This manipulation was spread on social networks and pro-Kremlin telegram channels. The report says that tanks supplied by the West are ineffective. They say that the invaders are able to destroy all Western equipment with their own, domestic alternative. As proof, propagandists refer to the material of the Danish Defense Academy, where this is allegedly discussed. However, this is manipulation.

According to StopFake project analysts, the cited material does not actually say that Western tanks will be ineffective in the fight against Russia and there are no statements about how all of them will be smashed by Russia. One of the experts in the material only says that their importance should not be overestimated and that they can really play their role during the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Propagandists spread such manipulation to convince everyone of the effectiveness of Russian technology. It seems that it has no equal, and all Western equipment can be easily destroyed. Detector Media talked about a fake in which Russia allegedly destroyed a tank that had not even been handed over to Ukraine yet, as well as how certain European countries, in particular Denmark, regret that they provide weapons to Ukraine.

Such information was disseminated in telegram channels and pro-Kremlin media. The report says that such an opinion is allegedly shared by the speaker of the head of the UN, Stéphane Dujarric. The authors of the messages refer to his statement in which he allegedly said this and add that the West is supplying more and more weapons to Ukraine. According to them, this could “lead to even worse development”. However, this is manipulation.

As the analysts of the StopFake project explain, the propagandists distorted the official's quote. Asked by a journalist about the prospects for the end of Russia's war against Ukraine and the use of Western weapons, the spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, said that the current processes do not indicate that “a just peace in accordance with the UN Charter and international law” will be achieved soon. That is, it is assumed that Russia, a terrorist country, does not at all profess a policy of peace, diplomacy and democracy. On the contrary, it brings war and destruction, which just denies the key values of the UN, which the spokesman mentioned.

Based on the context of this statement, analysts are sure that Dujarric implies the concept of war as a phenomenon and possible escalating threats from a terrorist country, but this does not apply to the issue of arms supply, because the spokesman noted that in general the war continues and this is already bad . However, the UN will do everything to bring peace to Ukraine.

At the same time, the Russian media omitted a part of the quotation with “….in accordance with international law”, which primarily indicates a compilation and an attempt to manipulate the opinion of readers. This concept implies the withdrawal of Russian troops from all the territory of Ukraine within its recognized borders as of 1991.

Propagandists have repeatedly manipulated the issue of supplying weapons to Ukraine. Thus, they want to convince people that the countries of Europe do not give up their weapons of their own free will and allegedly regret this. Also, this manipulation is intended to nourish the narrative that the supply of Western weapons continues the war in Ukraine.

We recall that earlier Russia has already spread disinformation that certain European countries, in particular Denmark, regret that they provide weapons to Ukraine.

Social networks and telegram channels spread information that the NATO reconnaissance aircraft Boeing E-3 Sentry, which recently arrived in Romania, will participate in Poland's operation to seize the territory of the western regions of Ukraine. One of the sources of these messages is Illia Kyva's telegram channel. This is manipulation.

An American Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft used for early warning radar recently arrived in Romania. It will monitor Russian military activity on NATO's eastern border. “Operations to seize the territory of Western Ukraine” is a fiction of Russian propaganda. As StopFake notes, it was Russian aggression and a full-scale invasion of Ukraine that forced NATO to increase security measures on its eastern border.

Russian propaganda constantly promotes the narrative that Poland intends to take over the West of Ukraine. Earlier, as part of this narrative, propagandists said that Poland considers the West of Ukraine to be its “colony”. Russian propaganda also spread fakes about a referendum on the accession of the West of Ukraine to Poland and convinced that the West of Ukraine would be given to Poland if Warsaw paid the US debt instead of Kyiv.

The news was spread by Russian media and picked up by pro-Russian TV channels. Like, the decision to supply Western tanks Abrams and Leopard 2 to Kyiv will not only lead to a military escalation, but also pose a threat to the health of civilians. Allegedly, tanks are dangerous due to the fact that they use shells with depleted uranium. Allegedly, due to the use of shells, the area is polluted and outbreaks of oncological diseases occur. Also, allegedly, Russia can consider the use of these shells as the use of a dirty bomb. This is manipulation.

