Anonymous telegram channels and propaganda media distribute photos of chocolate bars produced in Ukraine. The wrapper depicts a boy in a communication helmet with a mourning ribbon. Allegedly, the chocolate is called “Alioshka's death”. They say that the real boy Oleksii from the Belhorod region of Russia, who greeted the Russian military, became the prototype of the cover. Now they want him to die for it. It is not true.

This photo is fake. It was first posted on a pro-Russian Twitter account. The description noted: “Ukrainians wish death to a child because he is proud of his country”. According to the Center for strategic communications and information security, the account is a channel for the distribution of anti-Ukrainian and anti-American propaganda in English. A significant part of the publications are memes, collages and other graphic content. Further, the fake was spread by other pro-Russian accounts. The story about the boy was indeed in the Russian media space in the spring of 2022. Russian TV channels filmed stories about him, including about the boy's meeting with the Russian military and a photo shoot in military uniform.

Russian propaganda has used the symbolism of the image of a child proud of its defenders to dehumanize Ukrainians in the eyes of Russians. Propaganda has already used similar tactics to promote the message that Ukrainians want to destroy all Russians, including children.

Lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili is spreading the message in the Georgian segment of social networks. It says that an icon of Bandera was allegedly created, which they plan to send to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. He also added a photo of an icon, in the center of which is the coat of arms of Ukraine, and the coats of arms of the Azov battalion are in the upper corners. It's fake.

The image of the icon has been changed in photo editors. Mith Detector fact-checkers found out that in fact this is the icon of the “Albazynska” Mother of God. In the photo editor, they replaced the face and added a coat of arms to the image of Jesus.

In June, propagandists spread a fake that the Orthodox church of Ukraine (OCU) had decided to canonize Stepan Bandera. Probably, a new version of the fake news is needed to strengthen the messages about the inter-confessional conflict in Ukraine, the forced transfer of churches to the OCU, the desecration of sacred places, etc.

In social networks, reports are spreading that the Lviv clinic for reproductive medicine “Alternative” offers its clients “reproductive tissues of the defenders of Azovstal”. Like, for advertising, the clinic used the slogan “Restore the nation!” and the emblem of Azov. It's fake.

The clinic “Alternative” does not offer its clients “reproductive tissues of the defenders of Azovstal”. As the fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News” found out, the screen of the clinic’s advertising post on Facebook was falsified in a photo editor. The name of the clinic was written incorrectly, despite the fact that the contact details are real: address, mobile number, license number of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. Fake Ukrainian-language advertising was mostly shared on Russian resources, and English-language advertising was shared on Twitter. The photo of the boy used in the ad is most likely generated by ThisPersonDoesNotExist.com, which uses artificial intelligence algorithms to create photos of people that look as real as possible, but who never existed. The administration of the clinic did deny the existence of such services as well.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes in relation to the people of Azov, nazism and fascism in Ukraine, for which Russia allegedly has the right to punish.

Russian propaganda in Lithuania is spreading a fake that due to the number of refugees in the country, the level of criminal offenses is growing. In general, the majority of refugees in Lithuania from Ukraine are criminals, representatives of organized crime. But this is fake.

Data on the number of crimes in Lithuania is provided by the Delfi publication: in 2021, the police recorded 42,525 cases, and in 2022 the number of criminal offenses increased to 45,710. At the same time, such fluctuations have nothing to do with war or refugees since in 2020, when there was neither war in Ukraine nor refugees in Lithuania, the Lithuanian police recorded even more crimes than in 2022 - 46,306 cases.

The article, which blamed Ukrainian refugees for the rise in crime, was published in the Russian-language edition of Baltnews, owned by the Russian state agency “MIA Siohodni” (MIA Today), which includes, among others, propaganda resources Sputnik, RT and Ukraina.ru.

Since the first days of the war, Russian propaganda has been trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU, in order to reduce support for Ukraine and Ukrainians. Read more about it in the Detector Media investigation.

In the German-language segment of Facebook and Twitter, users are spreading a video showing a train with German Leopard tanks. The inscription of the video claims that it was made before January 24, when Chancellor Olaf Scholz officially announced that Germany would provide tanks to Ukraine. But this is not true.

As Correctiv points out, the video was made in April 2022, and it shows the process of returning German equipment to its places of permanent deployment after military exercises. Users misleading the inscription that the video was made before the federal authorities decided to supply tanks to Ukraine write in the comments that Scholz is a liar and that he does not solve anything, since Germany is led by the United States.

