.

However, Russian propagandists have faked the publication. StopFake journalists found the original message by Dagmara Malinovskaya with such a photo. In the post, the woman did not write anything about Ukrainians who allegedly occupied all the places in the hotels. In fact, Dagmara published information that Primary School No. 3 was accepting evacuees and also needed humanitarian aid: water, warm food and blankets.

The Polish woman later personally refuted the Russian propaganda, stating that she had not written it. She also added that she had not been evacuated and that she did not have a daughter.

With this fake, the Russians want to spoil the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainian refugees and to quarrel with residents of neighboring countries. Earlier, we recorded a Russian message about “possible reduction of jobs for Polish teachers in favor of educators from Ukraine”.

The Russian propaganda Telegram channel writes that the initiative of Ivano-Frankivsk Mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv to create so-called language patrols in the city has caused a stir in western Ukraine. Thus, the Ivan Franko Lviv National University has allegedly already opened recruitment for a team of “language inspectors”. Among the promised items are free lunches, career growth, and team building at BANDERA CAMP.

Lviv University has not announced recruitment for “language inspectors”. There is no such information on the Ivan Franko Lviv National University website or on higher education pages in social networks.

In fact, Russian propagandists are speculating on the initiative of the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk. Martsinkiv explained that such patrols will tolerantly make comments when using the Russian language and offer to attend language courses. He also added that this is a volunteer initiative, the volunteers themselves will not have any special powers and, accordingly, will not punish violators. And the Commissioner for the Protection of the State Language Taras Kremen commented on this initiative, emphasizing that Ivano-Frankivsk was the only regional center that did not have a language program.

In addition, the image distributed by the Russians contains things that give away the propagandists. For example, the photo of a guy standing with a sign saying “we will fight until the end” repeats the Russian narrative of a war until the “last Ukrainian”.

With this disinformation, the Russians are pursuing the goal of feeding their long-standing message about the oppression of the “Russian-speaking population” in Ukraine. Previously, we analyzed the disinformation that Zelenskyi started a war against the Russian-speaking population of Donbas.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mariia Zakharova has once again stated that in Kursk Oblast, Ukrainian soldiers are allegedly “at gunpoint” driving Russian civilians into “concentration camps”. Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasyl Nebenzia made an identical statement. He also added that “from 70 to 100 civilians were subjected to violence in the basements of the Sudzhanskyi boarding school”.

In fact, this information is not true, as reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

With this fake, Moscow is trying to shift the focus of attention from the Russian filtration camps that have been massively created by Russians in the occupied territories of Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war, thereby violating international humanitarian law. However, no fakes of Kremlin propaganda absolve Russia of responsibility for its war crimes.

The Center for Countering Disinformation adds that with the help of “filtration measures” the Russian occupiers identify disloyal people and intimidate Ukrainian civilians. Many of those who did not pass the filtration ended up in Russian prisons, were subjected to torture, etc.

Earlier, we recorded a fake story that allegedly “mercenaries” of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had shown extreme cruelty towards residents of the Kursk region.

Information is being spread online that Ukrainian children with disabilities are allegedly being illegally taken to EU countries, where they are illegally adopted, in particular by same-sex families and drug addicts, or sold for organs. In their publications, propagandists cite the head of the Anti-Repression Foundation, Mira Terada.

However, it turned out that Mira Terada is a Russian citizen spreading Russian propaganda, and not an independent international human rights activist. There is no evidence that Ukraine is trafficking children from the war zone.

The Anti-Repression Foundation itself is an organization created by Yevhenii Pryhozhyn, the founder of the Wagner terrorist organization within the Russian army,  which is recognized by the Ukrainian parliament as an international criminal organization.

By spreading disinformation that speculates on the life of children in war conditions, in particular the so-called children of Donbas, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit Ukraine and the Ukrainian government in the eyes of both its own and Western society.

In the stories of Russian propaganda about the life of children in the occupied territories and in the combat zone, the Ukrainian authorities and military are portrayed as ruthless “punishers” whose goal is to exterminate the so-called people of Donbas, who “voluntarily chose to be with Russia”.

