A photo of the famous football player Lionel Messi is circulating on social networks. In the photo, he allegedly holds a piece of paper with the text "Zelenskyi idi ..." (Zelenskyi go..). In the comments, they write that at the opening of the World Cup, Messi voiced his opinion on Ukrainian refugees: “I'm tired of watching this meaningless war! Zelenskyi, take your people and kick them out of Europe, we know the truth!” It is not true.

According to the fact-checkers of the MythDetector project, the photo of Lionel Messi has been altered by software. In the original photo, taken in 2014, Messi was holding a piece of paper with "Fuerza Luca" words written on it, when he was encouraging a 9-year-old fan who was suffering from cancer. Also, in open sources there are no calls by Messi to Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

Such information is disseminated by Russian propaganda media. It is also being shared on social media, in particular, in anonymous telegram channels. Reports say that the Resolution adopted by the International Atomic Energy Agency is allegedly "unprofessional", "politicized" and "inappropriate". Also, the Russian media called the Resolution, which refers to the problems at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), which is still occupied by Russia, inadequate and allegedly “giving Kyiv the right to shell” the ZNPP. However, this is fake.

Pro-Russian users of social networks, in particular Facebook, are spreading a cover photo of the allegedly satirical American magazine MAD, which depicts the Ukrainian and American presidents as Laocoon. Such reports claim that "the American satirical magazine MAD came out with the original cover". The composition depicted in the photo resembles the famous sculpture “Laocoon and His Sons”, however, instead of snakes, the figures of Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyi are wrapped in pipes, on which the flag of Russia is visible. At the same time, the right hand of the President of Ukraine is stretched up in such a way that it resembles a Nazi salute. The caption was added to the cartoon: "Of course, it was Biden, he just forgot about it". However, MAD magazine has never released an issue with this cover.

In German social networks and blogs, information is being spread that Europe allegedly provided 360 million euros worth of goods in 9 months, of which goods worth 342 million were stolen. The reports also claim that 22 sea containers, 389 railway cars and 220 trucks of humanitarian aid were stolen in Zaporizhzhia and its region. The messages refer to the report of GRECO, the anti-corruption monitoring body of the Council of Europe. But this is fake.

As the German fact-checkers from the Correctiv project write, such a report does not exist. The EU representative reported that it was neither prepared nor published. The statement that 55 million euros of financial aid was stolen is also untrue. There is no confirmation in Europe that humanitarian aid in Ukraine is being stolen. There are reports that the Security service of Ukraine (SSU) investigates cases of speculation or theft of humanitarian aid, but it is of a completely different scale and amount of money. Moreover, the propagandists lied even in general figures: Europe provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid in the amount of 335 million hryvnias - that is, less than was stolen from Ukraine according to the authors of the fake.

Russian propaganda media massively spread the news that Ukrainian football fans were detained in Qatar during the World Cup because they added a "Hitler mustache" and Nazi congratulations "Sieg Heil" to the championship symbol. All news links to a video allegedly created by Al Jazeera, the TV channel. But this is fake.

As the StopFake fact-checker found out, this video is neither on the TV company's website nor on the channel's social networks. The photo of Ukrainian fans used in the video first appeared online at the beginning of the year. It was used in several Ukrainian media publications on the semi-final of the European Futsal Championship 2022, which was held in Amsterdam on February 4. Also, the fact-checkers write, the intro of the video is different from those that Al Jazeera usually does.

In addition, there is no mention of the detention of Ukrainian fans in foreign English-language publications.

A message appeared on pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels that the Pohrebok (A cellar) café opened in Berlin, the advertisement of which became viral immediately after it appeared on the network.

This café, according to propagandists, is allegedly Russian and they glorify Putin, drink to his health, and Berliners like it, which is why advertising has become so popular.