The purpose of spreading such fake videos may be to influence the German society in order to convince it that Germany is losing independence in decision-making and sow distrust in the authorities. The audience of such fakes can be Euroskeptics and East Germans, who traditionally advocate rapprochement with Russia.

Russian propaganda is constantly trying to use social conflicts or tensions in different countries to sow chaos, discord or bring right-wing populists backed by the Kremlin to power. Germany is one of the most important countries for the Kremlin, on whose loyalty Russia has relied for decades. After the start of a full-scale invasion, German politicians admitted that their policies of “reconciliation” with Russia, attempts to reduce sanctions after the annexation of Crimea and increasing dependence on Russian gas supplies were a mistake. Also, the German society took the side of Ukraine. But Russian propaganda continues to work intensively in Germany, thanks to social networks as well. And their efforts are bearing fruit: according to a study by the German Center for monitoring, analysis and strategy CeMAS, since the beginning of the war in Germany, the number of people who believe Russian propaganda narratives has increased significantly.

The Russian media and social networks are allegedly circulating a screenshot of an advertisement for the Kyiv ritual service “PE Priadko”. The advertisement refers to a “special promotion for the military and their families” with an offer to buy two coffins and get a third one for free. The reports also note that funeral services are one of the most “prosperous” areas in Ukraine. It's fake.

Funeral service “PE Priadko” did not order advertising with such content. Advertisers encourage the audience to join the group and stay tuned for future promotions. That is, advertising is focused on distribution in social networks. However, StopFake journalists found out that the Facebook and Instagram pages of Priadko's Funeral Service in Kyiv have never created advertising campaigns. There is no information about the “promotion” on the official resources of the ritual service either. The photo shared on the web has been edited with photo editors.

Thus, propagandists once again resort to emotional pressure on Ukrainians and manipulate the topic of losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Earlier, Russian propaganda spread messages that a new morgue was being opened in Zaporizhzhia due to heavy losses at the front, they also spread the message that the losses are colossal and they did not even count bodies of dead Ukrainian soldiers near Bakhmut. Like, the Ukrainian authorities are lying to the Ukrainians that there are no losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Such a message was circulated on telegram channels and pro-Russian media. It says that the Estonian Ministry of Defense will replenish its reserve with the help of high school students. Like, Estonia will teach its children “how to die for Ukraine”, that is, will plan to send children to war in Ukraine. However, this is a lie.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case and found out that the headlines about “the replenishment of the Estonian army with schoolchildren” appeared in the Russian media after the proposal of the Minister of Defense of Estonia Hanno Pevkur to make national defense a compulsory subject for high school students.

The minister himself emphasized that there was no talk of conscripting schoolchildren into the Estonian army, and that it was only about introducing a compulsory thematic lesson in high school. Pevkur is sure that young people need to know how to protect themselves when conducting hostilities.

Russian propaganda repeatedly manipulated statements on sending children to the front. Thus, propagandists want to nourish the narrative that there is no one to fight in Ukraine, so children have to be sent to the front, even from other countries. Detector Media has already analyzed disinformation stuffing that teenagers are handed draft notices or they are mobilized for war.

This message was circulated on telegram channels and pro-Kremlin media. It says that American businessman Bill Gates allegedly said that the government of Ukraine is “one of the worst in the world, it’s really unfortunate for the nation”. As evidence, propagandists cite an interview with Bill Gates that he allegedly gave to the Australian Lowy Institute think tank, which discussed the war against Ukraine and how it affects the situation in the world. However, Bill Gates did not say this, it is a lie.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and carefully reviewed the interview and determined that the propagandists distorted Bill's quote-answer to the question of how Zelenskyi conveys the main messages to society.

To which Gates replied that, in his opinion, “the Ukrainian government was one of the worst in the world: it is corrupt and controlled only by a few wealthy people”. However, now he is amazed with how the Ukrainian leadership conveys important messages to the public.

Bill Gates did not mean the current government in Ukraine and spoke about the government “before the war”. Russia launched a war against Ukraine in February 2014, annexing Crimea and starting a war on the territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Gates was referring specifically to the years of Yanukovych's rule, which were precisely characterized by the dominance of total corruption in Ukraine and the concentration of power in the hands of a few oligarchs. It was these factors that led to the revolution of dignity and the change of government in the country.

