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.

Russian media report that Ukraine allegedly recognized the effectiveness of Russian cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Russian propaganda claims that Viktor Zhora, Deputy Chairman of the State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, told Politico about this. This is not true.

The Politico article referred to by the propagandists does not say a word about the effectiveness of Russian cyberattacks. As StopFake writes, the material states that such attacks should be considered war crimes, since they are aimed at the critical and civilian infrastructure of Ukraine. At the same time, both the SBU (Security service in Ukraine) and the State Special Communications Service reported that during the full-scale war, Russian hackers did not achieve strategic goals. Ukrainian experts collect evidence of cyberattacks carried out by Russia together with missile attacks, and transfer this information to the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

At the end of 2022, the Security Service of Ukraine said that they neutralized hundreds of Russian cyber attacks and cyber incidents on Ukrainian energy facilities, of which about 30 could become supercritical. The State Service for Special Communications reported that 2,100 cyber incidents and cyber attacks were recorded against Ukraine, of which more than 1,500 were initially made after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Most often, Russian hackers attack the public sector, especially the energy sector.

Telegram channels supervised by Russian intelligence spread reports that Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov is “rejoicing” that the Ukrainians have “become a shield for NATO”, and all the sacrifices of the Ukrainians “for this”. This is manipulation.

Telegram channels cut out a piece of video from the interview of the Minister of Defense to Olena Froliak, the TV presenter of “Okna” (“Windows”) on STB, where he says that now, finally, after 10 months of war, his colleagues from Europe and the United States recognize what they denied at the beginning of the war: it is Ukraine now defends the civilizational choice of all of Europe and the Western world as such. And now, in fact, it is Ukraine that is fulfilling the NATO mission that the alliance set for itself. Therefore, Reznikov believes, NATO countries are not providing assistance to Ukraine quickly enough, recognizing the fact that Ukrainians, among other things, are saving them from Russia.

Such information appeared in Russian propaganda media and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Like, in Ukraine they “called” to open a second front and “destroy Belarus”. Propaganda reports say that ex-representative of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Selezniov called for such actions on the air of the FreeDom TV channel. According to the propagandists, the Ukrainians are trying to “rub Belarus into dust”. It is also reported that Selezniov allegedly called for strikes against military targets and critical infrastructure on the territory of Belarus using American HIMARS systems. However, this is all manipulation.

The fact checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. In a commentary to fact-checkers, Selezniov denied the propagandists’ allegations and explained that in fact, the interview said that there should be an adequate response to some kind of attack from the territory of Belarus. There was no talk of any demand to open a second front. As StopFake writes, in an interview with FreeDom, Vladyslav Selezniov spoke about the use of HIMARS systems on Belarusian territory, answering the question of what the consequences would be for the Belarusian regime if Belarus entered the war against Ukraine. To this, Selezniov replied that in this case the Belarusian regime would fall, and the Belarusian army, although it spends a lot of time at the training grounds, is not ready to participate in the war, and is also well aware of how they will be met in Ukraine.

A photo is being circulated on Twitter and Facebook of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi in a suit and tie greeting World Economic Forum (WEF) President Klaus Schwab. In the captions to the photo, users note that Zelenskyi came to a meeting with US President Joe Biden and a speech in the US Congress in a “T-shirt” (actually in a sweater).

One example of such messages is: “Zelenskyi was in a camouflage T-shirt in the Oval Office and during his address to Congress. But he wore a tie [to meet] Klaus Schwab. Does this need any comment at all?”

This was noted in Reuters Fact Check. They write that the photos of Zelenskyi and Schwab were taken in January 2020 at the annual WEF conference in Davos. The fact checker also added that Zelenskyi met with Biden in September 2021, before the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, and then the Ukrainian president was in a suit.

In addition, users are spreading manipulation around this photo, noting that Zelenskyi's clothes during meetings may indicate disrespect for the president and the US Congress, or that this photo is allegedly evidence of “who really controls everything”. Such manipulations are aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian president in the eyes of a foreign audience, primarily American users.

These are attempts to undermine the confidence in the Ukrainian authorities among citizens of other states, including the United States, in order to further influence the support of Ukraine from international partners.

