Spilnota Detector Media

Fake The children's hospital in Kramatorsk will allegedly be repurposed into a military hospital, a document

Kremlin telegram channels are distributing a photo of an order allegedly from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated July 15, 2024. With reference to the decision of the Ministry of Defense, the document writes about the reformatting of the children's hospital in Kramatorsk into a military hospital for soldiers and their families. As a result, the admission of children will allegedly be prohibited.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed the case and found that the so-called order was forged, as indicated by numerous errors. For example, in the first sentence, the authors of the “document” did not agree on the words. In addition, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine did not publish any orders on July 4, 2024. The press service of the Ministry of Defense also did not report the orders of July 4.

The Russians also made a mistake in the number of the document itself, since the Ministry of Health of Ukraine issued the last order number 476 on March 20, 2024. The document is related to amendments to the Ministry’s Action Plan for the preparation of draft regulatory acts for 2024. In original orders, the signature of an authorized person, for example, the Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko, must be at the bottom.

Fake Romania allegedly “reported” on the “failed training” of Ukrainian pilots, document

The Russian media is disseminating a fake report from the Romanian Ministry of National Defense about the allegedly “failed training” of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters. This document states that they were able to train only 3 pilots out of 50. The reasons for this low rate are given as “inability to learn English” and “alcohol consumption”.

“The Romanian Ministry of Defense prepared a report in which it recognized problems in the results of training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters... Also noted is the careless attitude of Ukrainians to training, reluctance to study English and a drop in athletic performance due to weight gain and alcohol consumption”, the publications added .

StopFake analysts investigated this case and found that the Romanian Ministry of National Defense denied the existence of a report on the failed training of Ukrainian pilots for F-16 fighters. Russian propaganda created a fake document using fragments of this report, making a number of mistakes.

The department added that the fake document also states that the training of Ukrainian pilots was allegedly carried out at the European F-16 training center at the airbase in the city of Feteshte. But, as the Ministry clarified, this is also an “absolute lie”, since only Romanian pilots have studied at the center.

Fake A Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee allegedly threatened the woman over the phone to take her away along with her “evader - husband”

Russian telegram channels are distributing a video of a “telephone conversation” between a woman and an alleged Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee. In the video, during a conversation, a Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee threatens a woman to take her away along with her “evader -  husband”.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed the case and found out that this video was staged. The author of the video did not provide any information about the Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee who called, his phone number or a Territorial center of recruitment and social support address.

Previously, we explained the message that they were allegedly recruiting women “massively” from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine because the men were “already tired”. And now Moscow is trying to work on this topic by demonstrating the negative attitude of the Ukrainian leadership towards its citizens. Allegedly, both women and men are already being recruited to the front. But there is nothing wrong with women expressing their own desire to serve. Kremlin propaganda presents such a situation as forced and irrevocable: as if the Ukrainian leadership is ready to “recruit” everyone so that there is someone to fight. Although this is all the absolute will of the citizens.

Fake Russian propagandists write that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has issued an order to cancel the decisions of Military medical commissions of Ukraine taken since 2022

Pro-Russian resources are distributing an order on behalf of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, which concerns changes in the work of military medical commissions at the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support. In particular, the relevant document states that the decisions of the Military medical commissions issued in the Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr regions by local Territorial centers of recruitment and social support since 2022, have been declared invalid.

The Center for countering disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council verified this order with the Ministry of Defense and found out that it was fake. The document was written in gross violation of formatting requirements. It also contains many errors. For example, the correct name is the Central Military Medical Commission of the Armed Forces of Ukraine without adding the preposition “at”.

The Center emphasizes that the purpose of such stuffing is to discredit the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, sow panic among the population and disrupt the mobilization process.

Previously, we analyzed a fake order on behalf of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine to transform the children's hospital in Kramatorsk into a military hospital.

Fake The Russians once again claim that the torture in Bucha was carried out by the Ukrainian military

Pro-Russian sources through the social networks Telegram and X (formerly Twitter) times spread information to Western audiences that civilians in the city of Bucha, Kyiv region, were tortured not by the Russian, but by the Ukrainian military. In reporting this, propagandists refer to the words of the Czech military man Philip Seaman, who fought on the side of Ukraine and is now under investigation. Also, to the reports about the “atrocities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” in Bucha, they add a screenshot of news from the Czech news agency ČTK, which talks about the Czech who committed offenses.

