Russian media and pro-Russian resources are spreading information that Turkey is supplying Ukraine with Cold war-era cluster bombs. The primary source of the messages is an article in the American edition of Foreign Policy. Its authors refer to anonymous sources among US and EU officials. It's fake.

The message was denied by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar. He noted that information about the supply of cluster bombs is deliberately disseminated in order to blow up Ukrainian-Turkish relations and create a bad image of Ukraine and Turkey in the world. According to StopFake, the Foreign Policy material “Turkey sends Cold War cluster bombs to Ukraine” contains value judgments without specific evidence provided by witnesses or participants in such shipments.

According to the Cluster Munition Coalition, an international group on combating the use of cluster munitions, the Russian army used them hundreds of times in 2022 in ten of Ukraine's 24 regions. This could have affected more than 600 civilians. Thus, Russian propaganda uses the tactics of reflection and tries to cover up its own crimes.

Previously, propagandists accused Ukraine of allegedly supplying Azerbaijan with banned phosphorus munitions; allegedly Ukraine used chemical weapons against the Russian military in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian propaganda also said that supposedly Russia does not have banned chemical weapons.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegrams are spreading videos of church fires. Allegedly, a fire occurred in the Holy Ascension church in the village of Ovadne, Volodymyr district, Volyn region. They say that the church was set on fire, because in Ukraine there is a “struggle against Orthodoxy”, and the priest “refused to leave the Moscow Patriarchate”. It is not true.

Information about the fire was denied by both rescuers and local authorities. The fire was not registered in the regional department of the State emergency service. According to the head of the Ovadne community, Serhii Panasevych, the video does not show their church.

Fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Lier) project found out that this is a video of a fire in the church of St. Theodosius of Chernihiv in the village of Novooleksandrivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which occurred on January 19, 2021.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages about “harassment” and “discrimination” against the Moscow Patriarchate Church in Ukraine. Previously, reports of an attack on a priest in a temple were used to nourish this message. They also wrote that the transfer of churches from the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is “a struggle for influence on the minds of people”; allegedly Ukraine is “destroying” the greatest religious denomination; and that allegedly Ukraine needs to be “desatanized” and “deshaitanized”.

Reports are circulating on social networks that allegedly the German Bundestag has urgently adopted a decision according to which Ukrainian refugees will receive a “welcoming” bonus of 500 euros at Caritas offices. Such assistance is allegedly funded by German taxes. The video gained thousands of views and caused discontent among the Germans. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Correctiv project asked for clarification from the office of Caritas and the Bundestag and received confirmation that the video was fake. The Caritas Association does not pay or offer any “welcoming” payments. The Bundestag did not make such a decision; moreover, there was not even such a project. The fact-checker also notes that the primary source of the video is an account from which false information about financial assistance to Ukrainian refugees was also previously shared.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes to discredit Ukrainian refugees. In particular, fakes were circulated earlier in Germany, allegedly social services pay for the services of a hairdresser instead of Ukrainian refugees; as if Ukrainians go to Germany, draw up social benefits and immediately return home; and as if Ukrainians resell items received in Germany as humanitarian aid.

Reports are circulating on social media that a sculpture in the shape of a nose has been installed in Milan, around which white powder is scattered. Like, the Italians called the sculpture “Zelenskyi's nose” because it reminds them of the Ukrainian president. This is not true.

In Milan, indeed, they placed a sculpture in the shape of a nose, but it has nothing to do with Volodymyr Zelenskyi. A sculpture with a nose and cocaine is located in the Corso Como shopping mall in Milan. It was created by the Italian activist and artist Christina Donati Meyer. The activist sought to use the sculpture to protest the increase in drug trafficking in Milan, especially cocaine. MythDetector fact checkers note that this sculpture is actually called Bianco Natale, Milano-Medellin (White Christmas, Milano-Medellin).

Russian propaganda systematically creates fakes to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi both in Ukraine and abroad. To do this, propagandists use cartoon graffiti and fake covers of satirical magazines.

A screenshot of a message allegedly sent by the SSU (Security Service of Ukraine) is being circulated on social networks. The message refers to the need for men who are abroad to urgently appear at “points for the preparation and recruitment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. If the man does not show up voluntarily, the SSU plans to go to court “in order to deport the person liable for military service to Ukraine”. This message is fake.

As StopFake journalists found out, the box of this message was first published in the Typical Odesa telegram channel, which distributes Russian propaganda. Subsequently, it was published by other propaganda telegram channels.

