Russian propagandists are spreading this message, the Center for Disinformation Protection said.
According to Russian propagandists, "neutral Finland has decided to exchange available Russian gas for NATO membership. Residents of Finland refused to pay for Russian gas in rubles. Finland will buy more gas from the United States at an inflated price to cover the deficit. "
Russian media spread another disinformation statement by Maria Zakharova about "the activities of American bio laboratories in Ukraine," which allegedly "engaged in activities aimed at enhancing the pathogenic properties of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases using synthetic biology." That is why Ukrainian citizens are allegedly being "massively tested" for tuberculosis at the entrance to the European Union.
According to StopFake, this Russian fake is designed to frighten and sow distrust of Ukrainian citizens in European countries. After arriving in the EU, Ukrainian citizens do not undergo any medical tests, including tests for the presence of tuberculosis. Due to Russia's aggression, European countries have lifted all restrictions on Ukrainians entering the European Union. The European Commission explains that "the absence of travel or medical documents (e.g., vaccination certificate, COVID-19 test) will not prevent you from entering the EU". The European Union has also weakened customs and veterinary controls for Ukrainians: “Ukrainian citizens are free to enter the EU with their belongings and pets.”
The European Commission's information bulletin states explicitly that even with the absence of a biometric passport for travel abroad, a regular passport, or any other identity document, Ukrainians have the right to enter the European Union on humanitarian grounds. In this case, the undocumented Ukrainian should remain available to local authorities in a safe place in the EU. Learn more about "biological weapons" from fleas, mosquitoes, and lizards.
Russian media took the adviser's phrase out of context to the head of the Office of President Mikhailo Podolyak to convince their audience of the "correctness" of his narratives about the "genocide of Russians in Donbas." According to StopFake, the agitprop, namely, the pro-Kremlin channel "Tsargrad TV" used Podolyak`s quote, in which he said during the national telethon: "Adviser to the head of Zelensky's office Podolyak wanted to organize a total genocide in Kharkiv region, as well as in LNR and DPR. Until the word 'Russian' is forgotten here at all".
In fact, Podolyak, commenting on the probable course of events in Ukraine, replied that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would talk about how the counterattack would occur. For him, it is a principle "to liberate the Kherson region and the Zaporizhzhia region, and it is not even discussed. We must also be tough on collaborators and Russian troops in those areas. We definitely need the aquatorium of the Azov Sea. I support the word "Russians" being forgotten in the Kharkiv region, and I am for the word "Russians" to be forgotten in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. And that all these criminal elements, who call themselves some kind of "power" there, will not exist anymore, even physically. Because they are ordinary bandits. "
This information was spread by the Turkish newspaper Aydınlık, which belongs to the pro-Russian Vatan party. The pro-Kremlin media widely spread this lie. They said that Ukraine does not release foreign ships from ports to prevent an attack on Odesa. "If the Russians launch an operation in Odesa and strike at Turkish ships, it is believed that tensions will arise in Turkish-Russian relations," the newspaper said.
The International Chamber of Navigation reported that as of May 5, at least 40 foreign civilian ships remained in the ports of the Odessa region. They are at anchor due to the blocking of shipping by Russia, according to the site "Suspilne. Media". Andriy Klymenko, project manager at the Black Sea Institute for Strategic Studies, said that Russia had previously mined the sea routes from the Bosphorus to Odesa. However, they said it was Ukrainian mines.
Information about the fact that the Ukrainian military allegedly showed their lined tanks as Russian military equipment is spread by Russian media and telegram channels. Reports claim that Ukrainian soldiers were allegedly caught falsifying the news about tanks. According to StopFake, the federal channel "Russia 24" dedicated a story to one of such fakes in the news program. "Russian media claim that the Ukrainian military is incompetent and is photographed against the background of their own lined Bulat tanks, pretending to be Russian equipment," the fact-checkers wrote. But the photo does not show Ukrainian Bulat tanks, as explained in an interview with StopFake expert on tank technology Alexander Kostur. He added that in the story of the channel "Russia 24," there are images of two different tanks, but neither is a tank "Bulat" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to the expert, there were no such tanks in the Ukrainian army at all. Read more.