International organizations, in particular the IAEA, the UN Environment Agency, the Scientific Committee on Risks to Health and the Environment of the EU Commission, have come to the general conclusion that the impact of radioactive radiation from depleted uranium is insignificant. Radiation exposure from depleted uranium is very low compared to natural radiation. According to the results of medical examinations of military personnel who used such projectiles during hostilities, they did not find the effect of depleted uranium on their health.

Russian propaganda is conducting an information campaign to discredit German and American tanks that are being planned to transfer to Ukraine. They had previously argued that these tanks would not change the situation at the front. Like, American Abrams tanks are unsuitable for use in Ukraine in winter. It was also argued that Russia would consider Germany a “party to the conflict” if there was permission to supply tanks to Ukraine. More details.

Telegram channels and social networks are circulating reports that dangerous Romanian-made cookies have been found in Kharkiv. The messages refer to information from the Kharkiv state food and consumer service. The messages say that supposedly it would not surprise anyone if such cookies were given out as humanitarian aid. They say that only spoiled foreign-made products can be received free of charge. This is manipulation.

The State food service indeed spread information about Romanian-made cookies, in which they found a high content of acrylamide. Such messages were spread throughout Ukraine, moreover, in other countries too. As the Kharkiv anti-corruption center explains, Ukraine, like other states, received a warning about a dangerous product through the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and informed people about it. The Kharkiv anti-corruption center notes that there is no information about whether this brand of cookies was sold at all in the Kharkiv region.

That is, propagandists used messages about potential danger to sow panic among Kharkiv residents. Like, humanitarian aid is either not given out, or dangerous products are offered.

Propaganda media and pro-Russian telegram channels spread the information that the US is not handing over the heavy Abrams tank to the Ukrainian Armed Forces because it cannot move in the snow. This is evidenced by the video, which shows how the Abrams tank unsuccessfully tries to climb a snowy hill. This is manipulation.

The video used by the propagandists does not give grounds to draw general conclusions about the possibility of using tanks in Ukraine. As the fact-checkers of The Insider project note, there are videos of winter exercises involving Abrams tanks in social networks, in particular in 2016 in Norway. The video shows how Abrams tanks move without problems in deep snow and icy roads, and when quickly descending from a snowy hill, one of them demonstrates an extreme driving technique - a controlled skid.

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said at a briefing that so far, Abrams tanks have not been handed over to Ukraine because they are demanding to be maintained and need aviation fuel.

Thus, the propagandists are trying to convince the audience that any supply of Western weapons will in no way affect the military course of events. Propagandists are also trying to disrupt the supply of German Leopard tanks.

Telegram channels spread messages that there is a problem with humanitarian support in the Kharkiv region. Allegedly, problems arise in different settlements after the de-occupation. Volunteers seem to be unable to deliver aid for various reasons. They also write that the Kharkiv regional military administration reported that they had received a large batch of humanitarian aid from the UN, but people did not receive anything. Like, the products hit the shelves of stores. This is manipulation.

On the website of the Kharkiv regional administration, information is published on the provision of humanitarian assistance to the population. In particular, over the past week (January 16-22), about fourteen thousand food packages were handed over to the communities of the region. The website of the Humanitarian coordinating center has a map for tracking humanitarian assistance to the population. As the Kharkiv anti-corruption center notes, there may indeed be problems with receiving humanitarian assistance in some settlements of the occupied territories. However, Russian propaganda distorts the real state of affairs, in particular, humanitarian aid from the UN. It contained mattresses, bed linen, solar lamps, dishes, hygiene products and other household items, and not food, as the propagandists claimed.

Thus, propagandists are trying to create the illusion that Ukraine not only does not help people in the de-occupied territories, but is more comfortable with “hell for civilians”. Like, people are allegedly arrested for organizing sporting events or baking bread during the occupation; or they do not issue humanitarian aid and punish others for receiving it from the occupiers.

The Russian media are spreading a quote from Swiss official Guy Parmelin. Allegedly, he said that Switzerland refused to commit suicide over the transfer of Russia’s frozen financial assets to Ukraine and believes that there are no legal grounds for confiscating Russian money. This is manipulation.