The message contains grammatical and factual errors: for example, there are no “points for the preparation and recruitment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. They are officially called territorial recruitment and social support centers. It is also known that the SBU does not use the telegram channel to send any messages.

The Russian Ministry of Defense claims to have “avenged” the murdered Russian mobilized who died in the dormitory of a vocational school in Makiyivka on the night of January 1, 2023. Russian propagandists write about a “retaliation strike” against Kramatorsk, which allegedly killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers. But these statements by the Russian Ministry of Defense are fake, refuted by foreign media, the Ukrainian army leadership, and even Russian “patriotic channels”.

According to Ihor Konashenkov, a spokesman for the Russian Ministry of Defense, Russian artillery hit dormitories No. 28 and No. 47 in Kramatorsk. But four film crews of foreign media - Antti Kuronen, a Finnish journalist from the Yle television and radio company, CNN journalists, Daniele Raineri, a correspondent for the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, and Reuters journalists - visited these two buildings and did not find any evidence of the death or injury of Ukrainian military or civilians. Moreover, both buildings are almost unscathed - only one had broken windows, the other building was not damaged at all. Local residents heard the explosions, but did not see any ambulances or the work of rescuers. Russian missiles definitely hit near the buildings: one crater is located near the school, the other missile, judging by the photographs, hit the garage. The Grey Zone telegram channel, close to Wagner's private military company, wrote that although the hostel buildings themselves were not destroyed, the Russian command “should hold their noses, since the decision-making center is probably located in the garage”. Other z-patriotic channels called Konashenkov's statements a lie. The Ukrainian army also said that the Russian Ministry of Defense is lying.

Collaborator Volodymyr Saldo, who calls himself the “interim governor” of the Kherson region, spread a fake in an interview on Volodymyr Soloviov’s channel that the Ukrainian military is randomly shelling Kherson, and the Russian army has nothing to do with the shelling. In addition, he said that the Ukrainian military were shelling the Ukrainian city with “mobile mortar groups”.

What “mobile mortar groups” are, according to Saldo, is not clear, as it is not clear why the Ukrainian army should shell a city with civilian Ukrainian citizens at all. At the same time, Saldo claims that Ukrainian “mortar groups” only fire at “significant objects”, they do it at night and solely because they are afraid of “security units”, as if they are shooting those who do not follow the instructions to “shell Kherson”.

The “security units” that travel around the city with “mobile groups” are an invention of Saldo himself. But the fake information about “mortar mobile groups” of the Ukrainian army appeared during the first stage of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014. This is written in the publication “Bridge”.

At that time, Russian propaganda spread the same stories about Ukrainian “mortar mobile groups” that allegedly shelled Luhansk, Donetsk and other occupied cities of Donbas. It is clear that there were no “mobile groups”, and Luhansk, Donetsk and, for example, Shakhtarsk were fired upon by militants of various criminal groups such as the Zaria (Star) battalion. The head of the so-called LNR (Luhansk national republic), Valerii Bolotov, spoke about this in an interview with Russian media in 2016. There is other evidence that Luhansk was shelled by the Luhansk residents themselves, who joined illegal armed formations. Read more about this here.

Russian media and users of the Georgian and Russian language segments of Facebook are distributing BBC infographics, allegedly created according to the American edition of Forbes, from which it follows that the military-political leadership of Ukraine enriched themselves during the war. But this is fake.

Russian media report that Volodymyr Zelenskyi's capital has grown from $650 million to $1.5 billion. Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, and adviser to the head of the presidential office Mykhailo Podoliak also seem to have become billionaires; Volodymyr Klychko’s fortune reached almost 800 million dollars.

As noted by the Myth Detector project, a created graphic is a forgery. On December 27, 2022, Forbes Ukraine did indeed publish a list of the 20 richest people in the country, but none of the Ukrainian politicians mentioned in posts of Russian-language media appears on it. The top five richest Ukrainians in 2022 look like this: Renat Akhmetov, Viktor Pinchuk, Konstiantyn Zhevaho, as well as two IT entrepreneurs - Oleksii Shevchenko and Maksym Lytvyn. Everyone who used to be on the lists of the richest people in Ukraine, and those who were in the top 20 for the first time, have significantly lost their fortune this year. The BBC actually created its own infographic based on the Ukrainian Forbes data, all the data of it coincide with the Forbes data, and there is no president, no defense minister, or other officials in it.

We recall that earlier Russian media have already spread fakes about the status of Volodymyr Zelenskyi and called him a dollar billionaire. According to estimates, in fact, Zelenskyi's fortune is estimated at 20-30 million dollars.

