Russian propaganda on social networks spreads fakes about the alleged emergency power outage in the Khmelnytskyi region on October 17, when missiles and drones hit Ukraine. In general, several versions of reports about alleged explosions in the Khmelnytskyi region and emergency shutdowns are being distributed. But this is not true. According to the fact checkers of the "Site Ye" project, even during the air alert on October 17, fake news began to spread on some Telegram channels. An emergency power outage allegedly began in Khmelnytskyi due to a missile strike. Also, in some reports, the Khmelnytskyi region was confused with the Rivne region. Some of the messages contained references to the leadership of DMA. However, in reality, there were no such messages from the administration. The fake was soon refuted by the head of Khmelnytskyi DMA, Serhiy Hamaliy.

By spreading such messages, propagandists try to increase panic among Ukrainians and influence the work of the Ukrainian energy system, which was damaged by missile strikes from the inside. For this purpose, the propagandists again began to spread the old fake about the need to turn off all electrical appliances at night.

Such "news" is spread on social networks and pro-Russian resources. It is about the central park of Berlin, "Tiergarten." Moreover, due to the lack of fuel and the energy crisis, the Germans allegedly thought about the possibility of heating their homes with horse manure. Despondent Europeans allegedly recall that such a situation has not occurred since the Second World War. They must, as in ancient times, gather around the fire in one room to keep warm. This information was allegedly spread by the British publication Bloomberg. It is not so.

As StopFake writes, there is no information in the Bloomberg publication that the Germans cut down almost all the trees in Berlin's central park. During World War II, the Germans did stock up on firewood by cutting down trees in Tiergarten Park, but now they buy wood as an alternative source of fuel for the winter. The article's authors write that Berlin's central park now looks the same as six months ago, and its trees remain intact. Moreover, it is confirmed by their journalist, who at that time was in the capital of Germany.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels spread information that Kyiv schools will allegedly receive the drug potassium iodide, which will be given to children if a radiation accident happens. They also distribute a sample application that parents are allegedly asked to fill out to give consent to taking medication in the event of an emergency. However, it isn't true. The Kyiv City State Administration reported that the message was fake. The Department of Education and Science of the KCSA didn't issue any orders regarding collecting consent from parents for schoolchildren to take potassium iodide.

According to the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project, potassium iodide was received by all district state administrations of Kyiv, which are responsible for the immediate planning and preparation for evacuation in their areas and will issue the drug to the population if necessary. The Health Department of the KCSA also has potassium iodide reserves. Moreover, the Ministry of Health reported that the state has purchased the required amount of potassium iodide and will issue the drug organically if a radiation accident happens. We emphasize that the medicine should be taken only after an official warning about the threat of radiation release because potassium iodide is effective under the following conditions: 6 or less hours before the arrival of the radioactive cloud; simultaneously with the arrival of the cloud; 6 hours after emission.

Russian propaganda continues nuclear blackmail and intimidates Ukrainians with its consequences. Earlier, propagandists accused Ukraine of "nuclear terrorism" and wrote that Ukraine is being "prepared" for a nuclear accident, which will be arranged by "third parties," but they will blame Russia for this.

It is evidenced by the fact that the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is allegedly "listed in the register of private companies of the USA"; therefore, Ukraine can't be considered a state.

Fact-checkers from StopFake found out that the name "Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine" really appears in the electronic database of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Whereas in 2009, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, represented by the Minister of Finance of Ukraine, acted as a guarantor of the state company Naftogaz of Ukraine.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has been assigned CIK number 1472775. The abbreviation CIK stands for "The Central Index Key," i.e., the central index key issued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission to identify a natural or legal entity. It doesn't mean that the organization is private. With the help of this key, you can identify the person or organization that participated in the deal and get acquainted with its tender offers.