Such a thesis along with the video was spread by Russian propaganda media referring to the Russian Defense Ministry. The video, which the publications add, allegedly captures the moment "when American M777 howitzers and a Ukrainian artillery crew are hit by the Kub drones-kamikaze." The reports also stated that "after the strike, the Ukrainian military tried to hide in the woods. As soon as they hid their howitzers and tractors there, artillery struck the forest. All equipment and American howitzers were destroyed," propagandists wrote. However, this video is fake. According to StopFake, Russian media edited two videos into one in order to falsify the "destruction of American howitzers. A number of reasons point to this fake: the inconsistency of the footage with the May seasonal weather, geo-positioning, and the absence of footage of broken Ukrainian equipment in the video. More details.
Russian propaganda media spread this message. Reports say that refugees from Ukraine who left for the Czech Republic will soon not have money for food due to the abolition of financial assistance from the state. The Russian media clarify that this situation will arise due to changes in the law Lex Ukraine, which regulates the residence of refugees from Ukraine in the Czech Republic. According to the publication Nashi Groshi, the changes have indeed been made, but not as reported by Russian sites. For example, the Russian newspaper Novy Den notes that humanitarian aid of 5,000 Czech korunas (about 200 euros) now will be paid only once and only after registration in one of the municipalities. "At the same time, the website does not mention that the aid will be canceled only if the refugees already have free housing and humanitarian aid (provided with food and hygiene). That is why Russian sites are full of manipulative headlines from the category "Ukrainian refugees in the Czech Republic will soon have nothing to eat" and "refugees will be deprived of benefits if they do not fall into a dizziness," Nashi Groshi wrote. Read more.
This was stated by Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry. "The other day Ukrainian nationalists deployed air defense equipment in the Odessa film studio. The militants of the terror defense forces are going door-to-door to identify residents who adhere to the nationalist logic of rejection," Zakharova said. However, this is a fake. On the page of the Odessa film studio denied Zakharova's words. Also her statement called a fake the speaker of the Odessa regional military administration Serhii Bratchuk on the air of the national marathon. In addition, he stressed that such statements by the Russian Foreign Ministry are an informational alibi for the upcoming attack, which they want to create for themselves. However, he added that the Odessa Film Studio does have military equipment - a rare World War II vehicle that is used during filming.
This information was spread by the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. The publication published a text with the title: "British Mercenary: 'We Didn't See Any Corpses in Buche'" by Valentin Alfimov, editor of the political department. The text states that "Andrew came to Ukraine to defend its independence. But, like other 'wild geese', decided that life was more important after all, laid down his arms and surrendered. Already sitting in his warm office, he gave an interview to "RT in Russian," where he told how the Ukrainians took him to Bucha a couple of days after our units had left there." The text goes on to quote this Andrew as saying that he was in Bucha on April 3-4 and did not see any bodies or destruction there. However, the original interview to which the author of the text in Komsomolskaya Pravda refers says that around April 3-5, Andrew did not see any destruction, but not in Bucha itself, but on the outskirts. He says so: "But, again, we were not in Bucha itself, we were kept in the outskirts. However, Komsomolskaya Pravda and Russian propagandists benefit from another claim that what happened in Buchea was only a decree by the Ukrainian army to discredit the Russian military. In addition, the propagandists constantly manipulate the topic of Bucha and claim that everything was fine there. they also occasionally emphasize that the Ukrainian army intends to arrange a "new Bucha" in various places in Ukraine in order to discredit the Russian one again. However, thanks to these lies the propagandists only seek to justify the criminal actions of the Russian military.
This is the information disseminated by the Russian media. Reports claim that the hospital in Rubizhny, "neglected due to lack of funds and resources," was allegedly repaired with funds from Ramzan Kadyrov's mother's fund. A video showing a tour of the new hospital was also made public on the Telegram account of the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov. In that video, the Chechen fighters claim that before their arrival in the city there was "not a single institution that could not provide professional care. However, this is a fake. As StopFake fact checkers write, the infectious disease department of the Central City Hospital in Rubizhne was rebuilt with funds from the United Nations Development Program and the Japanese government back in 2017. Serhii Haidai, chairman of the Luhansk Military Regional Administration, said that before the war, this infectious disease department of the city hospital in Rubizhne had modern equipment and was considered one of the best in Ukraine.
Social networks publish a screenshot of the Financial Times publication about Russian military losses in the war in Ukraine and draw attention to the phrase "The statements of the Ukrainian and Russian military cannot be independently verified. Allegedly, this explains that Ukrainian statements are considered false in the West as well. In fact, the statement about the loss of a third of the Russian army, in addition to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, was made by the British Defense Ministry, referring to its intelligence data. The Financial Times refers to the report of the British ministry. The mentioned phrase is rather used to emphasize the sides of the conflict, the Stop Fake checkers admitted the fact. Read more.