Such a message is distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that electricity prices will change dramatically. Like, by July 1, 2023, Ukrainians should expect an increase in electricity prices up to 47%. It is not true.

According to the StopFake fact checkers, the price will not change for all consumers. The increase in electricity tariffs will affect only non-residential consumers. That is, for consumers-entrepreneurs, for example, those who buy electricity for their own business. Experts say that this is due to the shelling of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure. For non-residential consumers, the price of electricity by July 2023 will increase by 18%, not 47%.

Such a message is distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that since Ukraine and Moldova have agreed to cooperate in the field of air defense, Ukraine will have the right to shoot down missiles in Moldovan airspace. It is not true.

In fact, according to VoxCheck fact-checkers, neither Ukraine nor Moldova announced such agreements. Recently, however, the countries have agreed to cooperate on air defense. There is no information about whether the possibility of Ukraine shooting down missiles in Moldovan airspace was discussed at the meeting at all. The official parties to the talks made no such statements.

The allegedly new cover of the comic magazine Humor Times is being circulated online. The cartoon depicts locusts, symbolizing the President, who is eating all the money. However, this is fake.

Such a message is distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that the liturgy was held in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra only with the participation of the military and the press. They say that other people did not want to participate in the liturgy, because they recognize only the Ukrainian church of Moscow Patriarchate. However, this is a lie.

As StopFake experts say, a number of media covering this historic event noted that the Christmas service gathered a huge number of believers. Various photos and videos of the Christmas liturgy show that there are not only journalists and military personnel in the church, but also just believers. The festive liturgy at the Lavra was also broadcast by national TV channels. On the broadcast, one could see who was in the temple during the service.

Propagandists spread this fake to convince everyone that the UOC is not popular among the Ukrainian population and that such a church is considered schismatic. That is, one that has separated from the real, canonical one.

Such a message is distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that Russia is defeating Ukraine, and this was even noted in the United States. Allegedly, the United States is convinced that Ukraine will lose. As evidence, propagandists refer to the material of the Reuters news agency, in which they allegedly talked about this. However, this is not true.

In fact, as StopFake experts say, the US Department of Defense did not note the total success of Russia, and even in some areas. However, it is true that the latest briefings by the US Department of Defense said that although heavy fighting is underway for Bakhmut, Ukraine continues to hold the city. Consequently, the United States did not recognize the actions of the Russian troops as completely successful.

This thesis is spread by Russian propaganda media, as well as telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. The reports say that Ukraine has switched to “aggressive blackmail” of European allies and allegedly began to “openly threaten to unleash hostilities” on the territory of the European Union if it refuses to supply heavy armored vehicles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to propagandists, if the Germans do not hand over heavy armored vehicles to Kyiv, the Europeans will have to forget about peace. The reports add that foreigners have already understood the danger of flirting with the Kyiv regime. However, this is all fake.

Ukraine does not threaten Germany with war. The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. According to them, the disinformation is based on a quote from Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksii Danylov, who spoke on January 4. However, Danylov did not make any statements about Ukraine's intention to “unleash a war in Europe”. The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council reflected on the risks for the countries of the European Union that arose in connection with Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. That is, on the contrary, Danylov spoke about the possible expansion of Russian aggression to other European countries.

In the German-language segment of Facebook and Twitter, a photo is circulating, which depicts Olena Zelenska in a private jet. The captions on the photo indicate the cost of things and jewelry that Zelenska allegedly put on herself. In particular, a Rolex watch for 18,000 euros. Also, two Louis Vuitton bags for 20,000 euros each. In posts with this photo on social networks, users write that it seems that the wife of the President of Ukraine spent 40 thousand euros on Christmas gifts for herself during her last visit to Paris in December 2022. And ordinary Ukrainians are dying and begging while she spends money on jewelry. But this is a fake photo: Zelenska's face was embedded in a photo of another real person.

The photo was noticed by the German fact-checkers of the publication Correctiv, who found out that the original photo shows entrepreneur Richard Hart, who posted his photo on Twitter in April 2022.

Russian media and telegram channels write that on January 2, rockets destroyed a “stronghold and ammunition warehouse”, which was allegedly located at the Altair ice arena in Druzhkivka. But this is fake.

As StopFake writes, both local authorities and local residents confirm that Altair was used as a part of humanitarian aid. For example, the head of the department of culture, family, youth and sports of Druzhkivka city council Yuliia Pyvovar in a commentary for Svoi.City:

“This is not a military facility at all. This is a completely civilian facility. We had a humanitarian aid warehouse on the ice arena, that is, there we had mattresses, blankets, pillows, there were containers for drinking water, directly the supply of drinking water that we had in the community. There were means for heating there, that is, potbelly stoves, heaters. This is, in general, the facility that we used to store humanitarian aid. There has never been any military there since the beginning of the war”, Pyvovar said. This information is confirmed by local residents in social networks, writes StopFake.