Russian telegram channels are spreading reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi “has officially abandoned the Christmas truce”, which, propagandists say, demonstrates the “inhumanity” of the Ukrainian authorities. But this is manipulation.

In reality, no one offered Ukraine a Christmas truce. Only the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kyryl (Hundaiev), called for a ceasefire on Christmas Day, and he addressed “all parties involved in the conflict”, that is, the military-political leadership of both Russia and Ukraine. And Russia did not respond to these proposals at all. But the adviser to the President of Ukraine Mykhailo Polodoliak answered and called these calls of Hundaiev “a cynical trap and an element of propaganda”.

And he reminded: since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyrylo has supported this war, calls it “sacred” and “metaphysical”, promises forgiveness of sins for those who died in this war, and even blesses those who go to kill Ukrainians.

In addition to the fact that Kyrylo is one of the propagandists of this war (for which he was sanctioned by some countries), he also, together with state propaganda, divides Ukrainians into varieties on religious grounds since many people in Ukraine (Catholics, Greek Catholics, and part of the Orthodox) celebrate Christmas according to a different calendar, that is, on December 25. But two weeks ago, Kyrylo didn't care whether people would die under shelling on Christmas Day on December 25 or not. And the Russian army shelled the Ukrainians both on Christmas and New Year - massively launched rockets, drones, shelled infrastructure and destroyed houses, hospitals and kindergartens.

And, finally, it is known in advance that the Russian side that actually makes the decision (that is, the military-political leadership of Russia, and not the head of its church) is not interested in a truce for the holidays. This was announced on December 14 by Putin's press secretary Dmytro Pieskov. Then, answering the questions of propagandists, whether a truce is possible for the New Year or Christmas holidays, he replied: “No proposals have been received from anyone, and such a topic is not on the agenda”. That is, the very idea of a truce for the holidays was rejected by Russia back in December.

Russian media are spreading news reports that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is urging the West not to count on a Kyiv victory and to prepare for negotiations, although it is not known when they will begin. This is a manipulation brought to the attention of the StopFake fact-checker project.

Some of Stoltenberg's words were taken from his extensive interview with the BBC's World at One, Radio 4, but he did not say anything about the need to prepare for negotiations or about acknowledging Ukraine's imminent defeat in this war. On the contrary, he said that the West needs to prepare for long-term support for Ukraine because the war is on the verge of attrition, and it will not stop quickly. But both in this interview and in others, Stoltenberg repeatedly said that before sitting down at the negotiating table that ends any war, Ukraine must defeat Russia at the front. And the Ukrainian army has such plans and capabilities that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have repeatedly demonstrated.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels spread messages that allegedly the United States admitted the “failure” through Ukraine with reference to American media. They say that the Republicans in the United States are not able to resist the so-called “woke culture” (increased attention to issues of social inequality), their leader in the Senate supports pumping Ukraine with weapons. Allegedly, this casts doubt on the need for the existence of such a party in the United States. This is manipulation.

As The Insider fact-checkers note, Russian propaganda refers to a column of The American Conservative. Its author is journalist and writer Rod Dreher, who has built a career on scandalous homophobic and racist statements. Moreover, he now lives in Hungary, works at the Danube Institute and receives a scholarship from the government of Viktor Orban.

This information was disseminated by Russian resources. Allegedly, Oleksii Arestovych, adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine, called for the creation of a monarchy.

Russian propagandists took the words out of context and presented Orestovych's quote as the official position of the Office of the President of Ukraine.

In fact, on January 1, 2023, Arestovych was visiting Oleh Skrypka on the Apostroph tv channel as a mystic and esoteric, and not as an adviser to the head of the President's Office. The whole conversation was about mythology, magic and dreams in the history of Ukraine and the present. Skrypka asked Arestovych about the magical scenario of the present, to which he replied that he suggested the provocative thought: “There must be a return of the king, he is walking somewhere”. Further, Arestovych pondered, “Is Ukraine ready for a monarchy?” However, Russian propaganda used this interview as a politician about the plans of the Office of the President.

Russian media write about it. Like, if the West helps Ukraine with weapons, it can “help” with strikes on Russian airfields. This is manipulation.

Ukraine did not take responsibility for the attacks on the Russian military airfield “Enhels”. The United States and the countries of the European Union are not parties to the clashes: Russia is waging war exclusively against Ukraine.