Such messages were circulated on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The message says that the board at the Serbian airport shows a flight to Kyiv, but it is indicated that this is a Russian city. In Europe, Kyiv is no longer recognized as Ukrainian. The reports add that the board of the airport also reflects another flight: “Belgrade - Kosovo, Serbia”. However, such flights do not exist, this is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. According to them, the authors of the messages used special editors to create a photo fake. Analysts are convinced that this is indicated by the following signs:

- flight numbers. Each flight number consists of letters and numbers. The letters indicate the airline carrying out the transportation. Number W64051, which allegedly belongs to the flight “Belgrade - Kosovo, Serbia” really belongs to the flight from Belgrade to Basel, Germany (MLH). A different number is assigned to a flight from Belgrade to Vienna, Austria, but by no means “Belgrad - Kyiv, Russia”;

-use of state names instead of cities. Typically, a flight route consists of the names of cities in which airports are located. However, this board indicates the direction “Kosovo”, although Kosovo is a partially recognized state, not a city. Same with Russia and Serbia, which are states, not cities;

- country flags instead of airline logos. On all flights, the display next to the departure time shows airline logos, except for the first two.

By spreading this fake, propagandists are trying to distort reality and wishful thinking: allegedly Europe no longer recognizes the independence of Ukraine and considers Ukrainian cities to be Russia.

Kremlin media are spreading a photo of a sign purporting to be in a Berlin zoo asking them not to feed the leopards with “Zelensky’s empty chatter because the animals might vomit”.  This information was also shared on social media. Some users are convinced that the zoo is protesting against the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. In the picture distributed by the propaganda media, there is a man with a signboard with the corresponding inscription behind him. However, this is fake.

StopFake analysts conducted an investigation and found that the photo was actually edited. Due to a search using the hashtag #berlinzoo, it was possible to find the original image. There really is a sign there, but it only has the name and logo of the zoo.

Recently, the West agreed on a new package of military assistance to Ukraine, so Russia reacted to it by new falsifications. Prior to this, the Kremlin media called arms supplies to Ukraine a “theatrical performance” and insisted that the West was actually sending scrap metal to the battlefield. By spreading such fakes, propagandists seek to create the appearance that the level of support for Ukraine in the world is declining. Allegedly, everyone is against new arms supplies to Ukraine.

Such information appeared in Russian propaganda media and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say Volodymyr Zelenskyi is allegedly threatening to cancel Ukraine's bid for EU membership unless Germany hands over Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Like, Zelenskyi is blackmailing the European community. However, this is not true.

According to the VoxCheck fact-checkers who investigated this case, this news has been made up. It was published by satirical telegram channels. At the same time, the propagandists referred to this news as real. The fact-checkers found the original source, and the telegram channel published by the text actually says that their materials are “a parody, a satire on political reality, only verified fakes”. Fact checkers add that Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not make such statements in order to get tanks.

By spreading this fake, propagandists are trying to prove that Ukraine is trying to get what it wants by various methods, blackmailing included. Thus, Russian propaganda also seeks to discredit President Zelenskyi and show that the level of support for Ukraine in the world is waning, so the authorities have to use blackmail to achieve their goal.

This information is spread by Russian propaganda media. It also appeared on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say mass rallies were held in Paris against arms supplies to Ukraine. Like, the protesters called for the dismissal of the incumbent President Macron, and also demanded that the authorities would withdraw from NATO. However, this is all fake. 

The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. According to fact-checkers, to confirm their words, the propagandists published a video of the rally, in which you can see the logo of the Russian state news agency RT, the broadcast of which has been banned in the European Union since March 2022. In the RT story, you can see the comment of Florian Filippo, the leader of the far-right Party of patriots, who criticizes France's policy towards Ukraine. This politician also often organizes anti-vaccination protests, pro-Kremlin and anti-Ukrainian rallies. However, the video of the protest published by the propaganda has nothing to do with Ukraine. In the RT story, it is clear that the protesters in the video are carrying banners with inscriptions about the retirement age, and not about military assistance to Ukraine. However, propagandists use such fakes on purpose in order to create the appearance that the level of support for Ukraine in European countries is gradually falling. They say that in many countries, in particular France, people are against the supply of weapons.

Russian media are spreading reports that supposedly Russian intelligence has received confirmation that the Armed Forces of Ukraine store weapons and ammunition that have departed from the West at nuclear power plants. In particular, this allegedly concerns the HIMARS MLRS and large-caliber artillery shells. Like, Russia will not strike at nuclear facilities, and if the weapons are detonated, this can be blamed on Moscow. It is not true.

According to EU vs Disinfo analysts, Russia has not provided any evidence to support such reports. According to analysts, the purpose of such messages is to divert attention from the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), which was captured by the Russian military.