Russian propagandists are claiming in the media that Ukraine allegedly handed over drones to a radical Islamist group in Syria in exchange for a detachment of militants who will join the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to them, this information is based on “sources in the Syrian opposition”. However, this is an unfounded accusation that has no evidence.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes about this. Its experts emphasized that it is Russia that is actively recruiting Syrian mercenaries for the war against Ukraine. As reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Russia is recruiting the population of war-torn Syria, promising them Russian passports and paid work, from which few return alive. Russia has created a scheme by which Syrians are recruited through travel agencies to “work” in the protection of oil provinces, and then motivated to participate in military operations with promises of high salaries.

A Russian Telegram channel writes that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has a section where they refute various fakes. And now the FBI allegedly accused Iranian channels of spreading the fake that 100% of FBI employees are representatives of the LGBTQ+ community. At the same time, the video refutation said: “not 100% of FBI employees are representatives of the LGBTQ+ community, but only 40%, according to the agency’s inclusivity rules”. The propagandists add that this is a case where “it would have been better to remain silent”.

In fact, neither the FBI website nor the agency's social media have a video refutation of the information that is being distributed in Russian Telegram channels. In all likelihood, it was created by the Russians themselves, who added an FBI watermark to increase the credibility of the video.

Russian fakers regularly produce video fakes on behalf of authoritative organizations or media outlets in order to maximize the effectiveness of their leaks. Yes, we have repeatedly recorded similar fabricated videos that Russians submitted on behalf of the BBC, Euronews or other well-known Western resources. And they all have a similar design style.

With this insinuation, Russian propagandists nourish their narrative that in the West “everyone has long since gone crazy”, because they go “against nature” when they start same-sex romantic relationships, undergo gender reassignment surgery (the list goes on). Russia, on the contrary, defends “traditional values”, and is therefore a refuge for “normal people”.

Earlier we refuted the information that KharkivPride created an advertising campaign “Better a gay SSU-er than a straight dodger”.

Propaganda resources are spreading information that members of the pro-Kremlin Resistance movement set fire to a warehouse of the volunteer organization Autukrania biler til Ukraine in Copenhagen. The fire allegedly destroyed bulletproof vests, thermal imagers, helmets and transport that the volunteers planned to hand over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

According to the propagandists, the size of the “Resistance” is rapidly growing, which allows its participants to effectively resist the process of providing aid to Ukraine. This allegedly concerns dozens of cases of destruction of military and humanitarian aid, as well as logistical, infrastructural and other objects in Germany, Bulgaria, Poland and Moldova, in one way or another connected with the war in Ukraine.

However, this news is a fabrication, writes the StopFake project. Previously, the propagandists misspelled the name of the organization whose staff was allegedly destroyed in the fire. Auta Ukrainaa (not Autukrania) and Biler til Ukraine are two different organizations. In addition, only the second of them is actually based in Denmark. Both organizations provide assistance to Ukraine - the Finnish Auta Ukrainaa mainly transfers humanitarian supplies for the military and IDPs, and the Danish Biler til Ukraine provides the Armed Forces of Ukraine with cars and trucks.

StopFake journalists also contacted representatives of Biler til Ukraine, and they denied the news about the arson. Information about the fire at the warehouse of this organization did not appear in any Danish media. After all, the organization really does not operate in Copenhagen, but in another city in Denmark.

Also, it is likely that the information about the activities of the so-called resistance movement in Europe is made up. In some cases, it is more likely to be sabotaged by the Russian special services, rather than some mythical underground fighters.

Earlier we documented a Russian fake claim that Ukrainians in Romania destroyed a fuel composition that NATO troops used to conduct proxy operations in Ukraine.

Information is being spread online that in one of Lviv's lyceums, first-graders are being forced to kneel and honor the memory of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. As evidence, the Russian propagandists add a photo of a complaint addressed to the lyceum's director, allegedly written by the mother of one of the 1-B class students. It states that the woman is against her daughter ‘honoring the memory of fallen Ukrainian soldiers by kneeling before the start of classes’.