“The advertisers fantasized about the consequences of the coming European winter. In their opinion, next year Putin will be signed on German television as Chancellor of Europe. Visitors argue about his role in history: "It was he who liberated our Scholz!", "Europe is humiliated!", "Instead, we no longer supply arms to anyone", "Yes, thanks to him we have freedom!". As a result, everyone agrees that thanks to Putin, there are delicious pancakes and authentic kvas from Pohrebok in Berlin”, the propagandists write. However, there is no such café in Berlin. As the StopFake fact-checker writes, the so-called “viral advertising”, in which the Germans drink to Putin, is distributed exclusively on Russian websites and in the Russian-language segment of social networks. The actors in the video are also non-native German speakers and speak with a very strong Russian accent. That is, the so-called advertising is just a staging. And you can't really advertise a place that doesn't exist. However, with the help of such fakes, propagandists create the appearance of support for Putin's policies in Europe.

They say that the Europeans have long understood that their leaders are weak and are leading the EU to collapse, while Russia's policy is strong and the EU will not stand without its help. In the so-called commercial, propagandists also use the thesis of a cold winter that will destroy the Europeans, because the EU leadership allegedly does not think about citizens when it imposes sanctions against Russia. Thus, the Russians create the appearance of the excessive importance of Russia. Like, other countries will not be able to do anything without its help.

A message of this content was distributed by Russian propaganda media, after which the thesis migrated to social networks. Reports say that Poland has officially put forward Kyiv's demand. Like, Ukraine should apologize for the Volyn tragedy.

In their messages, the propagandists refer to the Polish edition of Gazeta Wyborcza, where they allegedly published a demand for official Kyiv. However, this is a manipulation that fact-checkers from StopFake paid attention to. As the fact checkers write, in fact, this is a statement by a Polish political scientist who is known for promoting Kremlin narratives. And Gazeta Wyborcza published an article about the meeting where this political scientist spoke, with the title “Pro-Russian propaganda at the meeting in Poznan. The Polish government is preparing for war in the East".

In his column, the author Tomasz Nichka reflects on Sykulskyi, and how he was at first a very reasonable scientist, and now actively disseminates anti-Ukrainian and anti-American theses, similar to Kremlin propaganda narratives. The statement that Ukraine should apologize to Poland for the Volyn tragedy was made by Sykulskyi precisely at this meeting. And Poland did not make official statements about Ukraine's apologies. However, propagandists regularly spread fakes and manipulations about Polish-Ukrainian relations.

This is necessary in order to quarrel Poland and Ukraine and create the appearance that there is tension between the countries supporting each other. Also, propagandists constantly repeat the narrative that Poland seeks to annex part of Ukraine and has already begun to get ready for this.

Such information is disseminated in social networks and propaganda media. They say that the Nazi inscription Jedem das Seine is depicted on the helmet of one of the Ukrainian military.

Propagandists claim that "this symbol is banned in Germany as a Nazi one and is associated with a call for massacres". A photo of the supposedly same helmet is added to such messages. However, this is all fake. As StopFake writes, the photo circulating on the network was edited: the inscription "Jedem das Seine'' was intentionally applied to the photo of the military man.

The photo shows the musicians of the Ukrainian group “Antytila” who joined the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. By spreading such fakes, Russian propaganda once again wants to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis. 

Information about this along with a photo, which allegedly proves the fact that Ukrainian vehicles are depicted with fascist symbols, is being distributed in social networks and Russian media.

Propagandists claim that fascist crosses are depicted on armored vehicles used by the Ukrainian army. However, the sign that can be seen in the photo has nothing to do with Nazism or fascism. The photo published on social networks shows a soldier standing against the background of an armored car. The presence of the Ukrainian flag allows us to assume that this is military machinery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

A symbol in the form of a cross is visible on the car door. Lithuanian fact-checkers drew attention to the fake in the networks. Most likely, the emblem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, approved in 2009 by the decree of the ex-President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko, is depicted on the door of the armored car. It is a straight equilateral cross with crimson branches, in the center of which there is an image of the Princely State Emblem of Volodymyr the Great in a round blue medallion.

