Spilnota Detector Media

Fake A Brazilian company used a photo of Zelenskyi to advertise condoms

Such information is being disseminated on social networks. In particular, in the Georgian language segment of Facebook. Brazilian company Platinum Studio allegedly released a condom ad featuring a caricature of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, reports say.

Such messages are supplemented by a photo of the advertisement and the inscription: “Some people should not have been born”. However, this is fake. The Brazilian company did not run such advertisements featuring Zelenskyi, although it did produce cartoons of other politicians wrapped in a condom. In 2017-2019, Platinum Studio created caricatures of only three people: Volodymyr Putin, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un.

As analysts of the Myth Detector project write, there is no cartoon depicting Zelenskyi either on the company's pages or among the authors' works. Also, in the three original cartoons, both the clothes of the characters and their poses are different. Also, all three politicians are trying to get out of the condom and have angry facial expressions. In the cartoon with Zelenskyi, his pose and clothes are identical to the Trump’s, only the color of the tie has been changed.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has been spreading fake cartoons of Zelenskyi. Thus, the propagandists want to demonstrate that the attitude towards Zelenskyi in the world is changing, because allegedly he is already portrayed not as a hero and a respectable president, but as a clown, they despise him, etc.

Fake Against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the trade in human organs has developed

In the Georgian-speaking segment of social networks, information is being disseminated that due to the war in Ukraine, an illegal business has significantly developed - the trade in human organs. First, this message was voiced by the host of the program, Nikoloz Mzhavanadze, on the air of the Georgian pro-Kremlin Sezoni TV.

He stated that the "organ trade business" was started in Ukraine, and the organs of the victims are exported to different countries of the world. Mzhavanadze also said that "there were serious allegations" of organ trafficking against the family of former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in particular his ex-wife Sandra Roelofs. However, this is not true. According to Myth Detector analysts, allegations of organ trafficking in the conditions of the war in Ukraine are disinformation that has been spreading across Russia almost since the beginning of the big war, since the spring of 2022. Such information was disseminated by the Kremlin media in May.

In fact, organ transplantation is a complex and time-limited medical procedure that cannot be performed in the field. Unfounded accusations that after the start of the war in eastern Ukraine, military organs are actively traded in the country and various political leaders involved in this process have spread at different times since 2014. The International Committee of the Red Cross responded to a video circulated on May 31 that alleged new cases of human trafficking. The statement notes that the video contains false accusations. The organization explained that, as part of their work, they did not collect data on the health of children, noting that allusions to the involvement of the Red Cross in organ trafficking are "definitely false statements".

Fake Ukraine prepares fake attack to prevent Russian fertilizer exports

Such messages are spread by the Russian propaganda media. The same thesis is spread by pro-Russian users in social networks. Allegedly, Ukraine is preparing a fake attack organized by British special forces to prevent Moscow from exporting ammonia again through the Togliatti - Odesa pipeline. Allegedly, Kyiv wants to disrupt the UN initiative to resume the export of Russian fertilizers.

However, such reports are not confirmed by anything. In fact, the export of Russian fertilizers does not occur due to sanctions. According to EU vs Disinfo project analysts, the authors of such reports do not provide any evidence confirming the fact that Ukraine is preparing an attack. Analysts say that through such messages, Russia is trying to portray Ukraine and the UK as responsible for preventing the re-introduction of Russian fertilizers to world markets. As both the US and EU sanctions rule out fertilizer and food exports, propagandists resort to unsubstantiated accusations to mask what is largely the result of Russia's lack of willingness to compromise in UN-backed negotiations on the issue, and finally a consequence of the invasion of Russia in Ukraine.

This is not the first time Russia has accused Ukraine of provocations. So she transfers responsibility for her actions to Ukraine. For example, the Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly been accused of wanting to verify the grain agreement and so on.

Fake More than a thousand Polish mercenaries died in Ukraine

This is stated in the messages of the Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels. Allegedly, during the 10 months of the war in Ukraine, about 1,200 Poles were killed, who fought on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as mercenaries. Allegedly, several thousand more mercenaries are wounded or injured. Some reports say that Warsaw is allegedly expecting "payment" for its friendship against Russia. It is not true.