The StopFake project checked this information and found out that the propagandists simply made up this news by fabricating a complaint.

In the photograph distributed by pro-Russian sources, it is noticeable that the complaint was allegedly written by “Halyna Ivanytska”, the mother of the student “Olena Ivanytska”, to the director of Lviv Lyceum No. 17, Iryna Luniova. And such a lyceum with such a director really does exist.

Therefore, StopFake journalists asked the director to confirm or deny the complaint and to tell whether the said practice really exists in this educational institution. But she replied that this information is completely fictitious. “No such complaints have been received by the director of Lyceum No. 17 of the Lviv City Council! And we do not do such things (getting on our knees – Ed.). There is no 1-C class in the Lyceum, we only have two of them. In addition, student Olena Ivanytska does not study and has never studied in our educational institution”, said Iryna Luniova.

StopFake also verified the information from the parents of first-graders. The head of the parents' committee of first-graders, Anastasiia Lysenko, confirmed that there is no practice of ‘getting on one's knees’ in the school, and there is no 1-C class with a student named “Olena Ivanytska”.

Previously, we recorded disinformation that children in Ukraine were forced to donate blood for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russian sources are spreading information that in the city of Chernivtsi there was a quarrel between an OCU clergyman and a husband in a camouflage T-shirt. This allegedly happened due to the fault of the priest, who refused to perform the funeral service for two dead Ukrainian soldiers because they were baptized in the UOC (MP). As “proof”, Russian propagandists add a corresponding video in which the quarrel takes place, and people around shout “Shame! Disgrace!”

In fact, this information is not true. As Ukrinform journalists report, everything happened exactly the opposite. This quarrel occurred because of a priest of the UOC (MP), who refused to perform the funeral service for two Ukrainian soldiers because he did not want to conduct the service together with the chaplain of the OCU. The video was filmed on August 10, 2023 in the village of Irkliiv, Zolotoniskyi district, Cherkasy region. That is, Russian propaganda presented the inhumane actions of a priest of the Moscow Patriarchate Church, which led to a scandal in the community of the Cherkasy region, as the actions of a clergyman of the OCU.

Moreover, an identical situation occurred in the village of Vyzhenka in Bukovyna in March 2024. Then, a priest of the UOC-Moscow Patriarchate did not allow the coffin with the body of the deceased defender to be brought into the church. This was reported by MP Iryna Nykorak.

In this way, propagandists are reacting to the recently adopted bill #8371 on the ban in Ukraine of the activities of religious organizations with their headquarters in Russia. The Russians want to artificially split Ukrainian society on religious grounds.

Read on Censor.NET: How conspiracy theorists explain events in Ukraine and the world: the theory of ‘church persecution in Ukraine’

Russian propagandists are speculating on the massive explosion of pagers in Lebanon on September 17, 2024. On their Telegram channels, they are spreading information that as a result of the explosion in Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, the first secretary of the Ukrainian Embassy in Lebanon, Mykola Khomenko, was injured.

However, this is a fake. The Center for Countering Disinformation, after verifying the information in the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and the Ukrainian Embassy in Lebanon, reported that there were no Ukrainian diplomats or Ukrainian citizens among the dead and wounded.

At the same time, according to the Iranian news agency Mehr, it was the Iranian ambassador to Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, who was injured in one of the explosions.

Such fakes of Kremlin propaganda are aimed at accusing Ukraine of collaborating with terrorist groups and forcing international partners to refuse to provide any assistance in the war against Russia.

Propagandists are spreading information on anonymous Telegram channels that the former deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Rostyslav Shurma allegedly called for ending the war on Russia's terms and stopping the “useless destruction of soldiers”. However, this is fake.

It was brought to the attention of specialists from the Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security. They found out that the video distributed by the fake-baiters was a deepfake created with low quality. “Shurma's” facial expressions do not synchronize with his voice, and the Russian propaganda slogans attributed to him are voiced carelessly - sentences in Ukrainian are interspersed with Russian phrases.