As StopFake notes, disinformation about “US coordination of Ukrainian strikes against Russia” began to spread against the backdrop of increased attacks on Russian military airfields. On December 5 and 6, unidentified aircraft carried out a series of attacks on three Russian rear air bases: Diahiliev in the Riazan region, Enhels in the Saratov region and an airfield in Kursk. A repeated series of explosions happened at the Enhels airfield on December 26.

Ukraine has not officially claimed responsibility for the attack on the air bases from which Russia is bombing Ukrainian civilian cities. The White House and the Pentagon deny reports of US involvement in strikes on Russian air bases. Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh, commenting on the explosions at Russian military bases, noted that Ukraine is not coordinating with the United States any possible military operations against the occupiers.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages that are at war in Ukraine with the “collective West”, NATO, the OSCE or the United States. In this way, they are trying to create the illusion that they are fighting a much stronger enemy than the Ukrainian army, which they ridiculed.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels spread messages about a “pensioner from Kupiansk” who was allegedly unfairly announced on suspicion of treason. Like, the whole corpus delicti consists in holding football matches. And for this he faces a sentence of up to twelve years in prison. This is manipulation.

According to the Kharkiv region police, during the occupation of the settlement, the man served as director of the Spartak stadium, supported the decisions and actions of the occupiers, and, in addition to football matches, organized other cultural events with elements of propaganda.

Such messages are circulated on social networks and propaganda media. They say that at the session of the UN General Assembly a resolution was put forward on the initiative of Russia “On the fight against the glorification of Nazism”. Consequently, they say, the countries that voted against this resolution are supporters of the Nazi ideology. However, this is a substitution of facts.

As StopFake project fact-checkers say, the fact that 50 UN member states voted against the Russian resolution to combat the glorification of Nazism does not at all indicate that these countries support Nazi ideology.

The document notes that all states are obliged to prohibit any “honoring of the Nazi regime, its allies and organizations associated with them, official and unofficial”.

Serhii Kislytsia, Ukraine’s representative to the UN, said the Russian resolution is Russia’s latest attempt to justify its military intervention, which they allegedly made to eradicate neo-Nazism in the country. Since Nazism and similar terms are purely subjective concepts. That is, who is considered a Nazi and who is called a fascist, as a rule, depends on the point of view of the speaker.

The propagandists spread this manipulation to discredit the international community, which allegedly supports Nazism and despises Russia “fighting” it.

Russian propaganda spreads information that France has recognized the futility of the attempts of the Ukrainian army to defeat the Russian one, and writes about the “disappointing situation” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to heavy losses. Propagandists refer to an article in the French economic publication La Tribune. But this is manipulation.

The article, which belongs to an anonymous group of analysts called Mars, makes no claims about the “disappointing situation of the APU”. The fact-checkers from Insider drew attention to this. The article says whether Ukraine can defeat Russia on the battlefield, liberating only by military means the entire territory of Ukraine up to the borders of 1991. The authors of the French edition are convinced that it is not, because one should take a "realistic" look at this war, offering not only Ukraine, but also guarantees of Russia's security. Ukraine is invited to “guarantee entry into NATO”, but at the same time to abandon the territories that will be a “demilitarized zone under the control of the UN”: we are talking about the Donetsk, Luhansk regions, Crimea and parts of the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. In the future, the authors write, it will be necessary to hold a referendum on the self-determination of these regions, and they will become “independent”, “a buffer zone between NATO and Russia”.

Recently, "security guarantees for Russia" were also offered by French President Emmanuel Macron. There are also some political forces in the EU and the US that are trying to promote the idea of understanding Russia's interests and security guarantees for an aggressor country that no one has attacked. This is presented as “realpolitik” as opposed to “ideal ideas” that cannot be implemented. The same “real politicians” believed that Russia would capture Ukraine in three days. The anonymous French think tank also writes about “an ideal world in which Russia must withdraw troops from Ukrainian territories" and “a reality in which the Russian army cannot lose the war, given the nuclear deterrence force”.