The exercises allegedly have an anti-Russian orientation. The annual Steadfast Noon exercise on nuclear deterrence using strategic bombers will last from October 17 to 30. They don't pose any threat to Russia. These exercises aren't related to current events in the world, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization emphasizes.

The military maneuvers of the Alliance are routine, and NATO announced the holding of these exercises in advance, and third countries were also notified about the maneuvers in advance. Steadfast Noon is a regular annual nuclear deterrence exercise in which dozens of aircraft from across the Alliance practice defending NATO's European allies rather than attacking third countries. By spreading such "news," Russian propaganda tries to justify threats of a nuclear attack in Ukraine and demonstrate that Russia doesn't wage a war of aggression against Ukraine but is defending itself against NATO aggression. More details.

Such information appeared in the Russian media the other day. Russia's closest ally in Europe is allegedly closing its embassy in Kyiv due to danger. Subsequently, the Ukrainian media spread the mass "dumping."

The "news" allegedly said that official Belgrade was recalling diplomatic mission employees "for security reasons" from Kyiv and calling on Serbs to leave the territory of Ukraine. In fact, Serbian diplomats left Ukraine in March. It was announced by the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia.

"Employees of the Embassy of Serbia left Ukraine at the beginning of March. Since then, Serbian diplomats continue to work from Belgrade," Oleg Nikolenko said in a comment to "European Truth."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia announced on March 3 that the embassy was temporarily closed. The diplomatic and consular mission employees were evacuated to Belgrade, where they continue to perform their duties.

The news about the closure of the Serbian embassy was spread in the information space deliberately to create the impression of increased threats to Kyiv.

This photo was shared on Ukrainian social networks. Today, October 17, the Russians attacked the center of Kyiv with Iranian kamikaze drones, but they were shot down by the Ukrainian military, not by Kyiv residents, from their apartments. Air defense eliminated 11 Shahed-136 kamikaze drones. The photo of a man with a rifle that was shared on social media was taken in June 2021.

Then the patrol police of Kyiv detained an armed inhabitant of the apartment and seized substances similar to drugs.

This fake photo was uploaded to Ukrainian social networks by Russian propagandists. The purpose of this message was to show that Kyiv is unprotected from drones, the situation is uncontrolled, and civilians with rifles act as an anti-drone dome over the capital of Ukraine. Thus, the propagandists are trying to ridicule the Ukrainian army and demonstrate the almightiness of the Russian occupiers.

Russian propagandist media reported it. The flow of refugees to Europe allegedly increased during October 10-11. Such information is not true.

As the spokesman of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Andriy Demchenko, reported, by October 10, the total flow of passengers across the state border amounted to 90,000 people per day in both directions. "As for October 10 and 11, the passenger flow across the state border decreased to 75,000 people per day in both directions. Besides, there was no advantage of exit over entry," he noted.

Also, these days, journalists who worked at international checkpoints in Moldova and Romania didn`t record "neither queues nor excitement."

Russian media and some users on the Internet spread the news that the German state TV channel ZDF used a new map of Ukraine in its news broadcast — without the territories annexed by Russia. The plot was allegedly devoted to the disconnection of water and electricity. Behind the presenter was a screen with a new map - without Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Luhansk regions, Crimea, writes Stop Fake.

However, the shared image was edited because a map of Ukraine was deliberately added to the background without the territories of Ukraine annexed and temporarily occupied by Russia, the ZDF channel reported on its Twitter page. The message says that the photo shared on the network is an edited frame from the Heute Journal news program from October 10, and the plot is related to the investigation of sabotage at gas stations. ZDF also assured: they have never used such a "map" of Ukraine.

Russian propagandists used this fake to confirm the alleged "recognition" by the German state TV channel of the annexed territories being part of Russia. Thus, they want to show that the international community accepts the "new reality" and is gradually putting up with Russia's occupation of parts of Ukraine. It is not the first case of editing screenshots from the TV screen. Thus, propagandists distort reality by inventing facts that don't exist to support their messages.