By spreading such fakes, Russian propaganda once again wants to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis.

This is the thesis that pro-Russian users share in social networks. It was also distributed by a number of pro-Kremlin propaganda media. Reports say EU High Representative Josep Borrell has called on all Europeans to turn off the heating in their homes.

Like, the Europeans were actually asked to freeze to death so that “democratic ideals” would not suffer. “We are faced with a choice between freedom and comfort. We talked a lot about the willingness to die for the ideals of democracy, it's time to prove it”, propagandists quote Borrell. And they add that, allegedly, according to him, the temperature in apartments above +18 degrees is a crime against European values.

However, this is not true. EU vs Disinfo analysts found that EU High Representative Josep Borrell did not make such a statement. It spread from the @lastoppo telegram channel of political and satirical content, the information about which indicates that satirical and false information is published on the channel. However, Russian propagandists picked up this fake and decided to pass it off as the truth.

At the same time, several EU governments have indeed urged their citizens to lower their heating temperatures in order to reduce gas dependence on Russia. However, it does not mean that people are encouraged to freeze to death for the sake of the ideals of democracy. In fact, Russia is systematically spreading the thesis that the Europeans will not survive the coming winter because of the sanctions imposed against Russia. In this way, propagandists nourish two Russian narratives: about a decaying Europe and about sanctions that allegedly harm the EU more than Russia.

Also, due to such theses, Russia intimidates Europeans and creates the appearance that without the help of Russia itself, European governments cannot provide comfort and protection for their citizens.

Messages of such content were shared by the Russian propaganda media. Like, “the head of the Ukrainian junta, Mr. Zelenskyi”, during the G20 demanded guarantees of food security for Ukraine. Like, Kyiv does not want to be responsible for the fact that there is not enough food in Ukraine, because, according to propagandists, it was necessary to immediately stop the export of grain across the country's borders if Ukraine does not have enough food. The reports added that Russia, in turn, would certainly help Ukraine with food, but only within those territories that it allegedly recognized as its own - in the temporarily occupied territories.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case. On November 15, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke at the G20 summit and said that Ukraine had taken part in the World Food Security Program and launched the Grain from Ukraine initiative to help countries facing famine. He did not ask for help from Russia and did not declare a famine in Ukraine in 2022/2023. However, he mentioned the energy security plan, because Russia is methodically destroying the Ukrainian energy infrastructure before winter.

“You can see what the Russian terror is aimed at now. This is an attempt to turn the cold into a weapon. A weapon against millions of people”, Zelenskyi said. In fact, the fact that Ukraine could potentially have a problem with food is not the fault of the Ukrainian authorities or the West, but of Russia, which started a war on the territory of Ukraine, stole Ukrainian grain and vegetables from the temporarily occupied territories, and so on.

The problem due to the lack of Ukrainian grain may also arise in other countries, and Russia is also to blame for this. However, it is beneficial for Russia to promote the thesis that Zelenskyi and the leaders of the so-called Western countries are driving Ukraine and other states to a food crisis.

Like, it was they who with their policies brought people to troubles, because they do not care about the lives of ordinary Ukrainians and Europeans. From this angle, Russia is no longer an aggressor, but a savior of peoples, because it is ready to “help” and correct the mistakes of the leaders of other countries. This is a common tactic of propagandists: shifting responsibility for their actions to others.

Such information was disseminated by pro-Russian users of social networks and Kremlin propaganda media. Reports said that an accident occurred during the dismantling of a monument to Russian poet Oleksandr Pushkin in Zhytomyr, Ukraine.

Like, one of the activists who advocated the removal of the monument, the bust of the monument fell on his head and the man died. Propagandists added vivid quotations to their texts. For example, they claimed that the bust "smashed the head of the leader of Russophobes like an egg". However, this is fake. Analysts of the Myth Detector project drew attention to the case.