This fake was spread by Russian media and telegram channels referring to the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service. This is not the first time Russia has claimed that it is fighting in Ukraine against third parties. Earlier, for example, Russian propaganda convinced that it was fighting NATO in Ukraine. Also, the Kremlin media already spread a fake that the U.S. would send former Afghan National Army soldiers to Ukraine. In particular, in this way Russia is trying to justify its defeats in Ukraine, saying that mercenaries have better training, so it is more difficult to fight them - here plays the psychological factor that there is no shame in losing to conditionally stronger mercenaries. Or vice versa, to report on the "destruction of a group" that does not actually exist.
In fact, the U.S. is not going to send American troops to Ukraine at all, as President Joe Biden has repeatedly pointed out. Throughout Russia's war against Ukraine, the U.S. has been providing various kinds of military and medical aid to Ukraine. At the same time, it is Russia that has copied ISIS' methods and tactics for introducing war. Read more about this in the article "European Truth".
The cover of the German magazine Stern with an image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky allegedly titled "König der Lügen", translated as "King of Lies", circulated in social networks. According to Logically.ai, Zelensky was indeed on the front page of the magazine, but it was published under the title "Held der Freiheit", which translates as "Hero of Freedom".
The Russian Defense Ministry and pro-Kremlin telegram channels spread a fake that a CNN video of Russian soldiers killing two civilian men in Kyiv region was allegedly staged. Russian propaganda compared the video to the events in Bucha; they also wrote that the video allegedly included Ukrainian soldiers or "inconsistencies" in the footage (shadow positions, markings on the car, etc.). StopFake fact-checkers took apart all the propagandists' statements in detail:
1. "It's the Ukrainian military" - a lie. Project Important Stories identified one of the military in the video. He turned out to be Dmitry Lapshakov, a 29-year-old resident of the Peschanka settlement in Chita, serving in the military unit 21250-B of the Russian Armed Forces as a mechanic and tank driver. First Deputy Interior Minister Yevgeny Yenin also said that law enforcement officials had already identified the Russian military who killed the two civilians in the video.
2. "Significantly different shadows in the episodes where the Russian military checks documents and shoots men" - manipulation. The two episodes were filmed on different cameras, located in different places, and consequently captured the event from different angles.
3. "The video does not show the second soldier at the time of the shooting" - a lie. The second soldier can be seen in the footage from both surveillance cameras. In the video from the video camera filming the car dealership courtyard, you can see the silhouette of the military man behind the post and his shadow is clearly visible.
4. "The interior of the security station is different in different fragments of the video" - false. The appearance of the room is the same in different fragments of the video.
5. "Inconsistency in military outfit indicates that the video does not show Russian soldiers" - manipulation. The Russian media themselves wrote in May 2022 that the 6B23 body armor "is most commonly seen in the Russian army."
6. "The Russian army does not have a unit called 'Tank Special Forces RUS V,' as written on the minivan." This is true, although the car is not actually military. Factcheckers say that the inscription on the car was made with paint, probably to mark the civilian car as "theirs."
Russian media spread a fake from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that allegedly three million Ukrainians "want to flee" to Russia. This is not the first time that Russian propaganda has spread the manipulative thesis that Ukrainians want to "flee to the Russian Federation from the arbitrariness" of Ukraine. Data from the Ukrainian government and international organizations show that Russia has forcibly removed 1.2 million people from Ukrainian territories and forced them to pass through filtration camps. There have also been numerous cases of deported Ukrainians escaping from Russia to EU countries. "A huge part of the Ukrainians recorded in Russia are people who were illegally deported to Russian territory by the Kafirs. The Kremlin, while promoting the narrative of "peaceful Russians" toward Ukraine, deliberately substitutes the concept of "voluntary refugees" and "forced deportation. The illegal removal of Ukrainian citizens from the seized territories is not an evacuation of refugees, but the forced relocation of Ukrainian citizens to the territory of the aggressor country," writes StopFake.
According to a sociological survey by the "Rating" group, 93% of Ukrainians believe in Ukraine's victory in the war with Russia, and 89% support the recognition of the actions of the Russian military in Ukraine as "genocide of the Ukrainian people." "This is why the Kremlin's narrative about 'Ukrainians dreaming of fleeing from arbitrariness to Russia' is based on speculation rather than facts," the fact checkers added.