StopFake notes that the primary source of this news is Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny, which repeatedly spreads Russian disinformation. The non-existent Yakub Mozhniak is indicated as the author of the article. There are also no other "members of the editorial board" of this publication.

According to open sources, five Polish volunteers died in Ukraine, none of whom are soldiers of the Polish army.

Earlier, propagandists wrote that two battalions of Polish infantry were allegedly destroyed in Ukraine, and a special cemetery was allegedly created for the dead in Poland. Propagandists also say that Polish special forces under NATO command are fighting in Ukraine.

Fake Polish special forces under NATO command fight in Ukraine

This is reported by foreign pro-Russian media. They say that an operational group of officers and soldiers of the Polish special forces in Ukrainian uniforms arrived in Marhanets, Dnipropetrovsk region, to detect pro-Russian residents of the city. This unit is under the control of NATO Headquarters. It is not true.

NATO countries do not take part in hostilities in Ukraine. The fact-checkers of EU vs Disinfo drew attention to the spread of this fake. They note that there is no evidence of the presence of NATO troops in Ukraine. Western instructors exclusively teach the Ukrainian military how to use modern weapons supplied to Ukraine by Western partners.

Fake Poland created cemetery for mercenaries killed in Ukraine

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that foreign mercenaries, including those from Poland, are increasingly fighting and dying in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. So, allegedly, a special cemetery was prepared for them in Olsztyn, Poland, which was placed in small squares like American cemeteries, so that everyone would have enough space. It is not true.

The news about the creation of a special cemetery was published only in the publication Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny. Fact-checkers of The Insider project discovered that this is a fake publication that had previously spread Russian disinformation about Poland's intentions to take over Ukraine. The reason for the fakes was the decision of the Polish Ministry of Defense to switch to American standards for the arrangement of military cemeteries throughout the country.

Fake In Paris, Zelenskyy depicted in graffiti absorbing money like a black hole

Russian propaganda media, including Pervyi kanal (Channel One), Russia Today, Vesti (News), Ukraina.ru, Izvestia (News reports), Arguments and Facts, FAN and others, have distributed a photo of a 3D graffiti caricature of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They wrote that this graffiti was made in Paris, and the authors of the picture posted on social networks with the following description: "Hello France, give me all your money!" and a response from supposedly France: "I'm sorry, but I don't care".

As the fact-checking project Myth detector found out, this picture is a fake. Investigators found out that the photo shows the exit from the Saint-Mande metro, next to it you can see the La Florangerie flower shop. The project asked its own employee to go and see if there was graffiti there: as of December 3, there was none there. The project also contacted a representative of the flower shop and he confirmed that the store has not had any graffiti at all lately.

The photo of the fake graffiti was posted on an Instagram account that only has two posts. The previous one is also a photo of graffiti with Zelenskyy allegedly made in Warsaw. Three fact-checking projects at once found out back in November that this was a fake and there was no such graffiti in Warsaw either. Such graffiti is part of the propaganda messages that allegedly the Ukrainian authorities “demand money” from the West in order to wage “a war that no one needs” or “get rich”. They also constantly try to send a message that “Ukraine, like a black hole, absorbs money and weapons”, that is, spends it on both without control. But propaganda efforts are in vain: the EU, the US and other partners continue to support Ukraine.

Fake Ukrainian refugees were forcibly evicted from an apartment in Krakow

The Russian media are spreading another fake about Ukrainian refugees who were supposedly forcibly evicted from their home in Krakow. But, as StopFake found out, there is no evidence or mention of such an incident - except for the words of a witness referred to by the Russian media. They also distribute a video that seems to show that Ukrainian refugees had to be expelled from their apartment with a crane.

As fact-checkers write, a video about how the police got through the window in the center of Krakow appeared on the network on October 8, 2021, and there is no relation to the war in Ukraine. There is also no mention of any case of forced eviction of Ukrainians either in the local media, or in the police of Krakow, or in the Polish segment of social networks.

Fake Explosions heard in Lviv region

Russian propagandists and anonymous telegram channels spread information that there were explosions in the Lviv region. According to the head of the Regional military state administration Maksym Kozytskyi, this is a fake. “I officially declare that as of 15:00 the information is untrue”, Kozytskyi wrote and urged people to stay in shelters.