A video of a shoving match in a supermarket with the participation of dozens of elderly people is circulating on pro-Russian Telegram channels. This video was allegedly filmed recently in Kyiv.

As fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security found out, Russian propagandists deliberately indicated in the message about the people of Kyiv, even though they are residents of the Russian Omsk. This video is already five years old; in May 2017, a supermarket in Omsk set a promotional discount on sugar (minus three rubles per kilogram), which caused quite a stir among buyers. The video, made in the store, gained hundreds of thousands of views, and local TV channels even made stories about it. In March, the situation repeated itself in many Russian cities. However, it was not the discounts that provoked it but the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the spread of rumors about the future deficit. Russian propagandists regularly turn to the food crisis in Ukraine to intimidate and sow panic among Ukrainians, as well as to show how bad things are in Ukraine. On October 10, when the Russians bombarded the center of Kyiv with missiles, they spread the word that stores in Kyiv seemed to be running out of products.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov constantly spreads fakes and historical myths, for which President Putin even has to apologize. It was the case, for example, when Lavrov declared that "Hitler had Jewish blood." Lavrov once again spread a fake - that "Hitler united most of the countries of Europe" to attack the USSR, and now "the same group of countries, according to some variations, supports Ukraine."

Firstly, there was no unification of the majority of European countries on Hitler's side: Italy, Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria were the "Axis" countries - Germany's allies. Moreover, two countries, Slovakia and Croatia, were formed in 1939 and 1941, respectively, under the control of Hitler's Germany. However, Albania, Belgium, Great Britain, Greece, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, France, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Norway fought against Hitler, which was occupied. Still, the government in exile signed to join the anti-Hitler coalition. Therefore, on the contrary, most of the countries of Europe fought against Hitler. Similarly, now most European countries support Ukraine, and even Hungary and Serbia, which are formally considered allies of Russia in Europe, supported the territorial integrity of Ukraine and didn't recognize either the annexation of Crimea or attempts to "join" Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson region.

The Russian mass media spread a fake about the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are allegedly flooding Kyiv "in anticipation of a new attack on the capital." The reason for the appearance of the fake was a slight increase in the water level in the Dnipro (river) within the capital.

Fluctuations in water levels observed on the Dnipro within Kyiv are completely determined by the operating modes of the Dnipro reservoirs, writes StopFake. The company "Ukrhydroenergo," responsible for the operation of reservoirs, explained that minor fluctuations in water levels are due to the balancing of the Ukrainian energy system, which was subjected to a massive missile attack by Russia on October 10-11.

"We would like to remind you that as a result of damage to the infrastructure caused by Russian shelling, the load on the energy system of Ukraine increased. In turn, Ukrhydroenergo's HPP and GAES continue to operate as normal, providing coverage of peak loads, frequency, and power regulation, as well as a mobile emergency reserve in the United Energy System of Ukraine," Ukrhydroenergo is quoted as saying by StopFake. The KMDA separately emphasized that the rise in the water level in the Dnipro within Kyiv doesn't exceed emergency values ​​and is related to the intensive operation of the hydroelectric power station.

We will remind you that the Russian army recently tried to flood Kryvyi Rih and destroy the Karachuniv dam near the city, but they failed.

In the program of Russian propagandist Armen Hasparyan, a former member of the Verkhovna Rada, Volodymyr Oleynyk, talked about how "Governor of the Mykolaiv Region Vitaliy Kim" allegedly gave an order to go around the apartments of residents of the region to check the presence of "Russian phone numbers" to identify separatists among Ukrainians. It is part of measures "to intimidate the population," and Ukraine has "turned into a concentration camp" for dissidents over the past 8 years, Oleynyk said.

Neither Vitaliy Kim, the head of the regional state administration, nor other representatives of the state administration can order someone to "search for separatists." It is the responsibility of the SSU, which also can't arrange a "house-to-house inspection" of residents of the Mykolaiv Region. Besides, now, during the war, there were no separatists. There are traitors to the state, collaborators, or helpers of the occupiers.