Russian propaganda messages were also denied by the IAEA. The head of the agency, Rafael Grossi, said that the IAEA has established a permanent presence at all Ukrainian nuclear facilities. Also, on January 24, IAEA experts conducted an inspection at Ukrainian nuclear power plants and did not find a single military equipment.

Earlier, propagandists spread fakes that the head of the IAEA was “against” the demilitarization of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, and Ukraine plans to protect the nuclear power plant from itself. The propagandists also wrote that the alleged IAEA resolution allows Ukraine to fire at the ZNPP.

Some Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels are spreading the photo allegedly from Stuttgart Airport in Germany. Reports say that posters appeared at the airport calling on the authorities not to transfer tanks to Ukraine. The posters allegedly say: “Let the leopards stay in Germany! Stop the robbery of the Bundeswehr!”. It is not true.

Poster images have been edited in photo editors. StopFake journalists received confirmation from the press service of Stuttgart airport. They said the monitor seen in the photo only broadcasts commercials or occasional messages to passengers about security checks or other operational changes.

Thus, Russian propaganda nourishes the narrative that foreign citizens do not support Ukraine. Propagandists are also trying to influence the situation with the supply of Leopard tanks, in respect of which Germany must make a decision in the near future. Earlier, Russian propaganda wrote that the transfer of Leopard tanks by Poland was a “theatrical performance” that would not affect anything. This allegedly seems to have even been recognized by Zelenskyi.

Russian media are spreading information that Ukraine plans to ban calling a hare “rusak”  (gray hare). Like, this name is associated with the Russians and Russia. As evidence, the propagandists cite an alleged video recording of a live broadcast on the Ukrainian TV channel 1+1. On it, during a story about the defense of the Donetsk airport in 2014-2015, the news feed allegedly noted: “The gray hare” will be forbidden to be called a “rusak-hare” - the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. It's fake.

StopFake's fact-checkers discovered that an excerpt circulating online had been edited. The official account of the TSN program on Facebook has a full version of the broadcast of the news marathon for January 16 with a report by journalists from the Rada TV channel about the battles for the Donetsk airport, which was used by propagandists. The original video in the news feed contained information that the White House believes that Russia's attempts to demoralize the Ukrainians failed again, citing CNN.

In this way, Russian propagandists are trying to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis and russophobes who hate everything related to Russians.

Russian propaganda media are spreading an excerpt from a video from an interview with a German Bundestag deputy, where a bus with the inscription “Zelensky is a black hole” is allegedly visible. According to the Kremlin media, such transport appeared on the streets of Berlin.

Also, messages on the network say that the driver has already been fined for the inscription on his transport. However, this whole situation is a fiction of Russian propaganda.

According to Vox Ukraine analysts, the video shows an interview with German MP Nina Scheer for Die Welt, which she shared on her Facebook page. The clothing and location are identical to those in the bus video. In the recording from the interview, at about the third minute, the bus already known to us appears, but it is clearly visible that the inscription there is completely different: Busmobil 24.

Also in the German media there is no mention of the existence of a bus with the inscription “Zelensky is a black hole”, as well as no reports of a driver's fine.

With such fakes, Russia is trying to discredit the Ukrainian authorities. With the beginning of a full-scale invasion, this happens all the time. Recently, the enemy media spread information that the Minister of Defense allegedly rejoiced that the Ukrainians had become a “shield” for NATO. The Russian propaganda does not ignore Volodymyr Zelenskyi either, reporting on cartoons on the covers of foreign magazines or that he and other officials increased their fortune in 2022.

The Russian media are massively spreading the news that American analysts “counted” Western volunteers participating in the war in Ukraine. The news claims that “the West is not only providing weapons, but also sending the military”. It's fake.

All this “news” refers to an article by The Washington Post, from which it is obvious that Western countries not only do not send their soldiers to Ukraine, but will also have a lot of problems in the future with people who voluntarily left to defend Ukraine. Firstly, because of the laws of some European countries that prohibit fighting for money in other armies (it is also prohibited in the USA). Secondly, the journalists of the American edition, after talking with volunteers, came to the conclusion that many of them ended up at the front, because their own states could not provide their veterans with the necessary level of support. That is, it is obvious that all these people went to war for personal reasons and no one “sent” them to Ukraine.

In addition, the article indicates the approximate numbers of warring foreigners - from 1,000 to 3,000, since the beginning of the war, about 1,000 were wounded, one hundred died.