Fake Ukrainian military support the struggle of the Rojava region for independence

This is reported by Turkish media. As proof, they cite a photo in which two men in balaclavas hold in their hands the inscription “Will to the peoples - death to empires” and “Glory to the resistance of Rojava!”

Stop Fake fact-checkers found that this publication led to a wave of indignation in the Turkish media community, because Turkey considers Kurdish military formations to be terrorist. “Scandalous support for the RKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and YPG (People’s Defense Units) by the Ukrainian military!”, “Ukraine forgot about Turkey’s help”, with such headlines, the Turkish media circulated this photo.

There is no evidence of the involvement of the Ukrainian military in this photo. The photo first appeared on the Russian telegram channel Hevale, which publishes information about Kurdistan and the Middle East. From there, it was spread by Turkish media and social media users. The Ukrainian ambassador to Turkey said that the photo is "a Russian provocation and has nothing to do with the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukraine".

Fake The number of deserters among Ukrainian servicemen has increased

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. According to one of the propagandists, the alleged number of deserters in the Armed Forces of Ukraine has increased after the statement of the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, about the losses of Ukrainian troops. This is not true, according to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

By spreading this fake, Russian propaganda uses the tactics of reflection. According to British intelligence, it is Russia that is creating "protective detachments" to catch deserters among its own soldiers, fleeing because of low morale and unwillingness to fight.

Fake In Ukraine, they proposed a bill allowing to turn off everyone's mobile communications and the Internet without reason

This information appeared on the Internet, in particular on the YoTube channel of a blogger who previously spread fakes and manipulations on COVID-19. The user notes that the Verkhovna Rada proposed a bill allegedly regulating the permanent shutdown of mobile communications and the Internet at the request of the authorized body. However, this is not true.

Vox Ukraine specialists investigated this case and found that the blogger misinterpreted the provision of the document. Analysts note that the blogger quoted excerpts from bill No. 8185, which was registered in the Verkhovna Rada on November 7.

The document refers to the addition of Article 43 of the Law “On Electronic Communications”. In particular, the bill proposes:

“To allow the use of radio electronic means or emitting devices for special purposes in order to temporarily restrict electronic communication in certain areas in order to eliminate the threat from drones”.

It was this point that the blogger interpreted as the one “regarding civilians”. However, in fact, all proposals are about communication to eliminate the threat from drones.

Fake In Kherson, Ukrainian troops began repressions against the civilians

Such information appeared on the open spaces of propaganda telegram channels. Reports say that a massive civilian repression has recently begun, which simply worked during the occupation of the city, because they needed to survive. According to the infidels, all the inhabitants are in danger. However, the most important facts have been substituted.

This case was considered by Vox Ukraine specialists, who strongly denied the news, because there is no evidence of the repression of civilians who did not cooperate with Russia.

However, it should be remembered that collaborationism is punishable by law, and a civilian can become a collaborator. That is why analysts cited several examples of raising suspicions for cooperation with the occupiers after the liberation of Kherson:

- assistance in holding pseudo-referendums in the occupied territory;

- voluntarily holding a managerial position in a Pension fund where Russian pensions were paid;

- service in the occupational police;

- work in the occupational administration of education in the region;

- voluntary transfer of watercraft to the occupiers to organize their escape from Kherson;

- performance of duties in the occupational pre-trial detention center, including the suppression of the Ukrainian resistance movement.

Russian propagandists manipulate the facts because they want to create an imaginary picture of how difficult it seems for Ukrainians to live after the withdrawal of Russian troops. Like, even the civilian population is being repressed. As a consequence, the Russians are once again spreading the narrative that the Ukrainian army is punishing their own citizens.

Fake The OSCE is directly involved in the war

This statement was made by the Russian propagandist Serhii Lavrov. His appeal says that the OSCE is engaged in adjusting the fire on the territory of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Like, this is another organization of the West, against which Russia is waging war. However, this is not true.

According to experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation, no facts or evidence were provided in the statement.

The OSCE is an organization aimed at developing political dialogue and cooperation in the field of security. Since 2014, after Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, the OSCE sent a Special monitoring mission to Ukraine. According to the Mission's reports, its activities in the temporarily occupied territories, in particular in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, were illegally obstructed by Russia. 

Therefore, an organization that monitors the security situation and contributes to the settlement of the conflict cannot participate in the war.