A fake was spread to a foreign audience, which said that in December hostages in the center of the German city of Dresden were taken by a refugee from Ukraine, who demanded Ukraine's entry into NATO. In particular, WhatsApp distributed a voice message saying: “[The attacker] who took the hostages in Dresden, German Davyd V., is actually called Davyd Voshchenko, […] he is a refugee from Ukraine, and his demands were that [ . ..] that Ukraine shall join NATO”.

In fact, this incident had nothing to do with Ukraine. According to Correctiv's fact-checkers, they were told at the Dresden Police Department that there were no links to the situation in Ukraine in this case, and that the man was a German citizen. Law enforcement officers also denied that his name was Davyd Voshchenko. In addition, a video with a similar statement about an alleged perpetrator named Davyd Voshchenko was posted on Tiktok. It was made public on the account with the description “Entertainment/satire”, and at the bottom of the video and hashtags it was indicated that it was fake. Despite this, as fact-checkers note, some users took the content of the video seriously and demanded “immediately stop any assistance to Ukraine”.

The spread of this fake to a foreign audience indicates attempts to influence the attitude of foreigners towards Ukrainian migrants and undermine support for Ukraine among the international community. Detector Media has previously written what messages and manipulations about Ukrainian refugees are most often spread by Russian disinformation.

The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC - MP) spread a fake that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine allegedly did not receive permission from the administration of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra reserve to hold a service on January 7. The UOC-MP calls Epifanii's intention to hold a service in Lavra an “attempt to seize by force”.

The UOC-MP also said that Oleksandr Rudnyk, the reserve's acting general director, told them on January 5 that he had not received any requests from the OCU regarding the use of the Uspenskyi (Assumption) Cathedral and the Refectory Church for worship.

In fact, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine granted OCU permission, and the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra national reserve concluded a corresponding agreement. This, in particular, is confirmed by the acting general director of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra reserve Oleksandr Rudnyk, who said that he gave permission to the OCU and concluded an agreement to hold a service on January 7 from 8:00 am to 12 pm.

He explained that the conversation with the UOC-MP took place in the morning of January 5, and in the evening of the same day he received an appeal from the OCU and a corresponding permit from the Ministry of Culture. The representative of the press service of the OCU provided Ukrainska Pravda with a document confirming that the ministry had agreed to hold the OCU service in the Uspenskyi (Assumption) Cathedral.

Such messages are distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that the EU has rapidly lost its independence due to assistance to Ukraine, and therefore is unlikely to be able to further claim the role of a state institution. Like, Russia destroyed the remnants of the collective West in each country, so they are deprived of sovereignty. It's a lie.

The experts of the EU vs Disinfo project say that the European Union is a sovereign entity created on the voluntary initiative of European nations, and it has its own independent foreign policy.

EU Member States are sovereign countries and make sovereign decisions on their own domestic, economic, foreign and security policies. The European Union is clear on national sovereignty: “Member states remain sovereign and independent states, they have decided to pool some of their “sovereignty” in areas where it makes sense to work together”. That is, there is no question of any loss of sovereignty and independence.

Such messages are distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that for 10 years the West has been preparing Ukraine for a confrontation with Russia, and thus has set its sights on China. Like, the Russian attack was part of a plan to start a war, because the West will provide weapons to destroy first Russia and then China. However, this is not true.

Experts from the EU vs Disinfo project say that the United States, the EU and some NATO member countries are providing Ukraine with military assistance to repel unprovoked Russian aggression. Ukraine receives weapons for the sole purpose of restoring its territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders. That is, we are not talking about the destruction of a particular country. However, the entire international community is helping Ukraine to expel the invaders from its territory.

Propagandists spread this message to show Ukraine as a puppet of the West, undermining the statehood and sovereignty of Ukraine. At the same time, this statement was intended to justify the war of conquest by Russia, because it seems that all this is a conspiracy to organize the destruction of countries.

A photo is being circulated on social networks, in which, next to cans of canned vegetables and a postcard in Russian, it says: “Dear soldier, happy New Year! We wish you all the best and a speedy victory!”. In a post posted on a Facebook news group in the city of Yartsevo (Smolensk region of Russia), it was also reported that Russian soldiers were greeted by the head of the Russian Bonduelle in Russia, Kateryna Yelisieieva. The leaflet also contains information that 10,000 Russian soldiers will receive gifts in the form of four cans of canned vegetables. Now the original post, where they posted a photo of the “gifts”, is not available. According to StopFake, this is a fake.