All these data are approximate, the journalists could not get official data. But some Russian publications began to write that “out of 20,000 foreigners in Ukraine, only 3,000 remained”. This is another fiction: the figure of 20,000 volunteers and volunteers at the beginning of the war was voiced by representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, who claimed that approximately the same number of people responded to the call to defend Ukraine. In fact, this figure has never been confirmed by anyone. The Washington Post writes that most people who came to Ukraine have already returned home, but it is not known exactly how many of them.

Russian propaganda constantly speculates on the topic of foreign volunteers: since the beginning of the war, it has written that almost no one has come to Ukraine. Then, especially during the defeats at the front, the Russian media began to write that only foreigners were fighting against the Russians in Ukraine, and they were defeating the Russian army. The last such fake was spread by representatives of the illegal DNR group, claiming that it was foreigners who were fighting against them in Bakhmut. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to convince the audience that Russia is fighting against NATO countries, and not against Ukraine. Although in any article devoted to foreign volunteers in Ukraine, it is immediately emphasized that the number of Ukrainian military is such that a thousand or even three thousand foreign volunteers cannot significantly affect the situation at the front.

This is the message propagandists use on social networks and on enemy telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It says that Ukraine “provoked an ecological catastrophe” by allegedly lowering the water level in the Dnipro river lower and lower so that the river would freeze faster. As “evidence”, the authors of the messages publish various photographs and videos in which you can really see the shallow Dnipro and dead fish.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project investigated the case and found that the drop in the water level in the Dnipro was not at all connected with the work of the Ukrainian army, but with Russian shelling, as a result of which the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant was damaged. On January 19, the Zaporizhzhia regional prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings under Part 1 of Art. 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine “On violation of the laws and customs of war”. Currently, priority investigative actions are underway to establish the amount of damage caused to the environment.

“Due to the hostilities and terrorist activities of the occupying troops, it is impossible to plan and carry out any repair and restoration work at the Kakhovka HPP. But everything needs to be fixed and the losses must be counted. According to preliminary data, the amount is already about 105 million hryvnia. The revealed facts have all the signs of a crime against the environment. The aggressor country must answer for them in full”, said Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional administration.

Such a message is being shared by propagandists in their telegram channels and in the Kremlin media. It says that Moldova is preparing for war, and the West and World Health Organization are helping it in this. They say that the Western leadership, in collaboration with the World Health Organization, arranges training in medical care. That is why, according to propagandists, Moldova is preparing for an offensive. However, this is not true.

The specialists of the StopFake project explained that the Western countries are not preparing Moldova for a war with Russia - this is a stuffing and a conspiracy theory of the pro-Kremlin media. The WHO training for doctors from Moldova was aimed at training doctors to provide assistance to the wounded who arrived from Ukraine.

In addition, the representative office of the World Health Organization in Moldova emphasized that the need for such training is closely related to Russian aggression against Ukraine. The WHO noted that the acquired skills will help Moldovan doctors provide the necessary assistance to refugees from Ukraine who suffered from Russian aggression. There was no mention of “training Moldovan doctors for military operations against Russia” at the training.

This is the message propagandists share on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It says that the draft notices allegedly began to be handed over even to teenagers, because all the reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already been exhausted. Like, they are “still children” who Ukraine transfers to the front. The authors of the message add to the publication a likely draft notice, supposedly issued by one of the territorial recruitment and social support centers. However, this is not true.

As the StopFake fact checkers explain, the draft notice spread by the propagandists is actually fake. First of all, the “document” does not correspond to the official model: it has the wrong column names, and some information is completely missing from it. Also, the name of the “military commissariat” is constantly used in the fake draft notice, however, starting from 2021, military registration and enlistment offices in Ukraine are called “territorial recruitment and social support centers”. Fact checkers are sure that the so-called document was created using special editors.

By spreading such messages, propagandists are once again trying to promote the narrative that there is no one left to fight in Ukraine, so even children allegedly have to be mobilized.

This message is being spread by propagandists on social networks and telegram channels. The report says that the Russian military near Soledar destroyed the first American M1 Abrams tank from the RPG-18 Mukha. It is not true.

As experts from the Center for countering disinformation explain, the occupiers used an old photo that was not even taken in Ukraine. Moreover, the US has not yet handed over a single such tank to Ukraine, which makes it impossible to destroy it.

Propagandists are spreading this fake in order to distort reality and show that Ukraine is constantly losing and even powerful American equipment does not help, because the Russians are successfully destroying it. Against the background of previously initiated military assistance from the United States, Russian propaganda is trying to convince people that all weapons are ineffective and can be easily destroyed.