The propagandists are spreading this fake to nourish their narrative of how Russia is at war against the collective West. In this way, they try to justify their defeats at the front. 

Fake In the point of invincibility, three Kharkiv residents died

This message was spread across the network by propagandists in their telegram channels. Reports say that Kharkiv residents died from carbon monoxide poisoning in one of the points of invincibility. They say that the authorities have neglected the safety rules of Ukrainians, so there are already the first victims. As evidence, the propagandists attach supposedly screenshots of real materials on Ukrainian information resources. However, this is not true.

According to Vox Ukraine experts, this is fictitious news. And the screenshots of the materials were edited by means of graphic editors. The editors of a number of publications and news agencies, in particular, Ukrinform, confirmed that such news had never been published on their websites. In response to an information request, the speaker of the chairman of the Kharkiv military regional administration said that the information about the death of three people was not true.

Propagandists are spreading fake news to intimidate Ukrainian society and convince them that supposedly no one cares about them. Recently, the occupiers have added the phrase “points of mediocrity” to their dictionary of the new language, which hints at their desire to devalue and defile the efforts of the state to help the Ukrainians.

Fake The West is forcing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia

Such information is distributed through propaganda and anonymous telegram channels. Reports say the West has run out of patience with Ukraine's insistence on not negotiating with Russia. Like, the West takes the initiative to negotiate. However, this is not true.

According to EU vs Disinfo fact-checkers, there have been no major changes in the rhetoric of the Kremlin's actions on the part of the West. For example, the European Parliament recognized Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. At the same time, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly recognized Russia as a terrorist state. In addition, during the Assembly, NATO officials said that they strongly oppose Russian aggression and plan to increase support for Ukraine. There is no sign that the West is forcing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.

Propagandists spread this fake in order to discredit the West as an unreliable partner. Allegedly, the West is not at all interested in Ukraine and its interests, but is only looking for different ways to negotiate with Russia. However, the unconditional help of our partners testifies the opposite.

Fake Odesan was given 15 years in prison for displaying the Russian flag

This information was disseminated by the Russian media. Allegedly, a resident of Odesa hung out the flag of Russia with the inscription "Odesa is a Russian city" and for this the court sentenced him to 15 years in prison.

As the StopFake fact-checkers write, the man was indeed sentenced to 15 years in prison, but because the court found him guilty of high treason, collaboration activities and kidnapping.

The State Bureau of Investigation of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine reported that he openly demonstrated his pro-Russian position and was an agent of the FSB. On August 22, he placed a Russian flag on one of the residential buildings in Odesa. A man with two more recruited residents of Odesa collected information about the locations of military facilities on the territory of Odesa, information about law enforcement officers, pro-Ukrainian activists and participants of the ATO, and transmitted this data to their curators in Russia.

He and his associates bought weapons for saboteurs, worked on creating a network of agents in the law enforcement agencies of the Odesa region and planned to kidnap a patriotic businessman, a volunteer, in order to “destabilize the situation in the city” and “after the capture of Odesa by the aggressor’s troops, exchange a Ukrainian patriot for Russian prisoners”.

He was detained with associates during the kidnapping of an entrepreneur with the use of drugs. The recruited Odesans were dressed in military uniforms.

Russian propagandists manipulate facts to show that Ukraine can sentence persons for 15 years.

Fake French special services killed Dariia Duhina

Such information appeared in the Russian propaganda media. Like, the Russian propagandist Dariia Duhina was killed by order of the French special services. Reports say that all this happened because of the situation in Olenivka. Allegedly, Dariia was going to expose those responsible for the shelling of the colony in Olenivka. In particular, the reports say that Duhina had evidence that the French special services are helping Ukrainians in the Donbas, and the colony was hit by the HIMARS system, which is in service with the Ukrainian military. That is why, according to propagandists, in order to hide all the evidence, the French secret services killed Duhin. The EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the case. In fact, this version of the propagandists is not supported by any evidence. According to analysts, such disinformation is aimed at blurring the picture around the killing of Ukrainian soldiers in Olenivka.