In fact, Philippe Seaman is now really on trial, but his case does not at all concern the torture of civilians. Ukrinform fact-checkers write about this. The ČTK material cited by propagandists states that the prosecutor’s office accuses Siman of illegal service in the Ukrainian army and looting in the combat zone during the occupation of the cities of Irpen and Bucha in the Kyiv region in 2022.

As for the first, the Czech did not have permission from the president of his country to fight in a foreign army. As for the looting, according to the indictment, in his free time, Siman repeatedly appropriated the belongings of both dead soldiers and civilians. Accordingly, in April 2022, the man was detained by the Ukrainian army, but was subsequently fired and returned to the Czech Republic. Today he could be sentenced to five years in prison for serving in a foreign army. Moreover, he also faces exceptional punishment for looting.

In a comment to Ukrinform, the Czech news agency ČTK confirmed that the information about the torture of civilians in Bucha by the Ukrainian military is fake and that their journalists did not write about it.

In the end, such statements by the Russians were refuted by numerous journalistic investigations by leading international media, in particular Bellingcat and the Associated Press.

Fake The popularity of the Russian language is growing in Ukraine

Social networks in the Russian segment have disseminated information that, according to some “statistical data”, the popularity of the Russian language is supposedly gradually growing in Ukraine.

“According to statistical data, the popularity of the Russian language in Ukraine is gradually growing. The number of Nazis has decreased – and nature has begun to cleanse itself”, users write.

StopFake analysts examined the case and determined that in their messages, users do not indicate where they got such data from, but simply write “according to statistical data”. They didn't cite any studies.

On July 24, the sociological service Razumkov Center published a study “Identity of Ukrainian citizens: trends of change”, with the help of which it was possible to refute the false information of propagandists:

Actually, the popularity of the Russian language in Ukraine is not growing at all, but on the contrary is falling. According to the aforementioned study, fewer and fewer Ukrainians believe that speaking Russian is prestigious. If in 2015 there were 21.5% of all respondents, then in 2023 they became 9.4%, and in 2024 this number generally decreased to 6.1%. At the same time, the prestige of the Ukrainian language began to grow significantly: from 43.2% in 2015 to 75.5% in 2024.

Fake The SBU allegedly detains tarot readers, fortune tellers and psychics who predict Russia's military successes, Really_UA media

Information is being spread online that the SBU is allegedly detaining fortune tellers and psychics who predict the defeat of Ukraine and the illness of President Zelenskyi. A video report from the so-called Really_UA says that 8 tarot bloggers have already been detained for fortune telling with predictions of Russia’s military successes. They are accused of tax evasion and discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

VoxCheck analysts reported that a telegram news channel or full-fledged media called Really_UA does not exist at all. There is no information in other Ukrainian media about the detention of tarot readers.

Read on Censor.NET: Good evening, we are from the “Battle of Psychics” - “witches”, “molfars” and “fortune tellers” - have occupied the airwaves of media that call themselves information.

And the video report itself is a clipping of unrelated frames that are easy to find on the Internet. For example, the first photo from the video was used at least back in 2018.

Fake In Ukrainian stores, they are allegedly introducing “reservation” of generators for the needs of the National Police and the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support

Russian propagandists publish photos of one of the stores of household and professional equipment of the German brand Kacher in Ukraine. And they add that they seem to have posted an announcement in the store: “Generators are not for sale. Everything has been reserved for the needs of the National Police and the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support”.

VoxCheck analysts add that this photo is fake. The screenshot itself was taken from a video of the Kacher store in Kamianets-Podilskyi: it was edited and information about the alleged reservation of generators was added. But in fact, the poster is an advertisement for vacuum cleaners.

The video was published on the Toktok page of a store from Kamianets-Podilskyi. The fact that the propagandists took the frame from this particular video is indicated by the shooting angle, the identical location of the vacuum cleaners and the design of the tiles on the floor.

So, it is not about “reservation” of generators at all.

Fake Nestlé allegedly sends contaminated water to Ukraine as humanitarian aid

Russian anonymous telegram channels spread the news, allegedly due to the fact that Nestlé Waters France is suspending the sale of mineral water due to problems with its quality - and the remaining products in the warehouse will be sent to Ukraine as humanitarian aid.