At the very least, the head office of the French company Bonduelle officially denied involvement in the “New Year's gift sets” allegedly sent on its behalf to the Russian army. On December 31, Bonduelle released a statement saying that “Russian social media has spread false information about our activities in Russia”. The company continues to operate in Russia, unlike thousands of other Western companies, but denies any involvement in congratulating Russian infidels. “This information, as well as statements attributed to Bonduelle and its management, are fake”, the statement said. The press service added that Bonduelle continues to work in Russia “with the sole purpose of ensuring the population's access to basic food products in Russia and neighboring countries”. Later in a comment to AFP, the company said: “We do not send packages to Russian soldiers”.

At the same time, the head of the Russian office, Kateryna Yelisieieva, did not comment on the appearance of the fake. But it is known from open sources that she is a graduate of the FSB Academy.

Social networks are spreading messages about a critical shortage of blood and its components in Ukrainian hospitals. Sometimes they spread information about the requirement to donate blood. It's fake.

The Ministry of Health denied this information. According to the Ministry of Health, a systemic planned donation has been built in Ukraine, which ensures constant supplies of blood and its components. The delivery of blood supplies and its components from other regions is coordinated by the specialized state institution “Ukrainian Center for Transplant Coordination”.

In the conditions of a full-scale war, Ukrainians quite actively respond to all calls to donate blood. As a rule, voluntary donation makes it possible to meet the needs for blood and its components for civil and military medical institutions.

Such messages are distributed on the network. The messages include photos of supposedly announcements of the introduction of paid services and their cost. It seems that adults will have to pay 50 hryvnias for themselves and 30 hryvnias for children when using the “Points of invincibility”. It's fake.

The spread of the fake was recorded by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation. The Center notes that the primary source of fake content is the “Ukropskyi Fresh” (Ukrainian fresh) telegram channel, which distributed a photo from an unknown Instagram account. There are numerous errors in the text of the message, indicating automatic translation of the text from the Russian language.

This was written by Russian propagandists, anonymous TV channels and media. Allegedly, near Bakhmut, Russian soldiers killed an ardent nationalist, a former deputy of the Verkhovna Rada, a participant in the Revolution of Dignity, Mykhailo Havryliuk.

In fact, Mykhailo Havryliuk is alive. This was confirmed by his wife, Yaryna Havryliuk, and the godfather of Havryliuk's wife, Myroslav, reported it to TSN.ua.

“Friends, everything is fine with Mykhailo. He is alive. This is another clear demonstration that telegram channels are evil,” Yaryna said.

Myroslav added that Mykhailo is now in Kolomyia.

Such information is disseminated by Russian resources. Allegedly, one of the rockets hit a Kyiv hotel where foreign advisers and mercenaries lived.

Like, the Russian soldiers knew that “someone important” had settled in the hotel, so they chose it as a target. The propagandists also spread information that in the Alfavito Hotel and the Ukraine Palace, located 100 meters away, both buildings received significant damage from a rocket strike, “interesting people were sitting there - Western and Ukrainian, with and without shoulder straps”.

After the mayor of Kyiv, Vitalii Klychko, announced that a journalist from Japan had been wounded during an attack on Kyiv, Russian propagandists said that he was not a journalist at all: “Yeah, and at the front are all the drivers”.

To justify the terror and their aggression against the civilian population, the propagandists noted that this was revenge for the allegedly destroyed hotel in the occupied Kherson, where the traitor of Ukraine, collaborator and ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Oleksii Zhuravko died, as well as for the explosion in the hotel in the temporary occupation where the former head of Roskosmos, the head of a group of military advisers to Russia, Dmytro Rohozin, and the head of the so-called “government” of the Donetsk occupied territory, Vitalii Khotsenko, were injured.

After the explosion in a Donetsk hotel, propagandists intimidated Ukraine that Russia would begin to strike at the places where Ukrainian top officials of law enforcement agencies are located. If their goal was precisely the power structures, they would not have destroyed the hotel, in which journalists have been holding various conferences and training sessions for many years in a row. In particular, Belarusian journalists and bloggers stayed there, for whom the Detector Media NGO conducted training sessions in 2019 as part of the School of Quality Media project. Also, they would not destroy the Ukraine Palace, where New Year's performances for children are usually held these days. Fortunately, only one person was injured in the Ukraine Palace, receiving minor leg injuries.