Fake In Germany, they proved that the US was preparing Kyiv for war with Russia

Such messages are spread by the Russian propaganda media. They refer to the German politician Oscar La Fontaine. They say that it is not Ukraine that is at war with Russia, but NATO, and the United States should withdraw their troops from Germany; also, that the war in Ukraine and the “coup d'état” in 2014 is also the work of the Americans. According to Russian propaganda media, Germany allegedly admitted that it was the United States that prepared Ukraine for war with Russia. However, this is not true.

Fake Ukrainian servicemen film "staging" with the wounded

Social networks and pro-Russian telegram channels are circulating a collage of photos of one woman putting makeup that looks like wounds on the face of another. The last photo shows how three people allegedly provide medical assistance to the injured person. In the captions to the photo, they note that this is how the Ukrainian military is supposedly preparing “fakes” with the victims. Like, these photos were received from the phone of “employees of the Ukrainian Center for Information and Psychological Operations (CIPsO)”. It's fake.

In fact, the photo shows medical assistance training from military doctors in 2016. The VoxCheck fact checker, using PimEyes, a people-search service on the web, and a reverse search in Google Images, found the original photos and the names of the people on them. These are representatives of TacCat, a Ukrainian organization that conducts first aid courses, held, in particular, with the help of paint and mannequins.

Fake Russia used a powerful vacuum bomb to strike the Armed Forces of Ukraine

On social networks and through pro-Russian telegram channels, a video with a powerful explosion is being distributed. The comments note that these are footage of the alleged detonation of the ODAB-500P volumetric detonating (vacuum) air bomb dropped by the Russian Su-34 bomber on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is not true. The video has nothing to do with Ukraine. According to StopFake, it was probably filmed in Syria. This video has been circulating online since at least December 2019, that is, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, it was the Russian media that published these footage in 2019 and, with the help of military experts, found out whether the explosion of a vacuum bomb was actually recorded on the video, or, perhaps, it was the use of other weapons. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to demoralize Ukrainians with its "advantages" in armament and "victories" at the front. Previously, Russian propaganda passed off footage from a video game as the “destruction” of a Ukrainian tank division. 

Fake Charlie Hebdo dedicated the cover to the Ukrainians who paint the Nazi salut to the football mascot in Qatar

An allegedly new cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is being circulated online. The cartoon shows men in blue-and-yellow clothes writing Nazi salut on a wall. And men in hijabs look up the meaning of this greeting in the dictionary and say: “This is something in Ukrainian.” Users who distributed the “cover” indicate that the special issue is dedicated to the fact that the Ukrainians drew Hitler's mustache to the football mascot in Qatar. It is not true.

The report that supposedly Ukrainian football fans were detained because of Nazi graffiti in Qatar is not true. This fake has already been debunked. The Charlie Hebdo cover is also fake. Allegedly, this is a special issue dated November 24th. However, on the website of the French magazine, the last issue was published on November 23.

The site also features a paper edition created during October-November dedicated to the World Cup in Qatar, but the illustration for this edition also differs from the image distributed online.

Fake In Ukrainian de-energized cities, they “loot and kill on the streets”

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write that Ukraine, without electricity, allegedly “traveled in the Middle Ages” or “into the Stone Age.” It seems to be an "apocalypse in the dark." Like, Ukrainians organize annihilation in supermarkets and even kidnap foreigners for ransom. It is not true.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that the crime situation did not worsen due to the power outage. Also, the presence of the National Police, automobile and foot patrols, was tripled on the streets. Earlier, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that in the first half of 2022, the crime rate in Ukraine decreased by 25% compared to the previous year.

Fake Ukrainian military detain people in the liberated territories to increase the exchange fund

Russian propagandists write about this on social networks. Allegedly, citizens of Ukraine are being detained and accused of collaborating with the Russian occupiers.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that such information is not true.

Fake Ukrainians leave for Belarus en masse through the EU countries

This was reported on the website of the Belarusian Border Committee. It is not true. A fake about the mass migration of Ukrainians to Belarus was released by Stanislav Zharyn, authorized representative of the Polish government on protecting the information space of the country.

According to him, “the graph reflects the falsified number of Ukrainian refugees who left for Belarus. According to the information on the migration movement, more than 60,000 Ukrainians arrived in Belarus, including almost 40,000 who had to go through Poland”.

Zharyn noted that Belarusian propaganda hints that Ukrainians fleeing Russian aggression are seeking asylum in Belarus, perceiving this country as the safer one than the EU countries.