Through such deepfakes, Russian propaganda is trying to push the narrative that the only way out for Ukraine is to “capitulate on Putin’s terms”. The use of deepfakes with fictitious statements by former or current officials, such as Rostyslav Shurma, is aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian government. By distributing fake statements, propaganda is trying to create the impression that even officials are ready to surrender or are leaning towards capitulation. False statements made using deepfakes are intended to provoke a rift between the population and the government. This could undermine support for the government and create the impression that the Ukrainian leadership is allegedly abandoning its strategy to protect sovereignty. The spread of such fakes among the international community could sow doubts among Ukraine’s allies, indicating an alleged internal readiness for capitulation or fatigue from the fight. This could reduce support for Ukraine from Western partners.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation have recorded an information campaign by Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Citing the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, they claim that Ukraine, “at the instigation” of the United States, is preparing a staged Russian missile strike on one of the children's institutions in Ukraine.

The fakers were unable to provide any evidence to support their false thesis. That is, Ukraine is not planning any “shelling”. Russia shells Ukraine almost every day, destroying civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and kindergartens. The propagandists explain that Moscow allegedly does not resort to terrorist attacks, but targets “decision-making centers”. They say that the Kremlin only attacks facilities where military equipment is located or servicemen are present, and therefore does not violate any norms and customs of warfare.

In fact, Russia is trying to hide its criminal actions against peaceful Ukrainians, hiding behind the term “decision-making centers”. But it finds an excuse that shelling military facilities is the norm for war. However, Ukrainian cities are suffering from Russian missiles and drones.

But the infidels do not aim at “decision-making centers”, but purposefully commit genocide against Ukrainians, killing them in their homes, in public places. At the same time, Moscow tries to whitewash itself and deny any crimes. But documented cases of Russian terror show what the terrorist country is actually doing.

By spreading disinformation that speculates on the life of children in war conditions, in particular the so-called children of Donbas, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit Ukraine and the Ukrainian government in the eyes of both its own and Western society. In the stories of Russian propaganda about the life of children in the occupied territories and in the combat zone, the Ukrainian authorities and military are portrayed as ruthless “punishers” whose goal is to exterminate the so-called people of Donbas, who “voluntarily chose to be with Russia”. By telling such stories, Russian propaganda seeks to turn reality upside down and show that nothing will stop the Ukrainian authorities and armies from achieving their goal.

Read also: Ukrainians whom Moscow is turning into enemies: how Russia justifies the deportation of Ukrainian children

Some pro-Kremlin resources have spread information that 58-year-old American Ryan Wesley Routt, suspected of the second attempted assassination of Donald. The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

In fact, this information is not true. The International Legion of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine wrote about this in an official message on its telegram channel: “US citizen Ryan Routh has never served in the International Legion of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and has no relation to the unit. The rumors spread about this in some media outlets are not true”.

Raut came to Ukraine after the full-scale invasion of Russia. In an interview with Romanian NewsWeek, he said his initial goal was to “come and fight”. But at 56, he had no military experience and, as Raut put it, “was not an ideal candidate for a real war”. So his plan B was to come to Kyiv and promote the idea of many others joining the International Legion. “We need thousands of people here to fight alongside the Ukrainians”, Raut said.

With this manipulation, Russian propaganda seeks to dissuade the United States from providing military and financial support to Ukraine in the war against Russia.

Russian Telegram channels have spread the news that a Ukrainian refugee shot at a church icon in Zurich. The publications are accompanied by a screenshot from the woman's Instagram profile, where she shared a photo in yellow and blue colors with the hashtag #standwithukraine.

But the person pictured is Sania Ameti, a Swiss politician of Bosnian origin with no ties to Ukraine. She is a member of parliament for the Green Liberals and heads the political movement Operation Libero.

Amethi shared a photo on her Instagram in which she was shooting at an image with Christian iconographic motifs online. Following a flurry of outrage, Sania Amethi deleted the post and apologized.