A video of Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg with Russian voiceover is circulating in social networks, in which he allegedly says Facebook is closing down and leaving Russia. This video, in particular, was published by the Facebook page of Mytworld. Factcheckers from Mythdetector reported that they used a video from Zuckerberg's interview with American writer Tim Ferris for the fake. In it, the Meta founder talked about the company's long-term strategy, technical challenges, operating principles, etc. So the Russian-language voice-over is fake.
In fact, Roskomnadzor blocked Facebook and Instagram in March, and declared Meta "extremist. Despite the fact that it was Russia that decided to block the social networks, Russian bloggers demanded a billion dollars in "compensation" from Meta for blocking instagram, because they "lost their main source of income. So this video could be part of a narrative about alleged "Russophobia" in the world. The U.S. State Department has previously said that claims of "Russophobia" are seen in a number of topics and are used whenever the Russian government wants to portray itself as a victim while it is the aggressor.
This information was disseminated by the Russian propaganda media. In particular, it was voiced on the air of the First Russian Channel. There was a story about the Ukrainian hostages, which claimed that they were in very good condition, had three meals a day and the possibility of personal hygiene and medical care. At the end of the story the journalist said that the Ukrainian authorities are not interested in the fate of the captives at all and do not negotiate with Russia. The My Thdetector project factchecker paid attention to the story. However, none of this is true. Specifically, as of May 6, Russia and Ukraine had exchanged hostages ten times, resulting in the release of at least 331 Ukrainian citizens (including military and civilians). The last time Ukraine and Russia exchanged hostages was on May 6, this exchange resulted in the return of 41 people to Ukraine - 28 military and 13 civilians.
This was the information disseminated by Russian propaganda media this morning. According to the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Rospropaganda further reported that under the white flag came out the negotiators who are negotiating the surrender of most of the Ukrainian military. "In fact, this "information noise" was only a justification for the possible removal of wounded Ukrainian soldiers trapped on the territory of the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works. Such information 'cover-up' is necessary for the Kremlin for two reasons: to destroy the image of the invincible defenders of Mariupol, who 'did surrender,' and to reassure Russians, who might have been outraged at such a concession by Putin to 'neo-Nazis,'" the Center said in a statement. Recall, the fake that Azov fighters came out with white flags, propagandists have already spread before - on May 8. At that time, Azov fighters explained that the white flag near the Azovstal plant was used to evacuate civilians, which by no means meant that the defenders were surrendering.
The news that the contestant from Great Britain won the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, May 14, was spread by some Russian media. In particular, the publication "Uralinformbureau. The news on the site appeared an hour after the announcement of the final results of the song contest. The text said that the bearded Briton won, while Ukraine took only fourth place. However, the news did not specify that these were only interim results, which are established by the jury voting, but filed this fact as the final result of the contest. According to the results of the judges' vote, Ukraine, however, took only fourth place, but in the end, after the announcement of the results of the spectator vote, Ukraine was in first place in the standings. Later, the publication deleted the news, but in other texts it continued to manipulate the topic of Ukraine's victory at Eurovision. In particular, it said that the Eurovision organizers had rigged the scores in favor of Ukraine and Great Britain.
According to First Deputy Mayor Andrei Moskalenko, hackers stole some of the working files during a cyberattack on the resources of the Lviv City Council on May 13. "The first consequences of the May 13 cyber attack on Lviv have just become known. Russia, in addition to missiles, is using the IT front. In addition to destroying the city's control system, the enemy aimed at obtaining data. Part of the city's working files, contrary to all protection systems, was stolen and published on enemy telegram channels," Moskalenko said. According to him, since February 24, IT specialists have repelled more than 100 attempts of hacker attacks on the Lviv city council.