By the way, Hasparyan is suspected by Ukraine of calling for genocide and the overthrow of the state system, and Oleynyk is suspected of treason.

The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, saw the three-month-old news that a hologram of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "attended" the Viva Tech conference in Paris. She wrote, "stupid Zelenskyy didn't understand that NATO made a digital mummy of a person, which will be shown instead of the living president of Ukraine when they decide to get rid of him." Maria Zakharova is known for her strange statements, but now she has outdone herself.

NATO didn't make the holographic broadcast, but four companies, Talesmith, Garden Studios, Evercoast, and ARHT Media, located in Europe and the USA, specializing in digital technologies. With the help of this broadcast, Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the representatives of tech giants to support Ukraine and help Ukrainians in digital transformation.

This fake is part of a larger propaganda narrative that Ukraine is a non-independent state under external control and Zelenskyy is a "puppet of the West." Zakharova wrote that he is not a puppet but an "avatar." Propagandists need these messages to convince their population that Russia is not at war with Ukraine but with the West. Recently, propaganda has promoted these and similar messages, inventing fakes on this topic especially actively because they cannot allow their audience to wonder whether the "superpower" won't lose the war to a small neighboring country.

Russian actor Ivan Okhlobystin tried to motivate Russians at a "holiday" concert on the occasion of the illegal "accession" of temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories to Russia. For this purpose, he suggested reviving the "originally Russian" battle cry "hayda." As it turned out, the cry is not Russian; its etymology dates back to the times of Kyivan Rus. As the fact-checkers of the "Brekhunets" project write, such a word doesn't exist in any "canonical" Russian dictionary. Experts explain that "hoyda" is an exclamation used as a predicate in the meaning of "hoydáty" (swinging). It is the meaning of this word in the dictionary of the Ukrainian language. Also, "swing" was a characteristic of a thin, tall girl in Bukovyna.

Modern Russia has no direct relation to this exclamation. It is an example of another "borrowing" by Russians of someone else's and passing it off as their own. Earlier, propagandists wrote that Ukraine didn't have "historical rights" to the "Northern Black Sea Region" and that the residents of Zaporizhzhia were allegedly "declared" Ukrainians without their knowledge, "in fact," they "have always been Russians."

In social networks and messengers, there are spreading messages that supposedly, at 11:30 p.m., due to the switching of the power grid to "Ukrainian power," there will be "power surges," so "everything may burn." Some local self-government bodies also spread the message. It is a fake.

The Russian media spread such messages concerning the materials of the Washington Post. Allegedly, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki in Oslo criticized his colleagues for trying to "make money" after reducing gas supplies from Russia. It is not true.

In fact, the Washington Post article "Norway portrayed as both hero and villain of Europe's energy crisis" is devoted to changes in the structure of the gas market in Europe and consumers' reactions to it. "Quoting" the alleged current words of the Polish prime minister, the propagandists resorted to manipulation. Poland gave up Russian gas in May, filled its storage facilities to 100% in August, and the Baltic Pipe for transporting Norwegian gas became operational as early as September. The volumes of Norwegian gas that will be delivered through the pipeline are similar to previous Russian deliveries. Russian propaganda systematically uses quotes taken out of context to make wishful thinking come true. More details.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels and media write about this. The Russian army is allegedly opposed not by the Armed Forces, but by foreigners, "NATO armies", "battalions of Poles", etc. According to Russian intelligence, the Ukrainian army is currently filled with foreign mercenaries by 30%, and soon the number will exceed 50%. That's when the message will allegedly be made that NATO troops are fighting in Ukraine. It is a fake.

According to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, about 700,000 Ukrainian soldiers are resisting Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The number of foreign volunteers is estimated from several hundred to several thousand people and can`t be "half" of the Armed Forces.