Before publication, they are milking the so-called statement of the organization from the social network X, which states that Nestlé Waters refuses to admit that “contaminated water” remained in the warehouse. Therefore, propagandists are trying to prove the opposite - supposedly Nestlé representatives are lying about the quality of water in order to get rid of defective products as quickly as possible.

VoxCheck specialists investigated this case and found out that the company had not made such statements at all, neither about stopping the sale of water, nor about denying the fact of “pollution”.

Analysts said that in February 2024, the international consumer organization foodwatch filed a lawsuit in France against mineral water producers Nestlé Waters and Sources Alma. Companies disinfected contaminated water using prohibited methods and thus sold ordinary tap water as mineral water. Nestlé admitted their guilt and stopped this practice.

But Nestlé Waters France did not publish the news about sending contaminated water to Ukraine and the Gaza Strip on its website, YouTube or X. Moreover, X’s account has been inactive since March 2022. That is, there cannot be a statement for July 2024, as indicated in the fake screenshot.

Fake Ukraine is allegedly expecting the arrival of a large number of mercenaries from Latin America

Russian telegram channels disseminate information that Spanish translators are wanted  in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. OSINT analysts seem to claim that the search for such a specialist means that a large number of “mercenaries” from Latin America will soon arrive in Ukraine. As proof, publications add a screenshot from the LobbyX job search platform.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed the case and found out that the advertisements were indeed published in the Lobby X ARMY telegram channel, but similar offers had appeared before. It is still unknown about the exact number of foreigners in the Ukrainian Defense Forces. That is, propagandists simply came up with this information based on translator vacancies. Although no evidence of the arrival of the so-called mercenaries was provided.

Russian propaganda replaces the concept and calls the foreign legion mercenaries. The Foreign Legion is legally part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces; the exact number of its participants is not reported, like all other fighters. Accordingly, Russian propaganda wants to downplay the importance of the Ukrainian army, contrasting it with the so-called “mercenaries”, of whom there are supposedly more on the battlefield. At the same time, Moscow equates “mercenaries” with criminals in the context of Ukraine. However, mercenaries really fight on the Russian side, for example, the Wagner group representatives.

Fake Babel allegedly published a quote from a Ukrainian director with the idea for the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”

Propagandists are distributing on social networks a fake quote from director Iryna Tsilyk, which was published by the Babel publication. It says: “An American director negotiated with us. He wanted to make the film “Volyn Chainsaw Massacre”. We refused, but now I think it was in vain. The vile Poles will poke our noses at the massacre like kittens as long as it benefits them, and will block our entry into the EU to the last”. However, the editor-in-chief of the publication confirmed on social networks that such a quote had never appeared in the publication.

Poland is an important ally of Ukraine, especially in the context of Russian aggression and Ukraine's integration into the EU. Intensifying conflicts based on historical events, such as the Volyn tragedy, are intended to worsen diplomatic relations and cooperation between countries. This could influence public opinion by creating a negative image of neighboring Poland and its policies

The spread of fake quotes and misinformation about Ukrainian cultural figures may reduce the level of support for Ukraine from Poland and other European countries. Russia wants to complicate the process of Ukraine's accession to the EU and other international organizations in this way. Such fakes help to divert attention from the real problems associated with Russian aggression and shift the focus to other problems.

Fake Ukrainian school history textbooks allegedly write that Hitler is the liberator of Ukraine

Propagandists are distributing photos of a supposedly Ukrainian school history textbook for high school. It calls Hitler “a German statesman and politician” who liberated the Lviv region during World War II. This information was disseminated on anonymous telegram channels in other languages, including Bulgarian, French, English and Russian. However, this is fake.

Examples of fake posts about Hitler that were refuted by German and Austrian fact checkers

AFP and the Austrian-German hub GADMO checked all current Ukrainian history textbooks and found no such page or statement. The experts they interviewed confirmed that glorifying Nazism is prohibited by Ukrainian law. In 2015, the Ukrainian parliament banned propaganda of Nazi and communist regimes. All textbooks must be approved by the Ministry of Education and the Institute for Modernization of Education.

In Ukrainian schools, history begins to be taught from the fifth grade, and the Second World War in detail - from the tenth grade. All textbooks are updated every five years, with the last update occurring in 2022. AFP found that not a single textbook portrays Hitler as a “liberator”. On the contrary, it describes millions of deaths and crimes of the Nazis in Ukraine.