In early May, a video showing the opening ceremony of the Jewish Center in Ukraine appeared in the Georgian-language segment of Facebook. The video's description stated that Jews want to turn Ukraine into a political center for world governance. The message also said that the main goal of the Jews is to rid Ukraine of Orthodox Christians. As the My Thdetector project factchecker writes, the video is published along with an excerpt from an interview with Oleksiy Arestovich, an adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine. "There is an inscription on the video, according to which Jewish Freemasons have long been preparing for the settlement of Jews on Ukrainian lands, which the Ukrainian authorities have already openly spoken about. The inscription is followed by Arestovich's phrase: "Those who are not ready for this are shouting today - how can this be, how can you live and bring up your children this way. You need another state; this is the new Israel," the fact checkers write. They explain that Alexei Arestovich's quote is used in the video, taken from an interview he gave to the Feigin LIVE channel on April 11. "Then, speaking about the future of Ukraine, the advisor to the Office of the President of Ukraine recalls how Israel and the Arab states survived several wars before realizing that this path was ineffective. He added that this may be the case in Ukraine until 2032-35. He added that only the most resilient people will survive in such conditions, and those who are not ready for this will have to look for another country, as Ukraine becomes the new Israel. Arestovich later clarified this comment, saying that the dispute between Russia and Ukraine is similar to the Israeli-Palestinian issue in that it concerns historical heritage and there is no easy way to resolve it. So Arestovich used Israel only for comparison," the project fact checkers wrote. The photos they add to the publications date back to December 2019 and illustrate the construction of the Jewish center "Beit Mashaya" in Dnepr. With this photo, the authors of the posts wanted to illustrate supposedly that Jewish influence in Ukraine is constantly growing. However, the purpose of the Jewish center is to provide housing for poor Jewish families, not to drive Orthodox Christians out of Ukraine. In addition, the Beit Mashai will house administrative and educational institutions. Read more.
Such a fake is spread by the Russian propaganda media. In particular, the publication RIA-news. "Soldiers of the composite regiment of the LNR Interior Ministry, who are serving in Cossack Lopan near Kharkiv, told RIA Novosti that alcohol and cigarettes are dropped from helicopters on Ukrainian military and nationalist positions, whose packages are stylized as food supplied to the German-Fascist troops. Some of these gifts have accidentally fallen on the positions of the Russian forces. The cigarette packages have swastikas and symbols of Nazi Germany on them," the propagandists write. As the fact checkers of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center project write, this interview begs the question why the Ukrainian military would risk helicopters at all in the Russian air defense zone (after all, Kozachya Lopan is a settlement right on the border with Russia), if there is a road to the AFU positions from Kharkiv. "Other than that, not a single photo was provided by the propagandists. Neither alcohol nor cigarettes. Also in Ukraine since 2015 there is a law "On the condemnation of the communist and national-socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regimes in Ukraine and the prohibition of propaganda of their symbols." According to it, the symbols of the National Socialist (Nazi) totalitarian regime are prohibited for use in Ukraine, including: symbols of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP), the national flag of Nazi Germany 1939-1945, the national emblem of Nazi Germany 1939-1945, the name of the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP), images, inscriptions on events related to the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP)," - write the fact checkers.
Russian propaganda media spread information that after Kherson was occupied by Russian troops, the AFU began "continuously shelling" the city. Such reports add that Russian air defenses "protect" civilians. Kherson, and the shelling of Ukrainians is also carried out from the direction of Nikolaev, in particular, spread such information by the propaganda website Ukraina.ru and calls such actions the point of no return, saying that this is done to scare the region, which is ready to cooperate with the Russians.
However, the Ukrainian army is not shelling temporarily occupied Kherson. According to StopFake, information about heavy explosions in the city center on May 12 was not confirmed by local media, nor was any evidence provided by Russian journalists. At the same time, the Russian army continues shelling the Kherson region, particularly with phosphorus shells, as do convoys of civilians trying to leave the occupied territories. Read more.
According to StopFake, Russian media have decided on a massive campaign to manipulate new United Nations data on the safety situation of Ukrainian children at war. "The pro-Kremlin media, distorting UN information, claimed that the organization allegedly "has in its possession data on the use by Ukrainian fighters of buildings of children's educational institutions for military purposes. The agitprop claims that "as a result of the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine" there are a huge number of destroyed schools in the country" In fact, the UN did not talk about the destruction of Ukrainian military schools. Read more.
This information is spread by users of social networks. In particular, in Volyn groups and telegram channels. In such messages, Volyn residents are urged to report the antennas as in the photo to urgently dismantle them, because they seem to be communication retransmitters for the occupants, through which target instructions were transmitted to aircraft in Kiev at the beginning of the war. To such information they add photos of the devices, which should be destroyed. However, none of this is true. As the fact-checkers of the Brekhunets project write, citing data from the SBU of the Volyn region, such information is a fake. "This is a fake. Advise your neighbors and acquaintances to use official sources of information," the SBU noted.