As a result, the Green Liberals leadership determined that the politician's actions did not cause a reputational blow to the entire organization, and will continue to ask Ameta to leave the party.

Russian media, citing a statement by the so-called “representative of the military administration of the Kharkiv region”, are disseminating information that the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly cutting off water and electricity to those residents of the Kharkiv region who refuse “forced evacuation”.

“The Ukrainian authorities have resumed the forced evacuation of the population in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region; local residents who do not want to go are being disconnected from water, electricity and gas”, the propagandists write.

However, the Ukrainian authorities allegedly intend to cut off electricity, gas and water to those who refuse to evacuate, as stated by the representative of the Russian occupation administration in the Kharkiv region, Yevhenii Lisniak, who is accused of collaboration. In the Russian media, he is called “deputy head of the military-civil administration of the Kharkiv region for defense and security”.

It is known that Yevgenii Lisniak lived in Kharkiv until 2014 and worked in the police with the rank of junior lieutenant. From 2015 to 2022, he lived in occupied Luhansk, where he worked in the so-called “Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR”. In April 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine reported in absentia that Lisniak was suspected of voluntarily taking a position in an illegal law enforcement agency created in the temporarily occupied territory.

On May 10, 2024, the Russian army launched an offensive in the north of the Kharkiv region. Due to the threat to the lives and health of local residents, the evacuation of the population from the city was accelerated on the same day.

Kremlin media is spreading information that more than 50% of workers in brothels in Germany are Ukrainians. This is reported by the German publication Die Welt, which allegedly interviewed a sex worker.

“There are about 400,000 registered sex workers in Germany, so there are 200,000 Ukrainian women officially working for the European economy? And how many more are unofficial? This is the result of the war and Zelenskyi's policies”, the propagandists add.

However, the Die Welt article does not cover all of Germany, but only the capital, Berlin. The text cites the words of a social worker who hides her name.

She notes that in Berlin brothels, about half of the workers, according to her own feelings, are Ukrainian. That is, the information provided is not even official data, but is based only on the words of an unnamed social worker.

The title of the article from Die Welt is called “There are about 50% Ukrainian women in brothels now”, but it is based on anonymous comments and no official statistics are provided. That is, such a title can be considered manipulative and created to attract the attention of readers. After all, even the article itself is about Berlin, and not the entire Federal Republic geographically.

The interview also raised the issue that some of the Ukrainian women who were invited to live for free in German apartments at the beginning of the full-scale invasion were later forced to “pay for housing with sexual services” and even engage in prostitution. At the same time, those who lured them with false offers of housing blackmailed women from Ukraine and exploited their vulnerable social status in an unfamiliar country. That is, the material also points out the problems due to which many Ukrainian women were forced to engage in prostitution in Berlin, often against their will.

Thus, propaganda tries to diminish the role of Ukrainian women in society as a whole; to hint that they can only work as sex workers. And this is caused by the fact that, supposedly, a Ukrainian refugee is lazy and worthless. She can only dress “daringly” and “wander” around Europe.

Pro-Kremlin media have begun spreading disinformation claims that Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal promised to make peace with Russia in exchange for EU membership. According to the propagandists, this statement was made during the Ukraine 2024. Independence forum.

But StopFake fact-checkers explained that Denys Shmyhal noted during the forum that Ukraine has good results in the area of European integration and is striving to become technically ready to join the European Union as soon as possible. According to the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Ukrainian legislation is already being screened for compliance with European legislation.

The Prime Minister said that Ukraine has ambitious plans to open all areas of negotiations on joining the European Union in the first half of 2025 – during Poland’s presidency of the EU Council. Shmyhal stressed that Ukraine’s European integration should become a prerequisite for a fair peace.

That is, there was no talk of any agreements with Russia.