In fact, the information about the injury and death of a person during the dismantling of the bust of Pushkin is untrue. From the photo and video materials released by various media, it is clear that no one was injured during the dismantling of the monument. Although the monument itself in Zhytomyr was indeed dismantled on November 11. The video of the incident was published by the press service of the Zhytomyr City Council on Facebook.

The video shows how local utilities remove the bronze bust and erase the name of the Russian writer from the pedestal. The video shows that the bust, transferred to the truck, is not damaged. And the person who participated in the dismantling descends from the stairs and pushes the stepladder to the side. The footage shows that the man was not hurt.

Such information is spread on social networks and Russian propaganda media. Reports say that Ukrainian refugees in Germany have opened a second-hand shop there and are selling items that were given to them as humanitarian aid. As evidence, propagandists publish a video filmed by two women, whose voices are heard off-screen.

In the video, they discuss the opening of the Ukrainian second-hand store Sonnechko (The sun) “in the city center”, but do not specify which one. However, this is fake. Fact-checkers from StopFake drew attention to the information about the allegedly second-hand humanitarian aid. According to them, Ukrainians who have opened a second-hand store in Germany are selling things that they officially purchased in the UK. The clothes sold have nothing to do with the German government and any humanitarian and charitable organizations in this country.

However, Russian propaganda needs such a fake to once again discredit Ukrainian refugees and nourish the narrative that they are destroying Europe, cashing in on the assistance provided to them by the governments of partner countries.

The Russian media and social networks are spreading information that allegedly Italy has tightened its policy towards Ukrainian refugees. In support of this, a video from an Italian TV news story is being distributed about how the police massively evict Ukrainian refugees who refused to voluntarily leave the hotel. This is manipulation.

The video of the Italian TV channel tells about the situation with Ukrainian refugees, but it is taken out of context. They are not talking about any "harder conditions". Moreover, Ukrainian refugees in Italy were given separate housing instead of a hotel. That is why the authorities asked the Ukrainians to leave the hotel for separate apartments. However, some Ukrainians did not want to move to new housing, since it is located in another settlement. Because of the move, you need to look for work and school again, to change language courses and so on. Also, some refugees are being treated at a local hospital. That is, it was about the fact that Ukrainian refugees, for certain reasons, do not want to move to another city, and not move out of the hotel.

Such posts are periodically shared on social networks. They add that these are allegedly Ukrainian servicemen and women who went to defend their country. Sometimes photos of injured people are distributed with such captions. Like, the military is losing limbs protecting all of us, and no one welcomes them. However, these are not always true photos.

Fact checkers of the project “Beyond the News” recorded the re-circulation of a photograph of a man with amputated legs and the caption “this hero defended his homeland. Today is his birthday. No one wished him a happy birthday". The post was liked by 3.5 thousand people, and shared by almost a thousand. A 33-year-old Mark Camamile from the UK is in the picture. In 2016, he came down with what he thought was the flu. However, when Mark went to the hospital, he was diagnosed with pneumonia, which developed into a rare form of septicemia. As a result, the man had to amputate both legs and his right arm.

The motivation for spreading photos with fake comments is unclear. Fact checkers suggest that because of such messages they want to arouse depressive moods in people, such as “our heroes risk their lives, die, but at the same time no one remembers them, no one needs them”. In general, a lot of messages are distributed on social networks with requests to congratulate strangers, especially children or military personnel, on some occasions: their birthday, marriage or other holidays. We urge you to check the information in such messages so as not to become part of incomprehensible manipulations.

Earlier, Detector Media talked about a similar case when they asked to greet a dead military man on his birthday. Fake photos of supposedly Ukrainian soldiers who sleep in snowdrifts during the war are also being distributed. 

Russian media write about this with reference to the words of collaborator Rohov. Like, the Ukrainian authorities use people as a human shield to cover military facilities. Allegedly, even large families, the elderly, and students were banned from leaving. Allegedly, in Zaporizhzhia, the Armed Forces of Ukraine use the “layer cake” tactics, when the military live surrounded by civilians, and the military depots are surrounded by civilian objects. It is not true.