The Swiss official said nothing about Switzerland's refusal to transfer frozen Russian assets to Ukraine. Moreover, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis, in an interview with Tages-Anzeiger, confirmed that he supports the idea of confiscating frozen Russian funds and using them to restore Ukraine. StopFake fact-checkers note that currently the funds are not transferred to the Ukrainian side due to the lack of an appropriate legal framework, but this issue is already being discussed by a number of countries.

Thus, Russian propaganda nourishes the narrative that Ukraine is a weak state that will not win the Russian-Ukrainian war. Also, with such messages, propagandists are trying to demoralize the fighting spirit of Ukrainians and encourage Western states not to send weapons to Ukraine.

Russian media, as well as social media users, are spreading information that President Zelenskyi allegedly admitted that the supply of Western tanks will not be able to change the situation at the front and turn the tide of the war. This is manipulation.

As StopFake writes, in an interview with the ARD TV channel, Zelenskyi said that Germany still cannot decide on the supply of Leopard tanks to Ukraine. He also said that the decision of an individual country to transfer or not to transfer a dozen tanks cannot significantly affect the course of the war:

“When they (the Russians) have a thousand tanks, not a single country that can give us 10 tanks, 20 tanks, 50 tanks, solves the problem. But they do one very important thing: they motivate our warriors to fight for their values, because they show that the whole world is with you”.

That is, it was about the decision of one country, specifically Germany, to provide or not provide tanks to Ukraine, and Zelenskyi's words are essentially a response to Olaf Scholz's frequent statements that Germany cannot provide Ukraine with heavy weapons because it is afraid to become a “party to the conflict”. Thus, Zelenskyi responded precisely to Scholz's words that Germany's decision would indeed not significantly affect the course of the war,  but the course of the war is influenced by the decisions of dozens of Ukraine's allied countries, and it is collective efforts (including providing tanks to Ukraine) that will help Ukraine win the war.

And it is even known exactly how many tanks Ukraine needs to return the territories occupied after February 24: in an interview with The Economist, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that this requires 300 tanks, about 700 infantry fighting vehicles and 500 howitzers.

By manipulating Zelenskyi's words, Russian propaganda is trying to convince the audience that Ukraine will not be able to win the war, despite any help from Western partners, and thereby influence public sentiment in Ukraine.

Pro-Russian and occupation telegram channels say that the Security service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested a resident of Kupiansk for baking and selling bread to locals during his stay under Russian occupation. Like, this is another act of the “terror of the Kyiv regime”. This is manipulation.

In fact, the former chief engineer of the Kupiansk bakery plant is accused of collaborating with the aggressor state. The detainee is accused of helping the Russians to export Ukrainian grain to the territory of Russia, to Rostov-on-Don.

As StopFake writes, the man not only openly supported the occupation authorities, but also forcibly took away the seals, stamps, statutory documents and personal files of employees from the chief accountant of the enterprise, and then handed them over to representatives of the occupation administration. For this, the occupation administration of Kupiansk appointed him the chairman of the “Food resources” enterprise created by the Russians, which exported Ukrainian grain from the temporarily occupied territory to Russia.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes about the situation in the liberated territories of Ukraine. Earlier, they said that a pensioner from Kupiansk would be judged for organizing football matches during the occupation, and in Kherson, the Ukrainian military began repressions against civilians.

Such a message is being shared by propagandists in their telegram channels and in the Kremlin media. The report says that during his speech in Davos, Zelenskyi allegedly “revealed Ukraine's weakest point” and assured that it was the air defense system. However, this is manipulation.

In fact, StopFake's fact-checkers examined the case and found that propaganda resources omitted the context in which it was said and reduced Zelenskyi's response to just this phrase.

The propagandists distorted the president's quote. In fact, it was an answer to the question of how Ukraine defends itself from the destruction of civilian infrastructure by Russia. This is what the actual quote looks like:

“Defend our weak points. Defend places with partners where the enemy hits. Air defense system. This is our weak point. Maybe this is not a weak point in Ukraine compared to other states,”. That is, we are talking about the fact that, in general, our air defense is quite powerful, however, unfortunately, there is a hit on civilian infrastructure. Therefore, it does not cope with all enemy missiles or drones.

In addition, earlier Volodymyr Zelenskyi repeatedly said that the air defense in Ukraine is strong enough, and in 2023 it will become even more powerful.