By spreading such false information, propagandists are trying to portray Ukraine as a country that supports Nazi ideology. The spread of fake news about Nazi ideology in Ukraine supports the Kremlin’s rhetoric about “denazification” as one of the reasons for the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This creates the appearance of a moral justification for Russia's aggressive actions. The spread of such fakes may prompt international partners to doubt the need to support Ukraine, reducing economic, political and military assistance.

Fake Pro-Palestinian rally in the center of Kyiv

Russian propagandists disseminated information on anonymous telegram channels about an alleged rally in support of Palestine, which took place on Sophia Square in Kyiv. They illustrated it with a video recording, which confirms the protest. The reason for the action was the assassination of Hamas Politburo leader Ismail Haniya in Iran. Propagandists also noted that mass protests are prohibited in Ukraine due to martial law. However, this is fake.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council found out that this news is not true. The video distributed by propagandists was filmed back in 2021 at a pro-Palestinian rally organized by pro-Russian organizations.

Such fakes can create tension between different ethnic and religious groups in Ukraine, causing internal conflicts. Russia is trying to shift the focus away from its war crimes and aggressive actions by creating false scandals in Ukraine. Accordingly, the spread of such fake news is part of Russia’s strategy aimed at undermining stability and discrediting Ukraine in the international arena.

Fake Ukraine allegedly sells Western weapons and human organs to Italian mafia structures

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that an allegedly significant amount of NATO weapons exported from Ukraine ended up on the Italian black market and fell into the hands of mafia groups. The Consulate General of Ukraine in Naples acts as an intermediary, facilitating black market transactions. According to propagandists, the department is involved in the trafficking of children and human organs. In relevant publications, illustrations are added to the text.

However, this is fake. Using the reverse search function on Google, we were able to find out that the primary source of the widespread photos is The Intel Drop website. On July 21, 2024, it published an extensive article entitled: “The Zelenskyi regime resells Western weapons and human organs to mafia structures in Italy”. However, in fact, this site was artificially created by propagandists with the aim of spreading Russian disinformation in English. So the content of this article has nothing to do with reality.

The Intel Drop has published anti-Ukrainian materials more than once. Thus, the pseudo-publication spread fakes about Zelenskyi’s purchase of a mansion from the King of Great Britain for 20 million pounds, about the Russian attack on the Ukrainian command post with NATO military, as well as about the involvement of Olena Zelenska’s foundation in various child trafficking schemes.

Fake Russia has once again published fake evidence of “crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”

Pro-Kremlin resources, citing an alleged resident of the Ukrainian village of Novhorodske, disseminate information that the Ukrainian Armed Forces “threatened civilians, intimidated them, and also took children out without the consent of their parents”. Also, military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly demanded intimate services from locals.

In fact, there is no real evidence of this. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that the publication of  “evidence” on behalf of “victims of the Kyiv regime” is one of the tactics of Russian propaganda. Russia cynically uses residents of the occupied territories or even Ukrainian prisoners of war, forcing them to voice absurd “testimony” or “confession” about the alleged atrocities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Therefore, Russian propaganda probably resorted to the mentioned tactics this time too.

The Center adds that in this way propagandists seek to arouse indignation and the illusion of truthfulness among the audience, although the facts presented cannot be verified.

Such “video confessions” are aimed primarily at residents of front-line territories. Propaganda is trying to undermine their trust in the Ukrainian Armed Forces and convince them that the Ukrainian military really “is the main source of threat to the civilian population”.

Somewhat earlier, we analyzed a similar fake, which was that the Ukrainian authorities were allegedly forcibly taking children away from their parents in the Donbas in order to hand them over to pedophiles or organs.

Fake Moldova seems to be starting to hand over “evaders” to Ukraine

The Russian information field is disseminating information that Moldova seems to be ready to cooperate with Ukraine on the issue of “surrendering evaders”. Thus, propagandists refer to the “statement” of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Mihai Popsoi: “We have carried out all stages of negotiations with Ukraine and will begin to extradite wanted Ukrainians. Since August, our Ministry of Internal Affairs has begun to closely interact with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine”.