There are no restrictions for residents of Zaporizhzhia to travel within Ukraine or abroad. For example, there are available tickets on the Ukrzaliznytsia website. For the security of Ukrainians, there are restrictions on leaving for the occupied territories after the shelling of a column of civilians at the checkpoint on October 2. Propagandists also systematically report that supposedly Ukrainian servicemen are hiding behind the civilian population. However, such information is denied every time by local authorities.

Russian media and telegram channels write that power outages in Odesa are due to “switching to Western Ukraine''. In confirmation of this fact, anonymous comments are allegedly cited by local residents who allegedly found out about this at “Oblenergo”. They also add that allegedly the authorities once again neglect the interests of the southeastern part of Ukraine in favor of Western residents. This is not true.

As StopFake writes, Odesa is really suffering, but not from “electricity transmission to Lviv”. On November 15, Russia attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure.

Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said that 15 objects were damaged. On the same day, Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, Chairman of the Board of NPC Ukrenergo, announced emergency power outages throughout the country.

A few days later, the mayor of Odesa, Hennadii Trukhanov, announced that emergency shutdowns of energy consumers continued to stabilize and balance the city's energy system. This fact was also confirmed by DTEK “Odesa Electric Networks”, the operator of the electricity distribution system in the city. According to DTEK, as a result of damage by Russians to Ukrainian power grids, emergency power outages were applied to more than 70% of the Odesa region.

Now 55 repair teams are working in the region to restore power supply. By the morning of November 19, power supply was resumed in 400,000 houses in the Odesa region.

Russian propaganda deliberately uses the situation to promote the narrative about the division of Ukrainians by region of residence. Earlier they wrote that there are “more and less important” areas for the Ukrainian authorities.

Tiktok is circulating news which says that the Bundestag allegedly introduces a “solidarity tax”, which will be automatically calculated from wages to help Ukrainians. Like, such a decision was made due to the fact that Germany should support Ukraine with 500 million dollars a month. It is not true.

According to the fact checker of the Correctiv project, the video was published on Tiktok on October 31, it gained more than 815,000 views and 2,100 comments. Its primary source is a satirical account. However, in further shares, users often did not tag the video as satirical, so it received a lot of negative comments.

Fact checkers received a comment from the Federal Government in which the authorities denied the imposition of an additional tax. The government did discuss certain changes in taxation, but it was about existing taxes, and not about introducing new ones.

У такий спосіб проросійські користувачі намагаються нашкодити партнерським стосункам України та Німеччини, а також налаштувати німців проти допомоги Україні.

Allegedly, this was stated at a briefing by the Chairman of the Committee of the Chiefs of Staff of the US Armed Forces, General Mark Milley, Russian websites reported. They say that the American military department calls the chances of success of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the battlefield "low".

General Milli didn't actually say that. He only suggested that the likelihood that Ukraine will liberate all of its territory exclusively by military means in the next few weeks is negligible. At the same time, Milley stressed that the likelihood of a Russian victory over Ukraine is "close to zero" because Russia has not achieved its strategic goals in Ukraine, and now cannot achieve its operational and tactical goals as well.

For the past few years, as soon as the first snow falls, a photo of a man sleeping outdoors in the snow has been circulating on social networks. Allegedly, this is a Ukrainian military man and this is the “price of free Ukraine”.

This is a photo fake. Analysts at Beyond the News found that the photographs are at least 10 years old and were taken before the Russian-Ukrainian war. It is not the Ukrainian military, but depicts the training of the so-called Russian special forces for survival.

Previously, this photo illustrated tearful Ukrainian poetry, messages raising funds for warm clothes for the Ukrainian military, patriotic messages in Georgian “about the price of peace” and even news from December 2014 that “ATO soldiers spend the night in the trenches under a “blanket” from the snow".