By spreading this manipulation, the enemy is trying to prove that the means of Ukrainian defense or, for example, weapons are meaningless and can be quickly destroyed. Allegedly, not a single Western technique can be compared with the domestic Russian one.

This is the message propagandists use on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It says that Denmark deeply regretted the transfer of its howitzers to Ukraine. Like, Denmark was left with nothing now, because it was waiting for a very long time for howitzers, which in the future would form the defense basis of the country. The authors of the message refer to the words of a military analyst who allegedly said it. This is manipulation.

The StopFake project specialists explained what the comment to the Danish publication Berlingske actually says: military analyst Christian Christensen expressed concern that replacements for the 19 Caesar howitzers would not be easy to find due to the realities of the modern arms market. However, the expert did not say that the decision of the Danish government to transfer weapons to Ukraine was a mistake and that Denmark “regretted” this step. That is, there was no such official position of the country, although the expert noted that howitzers are an important element in the country's defense capability.

Propagandists are spreading this manipulation to nourish the narrative that by handing weapons to Ukraine, other countries are left light and weak. Thus, propagandists want to encourage Western states not to send weapons to Ukraine.

This is the message propagandists share on social networks and telegram channels that broadcast pro-Russian rhetoric to the Polish audience. The report says that Poland understood who is real in the war in Ukraine and is ready to help enslaved Russia: it sent almost 100,000.00 Polish zlotys, which is 1.5 million rubles, to help the Russian army. The author of the message adds a video to the publication, which allegedly shows collecting  money. However, this is manipulation.

In fact, there were no official statements from Poland about helping the aggressor country. We cannot say that the person really did not transfer funds, but this is definitely not the official position of the country. Both the Polish leadership and the citizens of Poland strongly condemned the large-scale war provoked by Russia against Ukraine. Poland is and remains a faithful partner of Ukraine.

Regarding the video, it is published on a propaganda resource and demonstrates the process of withdrawing cash from an ATM. The video is not accompanied either by the hero's comments, or by the hero himself, because the video work consists of video parts mounted together, showing how people withdraw cash.

By spreading this manipulation, propagandists are trying to distort reality and show that Ukraine is gradually losing its support even from the most loyal partners. They say that Ukraine will soon remain on its own, because at last the whole world has learned who the real aggressor is. However, our partners do not stop condemning and sanctioning a terrorist country that daily commits war crimes against Ukrainians. Also, partners continue to support Ukraine, supplying weapons to fight the enemy.

Pro-Russian telegram channels and Russian resources wrote that supposedly in different cities of Ukraine there were protests by wives and relatives of the dead servicemen. Like, the Ukrainian authorities instructed the media to hush up information about these protests. This is manipulation.

In fact, in this way, the relatives of the captured servicemen demanded that the prisoners be exchanged according to the “all for all” scheme. This event was covered by the Ukrainian media.

In the messages, propagandists also mentioned military personnel who were considered missing. However, they emphasized that the majority of these military men allegedly died, and the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “intentionally” did not inform their relatives about this. They also manipulated the distribution of Ukrainians by region of residence. They say that the inhabitants of the West of Ukraine do not understand why their relatives should fight for Donbas.

Russian propaganda uses the emotionally vulnerable state of Ukrainians whose relatives are at the front to further destabilize the internal situation in Ukraine. Earlier propagandists have already said that allegedly the Ukrainian authorities are lying, that there are no losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, although the Armed Forces of Ukraine are losing people “left and right” in the interests of the West. To enhance the effect, propaganda combines these messages with messages about mobilization, saying that the Office of the President increases it. More details.

A number of telegram channels, operating under the control of Russian intelligence, began to distribute photos of documents glued on various houses in the capital. This is a printout of the order for mobilization, signed by the head of the Holosiyivskyi territorial center for recruitment and social support (TTsKSP). The document states what people who have received the draft notices, people who have not yet registered, and people who are going to change their place of residence should do during the general mobilization. All photos of the documents were taken in the Holosiyivskyi district of Kyiv.

The photos are real. Telegram channels of the GRU network write that these documents indicate that “The President's Office is stepping up mobilization”. This is manipulation.