Screenshot MAExplică

In fact, this information has already been denied by the Moldavian Foreign Ministry. In particular, they noted: “Mihai Popsoi never made this statement public. When Minister Mihai Popsoi makes a public statement, it is transparently broadcast every time on the communication platforms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the minister. The erroneous reference to fictitious statements is part of a deliberate disinformation campaign targeting the Republic of Moldova”.

The department added that the purpose of this fake is to split Moldovan society or simply misinform it.

Previously, we analyzed such fakes and manipulations. For example, they recorded lies that Ukrainian refugees would allegedly be “squeezed out” from the EU and sent to war.

Fake Ukrainian athletes at the Paris Olympics must allegedly wear electronic bracelets to prevent non-return to Ukraine

Pro-Russian resources are massively disseminating information that all Ukrainian athletes competing at the 2024 Olympics are allegedly required to wear personal GPS trackers on their legs. This should supposedly prevent escape attempts, that is, the non-return of Ukrainian athletes to Ukraine after the Olympic Games in Paris. In reporting this, propagandists refer to the “head of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine” Vadym Hutsait.

In fact, this information is not true, they write in the StopFake project. Neither on the official website of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, nor in other open sources of information, nor in the statements of the ex-Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Vadym Hutsait, there is any mention of the fact that Ukrainian athletes are forced to wear electronic ankle bracelets during the Olympics in Paris. This “news” is disseminated only by propaganda resources. In addition, acting Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Matvey Bedny, and Vadym Hutsait held this post from March 2020 to November 9, 2023. Today Hutsait is the president of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. That is, this is another confirmation of the falsity of the news, because pro-Kremlin propagandists could not even correctly identify the head of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.

Moreover, there is no need to track the movements of Ukrainian Olympians abroad using GPS trackers. Many may be exempt from mobilization and travel abroad is permitted for them. Also, despite the possibility of reservation, many athletes voluntarily went to defend Ukraine from the first days of a full-scale war.

In an interview with AFP Minister Deputy of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Matvii Bidnyi said that since the beginning of the full-scale war, the Russians have killed about 500 Ukrainian athletes and coaches, among whom were dozens of world and European champions. The sports infrastructure also suffered significant losses. Russia damaged and destroyed more than 500 sports venues, including 15 Olympic training bases across Ukraine. In the end, Bidnyi added that sports facilities can still be restored, but returning dead athletes cannot be possible.

With this fake, Russian propagandists seek to discredit the Ukrainian authorities and assert, they say, “the authoritarian Zelenskyi has everyone on the hook”.

Previously, Detector Media denied information that on the eve of the 2024 Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency planned to introduce anti-doping exemptions for the Ukrainian Olympic team to combat the stress of war.

• Read also: We’ll come to Paris on tanks: how Russian propaganda reacts to exclusion from the 2024 Olympic Games – MediaSapiens.

Fake An invasion of poisonous spiders from American biological laboratories has allegedly begun in Ukraine

Russian propagandists are spreading messages on their resources about an alleged “attack of poisonous spiders on Ukraine”. According to them, several deaths have already been recorded, and many are in hospitals because of this. Some propagandists even associate the spider invasion with the work of American biological laboratories. However, this is fake.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council drew attention to it. Its specialists checked the information with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine. According to their data, there is no talk of mass requests for medical help due to bites. In July, one case of a poisonous karakurt spider bite was registered, after which the injured resident of Odesa turned to doctors. He is in the hospital receiving the necessary care and his condition is stable.

The Ministry of Health also noted that due to the abnormal heat this year, spiders have actually become more active in Ukraine, but there have been no deaths. If you are bitten, it is recommended to immediately consult a doctor. It is important to remember that the bites of the poisonous spider in Ukraine for the most part do not lead to death. Propagandists spread such misinformation to cause baseless panic among the population.

Fake The Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly mobilizing female prisoners en masse because the army does not have enough men

Propagandists are disseminating information in the foreign segment of telegram channels that the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has allegedly stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are massively mobilizing female prisoners. They claim that this indicates that the Ukrainian army does not have enough men due to too high losses. However, this is fake.

The Justice Department has made no such statements. Propagandists made this fake based on a message on the department’s Facebook page, which talks about seven imprisoned women who signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russian propaganda uses exaggerated and distorted data to create the illusion of a crisis in the Ukrainian army. In fact, Ukrainian military units are recruited on the basis of voluntary recruitment and mobilization in accordance with the law.