Allegedly, Ukraine has increased its export revenue by 2.5 times due to the fact that electricity is cut off in many regions. Such information is disseminated by the Russian media and propagandists.

In fact, the export of electricity from Ukraine was stopped on October 11, 2022 by the decision of the Ministry of Energy, immediately after the first Russian attack on the energy system. By this time, from January to October 2022, Ukraine has indeed increased its revenue from electricity exports by 2.5 times, or by $326.9 million compared to the same period in 2021, to $542.514 million.

Propagandists used this data, allegedly in Ukraine they not only export electricity abroad, but also increased revenue. Like, it caused massive blackouts.

"Such speculation is a vivid example of disinformation and an element of the information war waged against us by the enemy", they say in the Kyiv regional military administration.

Russian media write that at the airport in Bali (Indonesia) the Russian delegation was allegedly greeted with an "updated" map of Russia with the temporarily occupied Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine as part of Russia. It is not true.

StopFake fact-checkers write that Russian propaganda telegram channels were the first to spread the news. There are no other photos of this map on the network. Even the Russian media used the same photo as the telegram channels to illustrate the fake, it was a map with the circled temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. There is no information about who exactly took this “photo”.

InVID and FotoForensics check shows that this banner was most likely created in a photo editor. Also, a detailed examination of the "banner" shows its poor quality: on the right side of the image in the middle you can see how poorly the background behind the map is drawn, which is unlikely for such a major international event.

Earlier, propagandists wrote that Russia “has the right” to Ukrainian territories, since the West recognized the independence of Kosovo. Thus, the propaganda creates the illusion that the world supposedly supports Russia, but not Ukraine.

Russian media write about it. Like, during the announcement of the verdict on the downing of the MH17 Boeing, the judge stressed that it was a "non-international armed conflict in Ukraine." This is not true.

An international court judge said that in April 2014, Ukrainian troops fought against separatist groups controlled by Russia. The judge also stressed that the defendants do not have the right to use the immunity granted to the soldiers of the warring parties, since the representatives of the separatist formations are not soldiers of the Russian army. The Insider fact-checkers drew attention to the spread of the fake. Fact-checkers of the NatoYenota project recorded the spread of and refuted the fake that allegedly Ukraine was recognized as the “main criminal” in the case of downing the MH17.

A blurry video is circulating online showing a man dancing with a rocket launcher. Users in the comments write that this is allegedly Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the President of Ukraine, and add other emotional disapproving comments. In particular, they are ironic about the fact that in this way Zelenskyi is begging for weapons from Western partners. This video is fake.

The spread of the fake was noticed by Reuters fact-checkers. They determined that the video featured comedian Max "Komikadze" parodying the Ukrainian president.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes in relation to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Thus, they are trying to discredit him in the eyes of Ukrainians and foreign partners. To do this, the propagandists wrote that Zelenskyi was using Chroma key to imitate his presence in Ukraine, while "in fact" he fled from Kyiv towards the border with Poland.

Russian media and telegram channels disseminate information that the man who allegedly starred in the story of the French AFP media from liberated Kherson is a military man from Kyiv who “came to carry out repressions”. It seems that his name is Yevhen Mykolayovych Pondin, and he is the commander of the National Guard company in military unit 3030. They say that this is how the Ukrainian media created “the illusion of support for the liberation of Kherson by the Ukrainian military”. Some media wrote that "Ukraine brought extras to Kherson for staged events". It is not true.

As StopFake writes, the man who appears in the AFP report from Kherson, liberated by Ukrainian troops, is indeed a Kherson resident. On the same day, he gave an interview to the film crew of the “Nastoiashcheie vremia” (Current Time) TV channel. Fact-checkers using facial recognition technology found several profiles of this man in social networks, confirming the name, age of the man and that he lives in Kherson. In the military unit No 3030, where the man allegedly "serves", they refuted his belonging to this unit.