Such articles and statements are used by Russian propaganda to convince the audience that Ukraine will not win the war and that it is losing support in the West. Although the reality is that none of Russia's plans to seize Ukraine came true, and it is Russia that keeps losing the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and Ukraine is supported by most European countries, the United States and their partners in the world.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this with reference to Zaporizhzhia collaborator Volodymyr Rohov. Rohov in his telegram channel writes that allegedly the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi does not consider it necessary to demilitarize the Zaporizhzhia NPP. They say that we are talking exclusively about a ceasefire on both sides in the area of ​​the nuclear power plant, but not about the withdrawal of the Russian military contingent from the territory of the nuclear power plant. This is not true.

In fact, IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi, in an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, said that the withdrawal of Russian weapons from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant would be part of the Agency's agreement with Ukraine and Russia. According to him, the parties agreed not to shoot either at the object or from the object. But these agreements are preliminary, they will still be specified.

Such messages are distributed in social networks to foreign audiences. The messages also provide a link to a website that allegedly confirms the car theft story. Social media users linked these messages to the war in Ukraine and donations for the needs of the Ukrainian army. Like, after this Ukrainians do not deserve help. This is manipulation.

This story has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine and the current minister Denys Maliuska. In the photo in the messages you can see Oleksandr Lavrynovych, Minister of Justice of the Yanukovych era (2010-2013). The story that his company car was stolen in Germany and legalized in Ukraine was spread back in 2011. The fact checker of the dpa.factchecking project drew attention to the spread of the old story.

This information was disseminated by the Russian media and propagandists. Allegedly, local residents of Kherson told the journalists of the British edition of Sky News about this.

From the article “Ukraine war: Freedom comes at a price as Russia switches from occupier to attacker of Kherson” propagandists singled out from several stories of the townspeople the words of only one woman, who believes that it has become “worse, they give help, but not everyone”.

The propagandists used the quote without context and presented it as if it reflected the position of the entire population, saying that it was better in Kherson under Russian occupation.

According to Myth Detector project analysts, the Kremlin propaganda media is trying to create the impression that the terrible living conditions in Kherson are the result of the liberation of the region by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In fact, most of the Kherson residents mentioned in the Sky News story told reporters they were happy that the city was back under Ukrainian control, even if they now expect more trouble from Russian shelling. It was the daily rocket and mortar attacks by Russian troops that led to the death of more than 40 civilians, including at least one child, which affected the stability of the city's infrastructure.

Such a message was distributed in the Rivne segment of Telegram. Anonymous telegram channels name the source of their information the National Commission, which regulates energy and utilities.

The fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Liar) project explained why this is manipulation.

On December 5, the website of the state institution indeed published a decree on the need to protect consumers by applying, in the absence of actual meter readings, a reduction factor for electricity consumption.

Representative of Rivneoblenergo Alla Likhachova explained to journalists that it is not yet possible to say what the coefficient will be in December 2022, since the company will have indicators for electricity consumed in December only in January 2023.

“To put it simply, residents of those regions that have suffered from Russian occupation and where the power grids have been significantly damaged and energy consumption has definitely decreased, and there is also no way to track the actual meter readings, we can count on the application of the coefficient there. As for the residents of relatively peaceful areas, it is too early to draw conclusions”, the fact checkers noted.

Russian state television broadcast a story about an alleged mass rally in Nuremberg demanding the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions and a halt to the supply of weapons to Ukraine. The same information was disseminated in pro-Russian and Russian telegram channels. But, as Insider's fact-checkers found out, the rally was organized by the “Nuremberg Human Rights Group”, which has been organizing protests every Monday for years. The main demands of these rallies over the past two years are the abolition of mandatory vaccination against coronavirus, as well as more general slogans: against “digital surveillance by the state”, against “hysterical media” and for social justice. The only slogan that could refer to the war in Ukraine is the phrase “Let's create a world without weapons! No ignition!”. But in no way does it concern either Russia or Ukraine, and even more - anti-Russian sanctions or the supply of weapons to Ukraine from Germany.

Russian propaganda is constantly trying to promote the message that Europeans do not support Ukrainians and demand that their governments stop supplying weapons to Ukraine. In fact, support for Ukraine in the EU countries has not decreased: according to a survey conducted in October-November 2022 commissioned by the European Parliament, 74% of Europeans approve of all types of support for Ukraine. In the Scandinavian countries, the approval rate is the highest - over 90%.