Firstly, even though the president signs the mobilization order, all mobilization activities are under the jurisdiction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Secondly, the general mobilization has been carried out in Ukraine since February 24, did not stop and was last extended in November 2022 until February 18, 2023. Thirdly, as reported in the Kyiv City State Administration, such announcements are the usual informing of the population. “TTsKSP have the right to bring information about planned events to citizens. This is the usual work of the TTsKSP. Such announcements should not be taken in a different context”, and they also add that the announcement at the entrances of houses is “informing the population that the mobilization process in the country continues and a reminder for those who have already been given draft notices to come to the military registration and enlistment office”. The Kyiv state city administration did not explain why it was about these announcements that they appeared only in one district of the capital.

Earlier, Kremlin propaganda has repeatedly spread fakes about mobilization in Ukraine.

Russian media and pro-Russian resources are spreading information that Germany will never hand over Tornado fighter jets to Ukraine. The messages are based on a quote from the German politician Gauke Schulz. It seems that he said that these fighters protect Germany and should not cause a war with Russia. He also allegedly said that fighter jets in Ukraine would be used inappropriately. This is manipulation.

According to StopFake, Gauke Schulz is a representative of the pro-Russian German party Die Linke. He does not have a mandate, he does not stand for federal state, federation or EU bodies. Moreover, Schultz has nothing to do with making decisions on arms supplies to Ukraine.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages that the West does not want to help Ukraine with weapons, relying on non-authoritative sources of information or distorted quotes. Thus, Russia is trying to undermine the authority of Ukraine at the international level, to show the weakness of the Ukrainian government.

Earlier, Russian propaganda spread messages that NATO was supplying “scrap” instead of weapons. The propagandists argued that the supply of weapons to Ukraine would increase the number of victims and prolong the “conflict”. They also wrote that allegedly 30-40% of the weapons supplied to Ukraine reach the front, or that the weapons provided by the United States do not reach Ukraine.

Russian media are spreading the news that the United States seems to be in for a “gloomy future” due to the “catastrophically devastated military depots” of the American army after military assistance to Ukraine. Propagandists write that the US “will not be able to restore its stocks for at least five years”. This is manipulation.

Russian propaganda refers to an analytical publication by the US Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). The author analyzes the number of shells and weapons systems that the Americans have already supplied to Ukraine and makes predictions about how and with what the US will have to replace them. And in some cases, indeed, according to analyst Mark Kanchian, it will take years. But there are conclusions in the article that clearly explain: “Most inventories are okay. These six systems do not represent the full spectrum of U.S. inventories. Most items provided to Ukraine have been in small numbers, or from areas that have large inventories or production capacities. For most categories of weapons and munitions, the United States can provide support indefinitely”. The only thing that confuses the analyst is the lack of transparency of data that can be used to evaluate stocks of weapons and the insufficient speed with which the US Department of Defense purchases aid to Ukraine outside the United States. That is, there are no “threats to national security” due to a decrease in the number of weapons or a crisis in the supply of weapons to Ukraine in the article - these are all inventions of Russian propaganda who for almost a year have been trying to destroy or weaken Western support for Ukraine through disinformation. Propaganda spreads several messages on this topic: Ukraine sells weapons to other countries; Western weapons are not enough for Ukraine to win the war; Western weapons are scrap metal that cannot be used to fight. At the same time, propaganda calls Ukraine a testing ground for the latest weapons. Despite these efforts, Western partners are supplying more and more needed modern weapons to Ukraine.

This is the message propagandists use on social networks and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It says the war provided an opportunity for the US and Ukraine's other allies to study how their weapons system performs under heavy use. They say that Ukraine is used as a testing ground and in fact the partner countries are only worried about their own benefit. The authors of the messages add, as evidence of the publication, a likely material from CNN, which allegedly talks about this. However, this is manipulation.

In fact, the propagandists changed the title of the article using a graphical editor. Here is the original title of the material “How Ukraine became a testbed for Western Weapons and battlefield innovation”, but the propagandists distorted the title and called it a “laboratory”. However, the material does say that Ukraine is testing the latest weapons and many countries can determine its effectiveness. In contrast, the authors of the article describe how the inventive Ukrainian army maintains and repairs weapons. That is, the enemies distorted the context of the entire material and singled out theses that are beneficial to propaganda.