Propagandists on anonymous Telegram channels claim that Ukrainian volunteer and activist Serhii Sternenko allegedly tweeted that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States was “karma” and “punishment from God” for slow arms deliveries to Ukraine. They say that fewer people died during the terrorist attack than Ukrainians are currently dying due to delays in arms deliveries from the United States. However, this is fake.

There are no confirmed sources or evidence that Sternenko, other Ukrainian volunteers or officials made such statements. The quote is completely fictitious and does not reflect the real views of Ukrainian society or the state. The fake exploits the tragic events of September 11, which are very sensitive for many people, especially in the United States. Its goal is to incite hatred and create the impression that Ukrainians allegedly support or justify terrorist attacks.

The United States is one of Ukraine's main international allies, providing significant financial, military and diplomatic assistance. Despite the complex logistical processes, the support of the United States and Western countries has been and remains important for Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression. All such fakes are aimed at sowing mistrust and increasing cooperation between Ukraine and its Western partners.

Ukrainian society condemns any terrorist actions, and such statements are unacceptable for Ukrainians who themselves suffer from violence and terror from Russian aggression. This fake is specifically created to divide Ukraine and its international allies.

This fake is part of a wider Russian information campaign aimed at discrediting Ukrainian military and volunteers and attempting to present them in a negative light.

Pro-Kremlin resources are spreading information that unnamed representatives of Ukraine met with members of the jihadist group Ghayat Tahrir al-Sham in the Syrian city of Idlib in mid-June 2024. The Ukrainian authorities allegedly wanted to exchange “Chechens, Turkmens and Georgians” who participated in the war in Syria, who are being held by Ghayat Tahrir al-Sham, for 75 UAVs. It seems unlikely that this will happen, given that these drones are being used against Russians in Syria. Among those who was allegedly supposed to be exchanged was, in particular, the so-called “Minister of Defense” of ISIS, Abu Umar al-Shishani.

However, this information is not true, Ukrinform reports. Ukraine does not negotiate with terrorist organizations. In addition, it is impossible to exchange Abu Umar al-Shishani for drones or anything else, because he died in 2016 in Iraq during the fighting around the city of Mosul.

Russian sources also refer to the Turkish-language publication Aydınlık, which is pro-Russian and has repeatedly published fakes about Ukraine. The publication belongs to the Vatan political party, which promotes an anti-Western and pro-Russian agenda. It is the only political force in Turkey calling for recognition of the Russian occupation of Crimea and Abkhazia.

It is worth noting that Ukraine does not have any diplomatic missions in Syria, since it severed all relations with this country on June 30, 2022.

With this fake, the Kremlin once again seeks to baselessly accuse Ukraine of “supporting international terrorism”. Propagandists also use this fake as evidence of the so-called “Ukrainian trace” in terrorist attacks taking place in Russia itself.

Russian resources are spreading information that the Volyn tragedy will not be taught in Polish schools in classes where Polish children study together with Ukrainian schoolchildren. The reason for the decision was the reluctance to create tension and interethnic conflicts among students. The corresponding “news” is being spread by propagandists, citing the English-language media about Ukraine United24.

However, this is a fake, StopFake journalists claim. There is no such story on the website, as well as on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of the United24 resource. The “news” was also not published in Polish media or on the website of the Ministry of National Education of Poland. That is, no one actually made such a decision.

The Volyn tragedy (in Polish historiography - the Volyn massacre) occurred in the summer of 1943 and is still a subject of debate among historians. At the same time, after the full-scale invasion, Ukraine and Poland leaned towards a policy of reconciliation and memory. “We are pursuing a calm policy. Not a policy of running around with pitchforks, but a policy of calmly seeking agreement on historically complex issues, decades-old, very complex, extremely painful for a significant group of our compatriots”, said Polish President Andrzej Duda in June 2023. In July of the same year, on the 80th anniversary of the tragedy, he arrived in Lutsk together with Volodymyr Zelenskyi to honor the memory of the victims of the tragedy.

Russia regularly speculates on the Volyn tragedy. For example, a little earlier we recorded a Russian fake about Babel publishing a quote from a Ukrainian director with the idea for the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”.