This is the message propagandists use on social networks and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It states that the goal of the World economic forum is to reduce the number of people to 1 billion of “chosen ones” because there is not enough space and sources in the world for everyone. For this, WEF members, according to propagandists, have developed a special plan, which is already underway due to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. It's a lie.

As Eu vs Disinfo experts explain, this is a propaganda stuffing built on conspiracy theories. The World economic forum is a well-known independent international organization. As noted in the program of the Annual meeting of the forum 2023, the current event is dedicated to various situations, in particular, the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic. The agenda of the Forum “focuses on solutions to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges”.

When propagandists spread such fakes and use conspiracy theories, they want to achieve a distortion of reality that is beneficial for Russian propaganda to spread their narratives. They say that the war in Ukraine has long been planned by third parties, and Russia has nothing to do with it. So, Russia blurs the borders and justifies itself, creating the appearance that people in Ukraine are dying not because of its aggression, but because of the collusion of large organizations.

This is the message propagandists use on social networks and telegram channels that broadcast pro-Russian rhetoric to the Polish audience. It says that Zelenskyi signed the act of surrender during his visit to the United States. Like, one of the officials took an autograph from the president, but in fact it was not just a piece of paper with a signature, but a real act of surrender. Thus, Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed it without even knowing it, and at the same time admitted defeat in the war. It seems that the president will soon stand down. The authors of the messages add a probable act of surrender to the publication. However, this is not true.

In fact, not a single act of surrender was signed. Ever since the start of the full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Zelenskyi has been saying that Ukraine will not capitulate. At the same time, a series of talks held between the Ukrainian and Russian sides in February-March 2022 convinced the Ukrainian leadership that Russia wanted one thing, namely, a quick surrender of Ukraine and recognition of the Russian victory. However, Ukraine disagreed and called for an immediate Russian ceasefire. The so-called document, attached by the propagandists, contains spelling and lexical errors, indicating that it was compiled.

By spreading this fake, propagandists are trying to nourish the narrative that America wants to get rid of Zelenskyi and is ready even for such tricks. It seems that this is all a secret plan, a conspiracy against the president, and he does not even suspect how, as they say, his most devoted partners actually support him.

Such a message is being broadcast by propagandists on social networks and in telegram channels with pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It says that the EU and NATO want to unleash a world war. The Declaration of cooperation recently signed between the EU and NATO clearly shows that NATO leads the European Union. Propagandists claim that the leaders of these organizations want to unleash a large-scale war aimed at aggression against Russia. However, this is not true.

According to EU vs Disinfo analysts, on January 10, 2023, the EU and NATO signed a Joint declaration of cooperation that emphasized the strategic partnership between NATO and the EU, condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine, and presented NATO as the backbone of European and American collective defense. The EU-NATO cooperation declaration is aimed at strengthening the mechanism of collective defense, this document does not provide for any aggressive actions against Russia.

Since Russia began aggressive actions against Ukraine, Russian officials have accused NATO of a series of threats and hostilities. NATO is a defense alliance whose main objectives are to maintain peace and protect the independence, security and territorial integrity of its members.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists are trying to demonize Western partners and at the same time nourish the narrative that Russia is fighting not only against Ukraine, but also against NATO or the EU. Like, these organizations are the center of war and devastation, and Russia is only defending itself from the armed aggression of the West. However, the real aggressors are Russia and the Russian military, who unleashed a war on the territory of Ukraine and daily commit terrorist crimes against peaceful Ukrainians.

Photos from the exhibition of “captured” weapons in Moscow's Patriot park, including allegedly banned Italian-made mines, are being circulated on social networks. Propagandists say that they were neutralized by Russian sappers in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The original source of the photos is the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Italy. It's fake.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto denies any allegations by Italy of supplying banned weapons to Ukraine. According to Stop Fake, the Italian Ministry of Defense reported that the objects in the photo are not of Italian origin. This is indicated by the corresponding marking. The production of such mines in Italy was stopped 28 years ago, after a moratorium was introduced in accordance with the Ottawa Convention. The signatories are obliged to get rid of stockpiles of these weapons, it is forbidden to transfer anti-personnel mines to third parties. Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, unlike Russia.

Russia systematically accuses Ukraine of using prohibited weapons. Earlier propagandists wrote that Turkey supplies Ukraine with cluster munitions; they wrote that Ukraine used chemical weapons against the Russian military in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian propaganda also said that allegedly Russia does not have banned chemical weapons.