Propagandists are spreading this manipulation to undermine the confidence of Ukrainians in Western countries that help Ukraine in the war with Russia. Allegedly, their goal is not to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine, but only to test their weapons for their own benefit. Enemies want to distort reality and show that everyone seems to be indifferent to the fate of Ukraine.

Russian propaganda media disseminate information that supposedly the Ukrainian ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, in an interview with Newsweek, acknowledged the “colossal losses” of the Ukrainian army and noted that people were dying “in the interests of the West”.

In fact, the enemy media refer to a quote taken out of context. The diplomat said that people are dying from Russian shelling and rocket attacks. There were no words of military losses “in the interests of the West” at all.

According to StopFake analysts, the quote, manipulated by the Russian media, was about the destruction and deaths from a full-scale invasion that has been going on for almost a year. In addition, he meant not only the military, but also civilians suffering from Russian occupation. Russian propaganda writes about the “interests of the West”, although in fact the diplomat did not mention them. This is a manipulation aimed at blaming Ukraine's allies for its losses.

Russian media often write about the West and its involvement in the war in Ukraine. In particular, they manipulate the topics of arms supply and call Volodymyr Zelenskyi a “puppet” in the West's war against Russia. Recently, the media of the enemy also wrote that allegedly Kyiv is not allowed to negotiate and stop the war, although Russia is trying to put ultimatums on the terms of the negotiation process.

Such a message is distributed to the propagandist by social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that Ukraine is waiting for massive famine. Like, the data of the Ukrainian Club of agricultural business show that in 2023 the harvest will decrease so much that farmers will not be able to cover the resources for food security. The propagandists add that the map published by the farmers includes the territories highlighted in gray, namely the territories temporarily occupied by Russia. According to them, this may indicate that Ukraine is no longer interested in the territories seized by Russia. However, this is manipulation.

As the fact-checkers of the Voxcheck project found out, in 2023 the harvest will indeed decrease, but Ukraine will have enough stocks for food security. The Ukrainian Club of agricultural business (UCAB) released its forecast on 16 December. Social networks provided correct data on the reduction of sown area and harvest in 2023. Representatives of the Ukrainian grain association suggest that the harvest will fall by 50%.

However, the authors of the UCAB forecast did not conclude that the Ukrainians would not have enough food. On the contrary, from their analysis it follows that the harvest will be enough for both export and domestic consumption. Consequently, farmers will be able to cover all food needs.

As for the map, the members of the agricultural club did not explain why the temporarily occupied territories are grayed out. Analysts have suggested that this is all because of the fighting, which makes it impossible to collect data. 

Propagandists spread this message to intimidate Ukrainians and cause them to distrust their own state. It seems that Ukraine cannot provide its people with food, electricity or gas. Enemies are trying to create the appearance that Ukrainians live unbearably, and the state does not care about them, and supposedly forgets them.

Russian propaganda media disseminate information about the recent sharp drop in the combat capability of the Ukrainian army. Allegedly, such a statement was made by the Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar. The authors of the messages add that the Ukrainian army is already exhausted and most people cannot go through the military realities. That is why, according to propagandists, the Ukrainian army is no longer combat-ready. However, this is manipulation.

Analysts of the Voxcheck project investigated this case and found that on January 8, Hanna Maliar published a message in her telegram channel, where she talked about the difficult situation in Soledar, Donetsk region, and how the Ukrainian army is resisting the invaders. However, she did not say that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were sharply losing their combat capability. On the contrary, she stressed that in some areas of Donbas, the military is successfully breaking through.

However, she said that Ukrainians need to understand how civilians go through difficult moral and physical ordeal during the war. Enemies distorted the context of the official's quote.

Propagandists spread this message to destabilize the situation in Ukrainian society. Against the backdrop of heavy fighting in the Bakhmut direction, pro-Kremlin telegram channels and media resort to various manipulations and fakes to make Ukrainians despair of the Ukrainian army. Propagandists seek to create the appearance of losing Ukraine, because its army can no longer withstand the fight against the enemy.

We recall that earlier Detector Media wrote about the manipulation of propagandists, that the Ukrainian leadership allegedly forced the Armed Forces of Ukraine to leave the territory of Bakhmut due to the inability of the military to fight.