In August 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces reported that no more than 100 foreign servicemen are serving in the Ukrainian army under contract. As StopFake writes, in March 2022, about 20,000 volunteers applied to participate in the International Legion of Terror Defense of Ukraine. The legion includes fighters from all continents. The largest number of representatives are from the USA, Great Britain, Poland, the Baltic countries, Canada, Norway, Finland, and Denmark. In general, it is 70–80% of foreign volunteers. According to the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA, more than three thousand Americans applied to join the Legion. However, the final number of foreigners is not announced by the military command for security reasons. The indicated numbers are only applications, and it is unknown how many of those who expressed a desire to go to the front actually went to fight.

Russian propaganda spreads fakes that the NATO army is allegedly opposing them in Ukraine to justify the failures of their army for the Russians. Moreover, the agitprop said that allegedly the Ukrainian military can`t reach the level of military training according to NATO standards. Furthermore, the successful counteroffensive of the Armed Forces is due to the Pentagon's direct participation in the development of the plan.

Reports spread on social networks that Russia allegedly established the identity of the man who committed the "terrorist attack" on the Crimean Bridge. He turned out to be a Ukrainian. His passport allegedly evidences it. Photos are added to messages. This photo is fake.

The photo of the passport of the "terrorist" actually turned out to be a photo-edited image illustrating a sample passport of a citizen of Ukraine (ID card) on Wikipedia. The authors of the fake changed only the name, photo, and gender, and all other "document details" remained the same as in Wikipedia. Fraudsters also added alleged blood stains or damage "due to a terrorist attack" with the help of a photo editor. The same picture was also used for a fake Twitter account.

In fact, there is no objective evidence of Ukraine's involvement in the explosion on the Crimean Bridge. The Ukrainian authorities also rejected any accusations in this regard.

Propaganda anonymous Telegram channels spread this photo fact.

In fact, the Russians drew the "swastika" on the bracelet of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, themselves, using a compressed image, which made the Scandinavian symbol distorted. Journalist Roman Tsymbalyuk pointed out the propagandists' lies in his Telegram channel. "The Russian conscript is assured to give his life for Zaluzhnyi's bracelet. If so, let them take a closer look at what he looks like before he leaves for the other side of the Kerch Strait in a black bag," he wrote and published a photo of an analog of Zaluzhnyi's bracelet.

This information was spread by anonymous Telegram channels. The message about the explosions also appeared in the "yeTryvoga" application, later it was edited that this information was from the mass media, so it doesn`t correspond to reality.

Viktor Mykyta, the head of the Zakarpattia regional military administration, noted that on the morning of October 10, when this message appeared, no rocket strikes were recorded on the territory of Zakarpattia.

"In general, the region was not affected, there were some power outages, but Oblenergo managed it," Viktor Mykyta said. He asked everyone to stay in shelters during the air alert and not to move on the streets.

On October 10, an air alert was declared on the entire territory of the country, except for Crimea, from the very morning. Kyiv, Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Vinnytsya, Ternopil, Dnipro, and Mykolaiv came under rocket fire. The explosion took place in Konotop, Sumy Oblast, Kryvyi Rih. Representatives of regional military administrations and mayors are authorized to report information about explosions and their consequences. Reports of arrivals from anonymous channels are created to sow panic.

Russian propagandists actively spread such information today, October 10, after mass rocket attacks on Ukrainian cities. The reports say that in addition to Russian missile strikes on "infrastructural and military objects", the Russian military is also making progress along the entire front line, going on a repeat offense.

In particular, such reports also refer to an offensive from Belarus. However, it is not true. The Ukrainian authorities and the command of the Armed Forces denied the information about the offensive from Belarus and the advance of Russian troops along the front line.

As Suspilne writes, the Ukrainian leadership doesn`t have any data to confirm that Russia plans to organize a new offensive from the territory of neighboring Belarus, despite the statement of the Belarusian leader Oleksandr Lukashenko about the creation of a joint military unit with Russia. "Lukashenko continues to sell the last shreds of sovereignty to the Russian Federation.