The spread of such fakes aims to demoralize both Ukrainian society and military personnel, creating the impression that the army is in a state of crisis and is forced to take extreme measures. Russian propaganda uses such messages to create information noise, making it difficult to distinguish true news from fake news. The goal is to divert attention from real events and crimes committed by Russian troops.

Fake False article on behalf of the GUR to disrupt mobilization in Ukraine

On July 26, 2024, the online publication Odessaonline received an email, allegedly from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with a request to publish an article entitled “It’s time to return what’s yours!”. However, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security confirmed that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the GUR did not send any letters to local media.

The article contained obvious signs of Russian stuffing, describing the unfavorable situation at the front and groundlessly accusing the country's leadership of disrupting mobilization. In particular, it was argued that:

the military command assumed mobilization powers;

informing law enforcement agencies about people evading their constitutional duty is encouraged;

representatives of the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support have permission to use weapons to detain persons liable for military service without reason.

However, this is not true. Such disinformation is aimed at creating resistance among citizens regarding joining the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as fueling panic and the desire to leave Ukraine.

The purpose of this information operation was to sow distrust in the Ukrainian government and military command, reduce morale among military personnel and civilians, and create an atmosphere of fear and panic. Propagandists sought to arouse resistance among citizens to mobilization and military service, as well as to provoke internal conflicts and divisions in society.

Fake Ukrainian authorities are allegedly forcibly taking children from their parents in the Donbas in order to hand them over to pedophiles or organs

Russian resources are again trying to manipulate the topic of the evacuation of children by Ukrainian military personnel and volunteers from active combat zones in the Donbas. Thus, propagandists are distributing an interview in which a local resident allegedly recalls a family of three children whose mother died, and claims that they were forcibly evacuated and then “given to organs or pedophiles”.

However, this is a fake, journalists from the StopFake project write. Such interviews are not supported by any evidence, but only by the words of people who call themselves residents of front-line settlements. Moreover, one can find news materials about this family on the Internet. After looking at them, one can find out that in fact the volunteers took these children to their relatives.

In March 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved a resolution on the forced evacuation of children from such zones. “This is not about taking children away from their parents. This is not about the use of physical coercion. The legal peculiarity of the forced evacuation of children is that at least one of the parents does not have the right to refuse evacuation and must accompany the child during the evacuation”, Iryna Vereshchuk, Minister for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories, commented on the decision.

However, even with the advent of a mechanism for evacuating children from dangerous areas, police and volunteers still have to spend a long time persuading families to agree to leave. Some remain, and no one takes these children out by force.

Russia is conducting a separate disinformation campaign targeting Ukrainians living in front-line cities and villages. Its goal is to disrupt the evacuation, sow distrust in the Ukrainian authorities and incline towards collaboration. Previously, we have already analyzed a similar Russian fake that in Ukraine children are allegedly sold for organs or into sexual slavery.

Fake In Ukraine, the Russian language is allegedly growing in popularity

Information is being spread on the Internet that, according to some “statistical data”, the popularity of the Russian language is gradually growing in Ukraine. Some users cynically write: such a trend can be explained by the fact that “the number of Nazis has decreased - and nature has begun to clean itself”.

In fact, this information is not true. This is reported in the StopFake project. In their messages, propagandists do not indicate where they got such data, but manipulatively write “according to statistical data”. It was not possible to find any publicly available studies that could confirm this trend.

At the same time, on July 24, 2024, the sociological service of the Razumkov Center published a study “Identity of citizens of Ukraine: tendencies of changes”, which can be used to refute the claim of propagandists. According to the results of the survey, the popularity of the Russian language in Ukraine is not growing, but on the contrary, it is falling. Fewer and fewer Ukrainians believe that speaking Russian is prestigious. If in 2015 there were 21.5% of all respondents, then in 2023 they became 9.4%, and in 2024 this number decreased to 6.1%. At the same time, the prestige of the Ukrainian language began to grow: from 43.2% in 2015 to 75.5% in 2024.

A similar situation is also with the use of the Russian language “not at home”. If in 2015, 12.3% of respondents spoke only Russian, then in 2023 and 2024, this number increased to 3.2% and 3.8%, respectively. It is worth noting that a small growth of 0.6% using only the Russian language between 2023 and 2024 falls within the scope of sociological error, as the authors of the study pointed out. Also, 11.4% used mainly Russian in 2015, but already in 2023 - 4.5%, and in 2024 - 3.8%.