Russian propaganda media, citing The Wall Street Journal, reported that Western and Ukrainian officials and analysts called on the Ukrainian Armed Forces to leave Bakhmut and retreat to a new line of defense while such a withdrawal is possible. They say that the battle for Bakhmut takes place on Russia's terms, because of which the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost the forces necessary for the spring offensive.

In fact, an article in The Wall Street Journal titled “Russia gains ground in east Ukraine as fight for Bakhmut intensifies”, which Russian resources refer to, does not contain any appeals to the Ukrainian army to leave Bakhmut. The article describes the situation on this sector of the front, where, according to the British Ministry of Defense, Russian troops and members of the Wagner Group paramilitary force “now most likely control the majority of Soledar, 6 miles northeast of Bakhmut”. The WSJ writes that the encirclement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the Russians in Bakhmut is still unlikely.

The article contains quotes from President Volodymyr Zelenskyi, military journalist Yurii Butusov and Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine Hanna Maliar. Their words boil down to the fact that even with the capture of Soledar, the Russian army will not achieve anything and that the battle for Soledar continues. None of the Ukrainian representatives said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly “continue to fail”.

Bakhmut and Soledar in the Donetsk region remain the site of some of the fiercest fighting between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Russian occupiers. Russian propagandists use the information field in these battles, spreading fakes about non-existent movements or using fake calls for retreat, as in the case of the WSJ article. This is necessary to demonstrate success in the war after a series of defeats from the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. Like, despite censorship in the Ukrainian information space, the United States “considered” Ukrainian disinformation. Allegedly, Ukraine so “often lies” to the United States that it is time to fight it. The messages also link to an article in The American Conservative. This is manipulation.

Russian propaganda presents the proposal of the pro-Russian American expert Doug Bendow as an official initiative. Moreover, the article in The American Conservative is Bandow's emotional response to the work of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, which drew attention to his pro-Russian position. In the article, Bandow writes that the Center has compiled a list “over those who don’t go to bed  humming” Zelenskyi and Ukrainian governments. To combat the Ukrainian Center, according to Bandow, the United States should create its own Disinformation Countermeasures Center. It was this thesis that Russian propaganda used.

Actually, The American Conservative has also previously published pro-Russian materials, including that the Republican Party did not live up to American expectations due to support for Ukraine.

Russian propaganda systematically uses foreign experts with a pro-Russian stance to promote Russian disinformation messages and narratives and give them greater prominence.

Russian media and pro-Russian resources write that, according to Japan, Avanhard hypersonic missiles have become a “real headache” for the United States. They say that even American air defense systems are not capable of intercepting such missiles. The original source is the Japanese edition of Shukan Gendai. This is manipulation.

In fact, an article in the Japanese edition of Shukan Gendai “Fear of the latest Russian nuclear weapons Avanhard” refers to the danger of this system for Ukraine, and not for the United States. The material does not mention that these Russian weapons “became a headache for the United States”. Moreover, Putin spoke about the fact that such missiles cannot be shot down by any air defense and missile defense system, but there is no evidence of this. At the same time, the United States has never said that it is providing Ukraine with the Patriot air defense system to counter the nuclear threat. According to StopFake analysts, this article is contradictory, and the conclusions made by the author indicate a superficial knowledge of the situation in Ukraine.

Russian propaganda distorted the content of the article and added non-existent quotes to promote the message of their own “power”. Previously, propagandists manipulated photos of new Russian tanks.

Russian media and pro-Russian resources report that, allegedly on January 10, in Kharkiv, Russians struck at the pyrotechnics, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine stored ammunition. It seems that in addition to fireworks, explosions of shells were also heard. The reports also suggested that the personnel of the Ukrainian army were allegedly in the same place. This is manipulation.

The Russians really struck into the pyrotechnics in Kharkiv. On the spot, law enforcement officers seized fragments of a cluster shell, previously from the Smerch MLRS. After hitting a one-story warehouse building, a fire broke out. According to the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, this store of pyrotechnics has been renting this warehouse for about 20 years.

There is no confirmation of the detonation of ammunition. According to preliminary information, there are no victims either, which refutes the propagandists' assumptions about the placement of Ukrainian servicemen nearby. Local residents also confirmed that it was pyrotechnics that exploded, and not shells.