The statement about the placement of the Russian contingent in Belarus under far-fetched pretexts is a formalization of the occupation," said Mykhaylo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President's Office. According to him, Ukraine assesses the risks and is ready for any threats. However, it is profitable for propagandists to claim that Russia succeeds everywhere: not only is it "returning Ukraine to the Middle Ages" by shelling the thermal power plant, but it is also succeeding on the battlefield. In this way, propagandists seek to sow panic and intimidate Ukrainians.

This information was spread by Russian propagandists. They are all being “relocated” to Poland. It is not true. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Germany to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen reported that she was in a shelter with hundreds of Kyivans during the shelling. "With hundreds of Kyivans in the shelter. I am amazed at the calm that prevails here while Russia is shelling the playgrounds in the center of Kyiv. #StandWithUkraine," she shared on Twitter.

According to the US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink, American diplomats who work at the US Embassy in Kyiv are safe after another wave of Russian strikes on civilian targets in Ukraine. "I am grateful to everyone who responded and works for our safety. My heart breaks with pain for those who suffered in Kyiv and throughout Ukraine," Bridget A. Brink wrote on Twitter.

British Ambassador in Ukraine Melinda Simmons is also in Kyiv. "Getting around the center of Kyiv. The embassy staff is fine. My thoughts are now with the wounded. Huge gratitude to the Ukrainians who are the first to respond," the ambassador shared.

Russian propaganda deliberately spread a fake about the evacuation of embassies today, after massive rocket attacks, to emphasize the life-threatening situation throughout Ukraine. Thus, the propagandists try to drive as many Ukrainians as possible into a state of stress and anxiety.

This information is spreading on social networks. The organization's press secretary allegedly told Reuters journalists about this after massive Russian missile attacks this morning.

Andriy Kruglashov, the adviser to the head of the delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, denied this information: "We are with the people and for the people who need us. Where needed and as close as we can. As much as it takes." There is also a rebuttal from the International Committee of the Red Cross on the official Twitter page.

In Ukraine, the International Committee of the Red Cross helps people affected by the conflict in the East of the country and supports the work of the Red Cross Society of Ukraine. The organization has telephone numbers of hotlines, which you can contact with questions about the disappearance of a relative due to the conflict in Donbas or about humanitarian aid. As of 16:20 on October 10, the hotline for the search for missing persons is open, and all lines are busy. Moreover, the official pages of the International Committee of the Red Cross are active on social networks.

Today there were published recommendations on how to behave in the event of shelling and after the end of the bombing. The Reuters article that some are referring to says that just today after Russia fired missiles at cities across Ukraine, the International Committee of the Red Cross teams suspended operations.

The organization has about 700 employees who work in 10 locations across Ukraine and deliver aid and medicine. They can`t do this under fire. If the danger passes, the International Committee of the Red Cross will resume full-fledged work in Ukraine.

Russian propagandists spread this information and as evidence, they cite photos of empty shelves. It is not true. Firstly, the photo caption doesn`t mention the information about the time and store in which the photos were taken. Secondly, on October 10 in Kyiv, the air alert lasted from 6:47 a.m. to 12:24 p.m. and started again at 3:14 p.m. At this time, all stores are closed and don`t serve customers. Thirdly, "Detector Media" visited one of Kyiv's supermarkets on the left bank of the city during the break between announcements of danger and made sure that all products were in abundance, there was not a single empty shelf, and there were no queues at the cash registers. There are also ATMs, it is possible to withdraw cash and buy food at kiosks.

The purpose of these about the lack of food products is intimidation, sowing panic, and fear. In the days when Russia is mass-attacking Ukraine with missiles, it is worth checking information especially carefully, not trusting anonymous channels, and, despite everything, trying to keep calm.