Earlier, we analyzed the manipulation of propagandists, as if the UN recognized the Ukrainian language as a dialect of Russian.

Fake Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers allegedly got into a fight with a teenager

Pro-Russian telegram channels are distributing a video in which allegedly Territorial center of recruitment and social support employees are fighting with a teenager on the street. Propagandists label this video as “a failed violent mobilization” because a passerby stood up for the guy.

In fact, this video has nothing to do with the mobilization process in Ukraine, the StopFake project reports. It shows two men in olive-colored jackets advancing on a teenager before another man wearing a white hoodie attacks them from behind. However, not a single person in this video was dressed in military uniform or had any identification marks or other elements that would indicate that they were military personnel, and Ukrainians at that.

Thanks to Google's reverse search function, StopFake journalists were able to establish that this video has been circulating online since at least May 2020. And it was filmed not in Ukraine at all, but in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Then the Belarusian websites that published it wrote that the incident filmed took place in Minsk in the Malynivka microdistrict, where two drunk men came into conflict with a 15-year-old teenager.

With this fake, propagandists aim to once again discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine and assert that everything is so bad at the front that they are already starting to mobilize even minors.

Previously, we denied information that the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers beat up an ethnic Hungarian in western Ukraine.

Fake The packaging of President cheese allegedly depicted Zelenskyi with the caption “on drugs”

Propaganda telegram channels are distributing a video depicting packages of President cheese with the faces of the presidents of Ukraine, France, the USA and Russia. The consumer can choose which cheese to buy: “Zelenskyi on drugs”, “Macron with mold”, “Biden with dementia”, or “Adequate Putin”. It seems that one can now buy such cheese in Russia.

However, this information is not true. The video distributed by propagandists is operative. Its author simply printed out stickers and pasted them onto the original packaging of President cheese. Journalists from the StopFake project reported this.

First of all, the video clearly shows that only four items in the frame have the corresponding design. Immediately behind the cheeses that the author of the video shows on camera, there is a row of processed cheese “With mushrooms” in a standard red package. StopFake journalists also looked at several websites of Russian food delivery services that offer President products, and none of them sell cheeses with the faces of presidents and offensive signatures. And the President brand is owned by the French corporation Lactalis, which is the largest manufacturer of dairy products in the world, so it is unlikely that a multinational company would produce such controversial packaging designs. Moreover, these designs echo key Russian propaganda narratives.

In the end, even part of the audience of pro-Russian telegram channels did not believe the veracity of this news. Many commentators under messages from the video accused the bloggers who distributed it of publishing a primitive fake. Previously, we denied information that Zelenskyi was invited to speak at a rehabilitation center for drug addicts because he is “a good role model”.

Fake Zelenskyi's personal doctor allegedly fled to France

Russian resources are distributing a video with the BBC logo, which claims that the personal endocrinologist of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi allegedly did not return to Ukraine after finishing a medical conference in London. He decided to take a bus to Paris, where he subsequently applied for refugee status. Despite the fact that the Office of the President of Ukraine allegedly diligently hid the escape of doctor Zelenskyi, the Bellingcat research group managed to find out the “truth”.

In fact, this information is fake. Journalists from the StopFake project reported this. The BBC has never published this video on its social networks or website. In addition, none of the reputable Western media reported such an incident either. Such information is not available on the official resources of the Bellingcat research group.

It is the Russian media that writes about the “flight” of doctor Zelenskyi to France, citing the BBC. However, when clicking on a link in a publication, the reader is taken not to the original source, but to the main page of the British media company.

The Russians deliberately used the BBC logo and its design for propaganda purposes. The video itself is a compilation of various photo and video materials, probably taken from stock sites, featuring Volodymyr Zelenskyi, Hristo Grozev from Bellingcat, photographs of refugees and a train station in London. Finally, the video does not contain any information about “Zelenskyi’s doctor”, neither his photo nor his name.

It should be noted that this is not the first time that propagandists have used this format of fakes with links to the BBC and Bellingcat. Thus, we previously analyzed a fake video on behalf of Bellingcat about the funeral business in Ukraine, as well as another about how the head of the OP Andrii Yermak allegedly paid $27 million for a place in Time’s ranking of the 100 most influential people in the world.