Pro-Russian resources write about this. They say that the leadership of Moldova will draw Moldova into the war between Russia and Ukraine, opening a “second front” in Transnistria under the orders of “external curators”. To do this, they seem to have increased the country's defense budget by 50%. The funds will be used to purchase weapons and equipment, and increase salaries for the military. This is manipulation.

The defense budget of Moldova has indeed increased by 50%. They really provide for both the purchase of military equipment and an increase in the salaries of the military. However, this is not a sign of preparation for military action. As the EU vs Disinfo fact-checkers note, according to the Constitution, the Republic of Moldova is a neutral state. This status can only be changed by referendum. However, such a referendum is not planned, moreover, it is not even discussed.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu noted in the summer of 2022 that Moldova remains a neutral country, but will strengthen its defense system as now it is in a very bad state, so the Russian aggression against Ukraine has highlighted the need to re-equip the army.

Such information is disseminated by Kremlin resources with reference to analyst Brian Clark and his article “If America Pushes For A ‘Total’ Ukraine Victory It Could Mean Nuclear War” at 19FortyFive.com. Like, Washington wants to have stable relations with Russia, it does not need the victory of the Kyiv regime in the Ukrainian conflict, since it could lead to a nuclear war with Russia.

On the 19FortyFive website, there is no single position on the direction in which the policy in the field of US national security, international politics, military analytics, etc. should be lined up. This is a kind of platform where experts with different opinions can express themselves, including those that do not coincide with the official position of Washington.

The article presented by Russian propaganda as the position of the United States is only the opinion of one of the analysts specializing in US foreign policy. In his article, Clark does not claim that the United States considered that the victory of Ukraine was not beneficial for the United States. The analyst reflects that if at first Russia was perceived as a serious adversary, and it was concluded that Ukraine would not be able to defend itself against such a rival for a long time, now the positions have changed.

In fact, the United States does not stop declaring guaranteed support until the victory of Ukraine, and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan noted that Russia will have to leave everything occupied in Ukraine.

They say that those people who were baptized in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate will now be forced to "re-baptize by a priest of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU)".

Like, in the churches they put up the appropriate announcements: “In connection with the recent events, all baptismal rites performed by the priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church are being abolished. You can sign up for re-baptism at the priest’s of the OCU”.

Such "announcements" circulating on the net are fake and their content is not true. This was reported to StopFake journalists by the press service of the OCU.

Such practice of rebaptism in the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is not approved and is not carried out. Since this is a big theological misconception, a violation of the canons and a serious sin”, the press service of the OCU said.

Re-baptism used to be practiced in the UOC-MP itself in relation to the believers of the Orthodox Churches of Ukraine (OCU), which are considered “schismatic” in the Moscow Patriarchate.

Russian telegram channels and media disseminate information about the “forced deportation of 800,000 Crimeans” upon the return of Crimea to Ukrainian control. This is manipulation.

Russian propaganda disseminates this information with reference to an interview with Tamila Tasheva, the representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, in several publications and in particular, the British Daily Mail. Tasheva said that, according to experts, between 500,000 to 800,000 Russian citizens illegally moved to Crimea. By moving to Crimea, they violated both Ukrainian and international law. When Crimea returns to Ukrainian control, Tasheva believes, most of them will return to Russia on their own. For those who remain, Ukraine can apply the procedure of forced deportation: “Some of them will leave on their own, we are sure of this. Those who do not leave on their own, there is such a thing as forced expulsion in the current Ukrainian migration legislation and in the migration legislation of all countries. Because if a citizen of another country crossed the border illegally, then forced expulsion occurs, so there is only one scheme”, Tasheva said. She also added that certain categories of people who moved to Crimea will be able to apply for a place to live on the peninsula, but first they must leave.

Tasheva's statement does not refer to Crimeans who lived in Crimea until 2014 and received Russian passports after the annexation of the peninsula, since Ukraine does not recognize documents issued by the occupiers. StopFake resource reminds that Russian citizens who moved to Crimea crossed the border of Ukraine illegally and, according to the norms of Ukrainian legislation, must leave the peninsula upon the return of Crimea to Ukrainian control.

Such information is disseminated by the Kremlin propaganda media and anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels. Reports claim that after Ukraine began to supply Western weapons, a problem arose in African countries. Like, all these weapons are increasingly falling into the hands of bandits.

All pro-Kremlin media cite the statement of Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasyl Nebenzia. In particular, he claims that the President of Nigeria said that the war in Ukraine is the main source of weapons for terrorists in the area of the Lake Chad basin. However, this is manipulation. The statement of the President of Nigeria about weapons in Africa really was claimed.

However, he did not say that it was specifically about weapons supplied to Ukraine from partner countries. According to The Insider, speaking at the summit of heads of state of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, Nigerian President Mohammad Buhari said that Russia's war with Ukraine, like other modern armed conflicts, is a source of arms smuggling. “Unfortunately, the situation in the Sahel and the turbulent war in Ukraine are the main sources of weapons and militants who swell the ranks of terrorists in the Lake Chad region.

Much of the arms and ammunition purchased for the war in Libya continues to flow into the Lake Chad region and other parts of the Sahel. Weapons that are used for war in Ukraine and Russia are still starting to seep into the region”, he said. However, it is beneficial for propagandists to manipulate the statements of politicians and claim that Ukraine supplies weapons to terrorists around the world. The thesis that Western weapons go to the wrong places is not new to Russian propaganda. Thus, Russia discredits Ukraine and tries to make it guilty of creating terrorist threats in the world. Also, with the help of such manipulations, Russia seeks to quarrel Ukraine with partner countries, allegedly demonstrating that Ukraine is using their assistance for other purposes.

The results of an alleged sociological survey among Germans about the war in Ukraine are being disseminated on social networks. 40% of respondents believe that NATO provoked Russia to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The reports also say that allegedly in April only 15% thought so. Like, there are signs that the Germans are tired of the war in Ukraine. This is manipulation.

According to “15min”, in fact, only 19% of those surveyed support such a statement. Another 21% partially agree with it, so it is incorrect to sum up these indicators. Such manipulation significantly distorts the results of the survey.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates poll results or uses anonymous comments from individual social media users to represent public opinion. In particular, propagandists said that more than 70% of the Germans are against increasing military assistance to Ukraine, and in general, they support Russia.

Ukrainian-language postcards were hung in Skadovsk saying that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already close. The authors also ask the locals to report on all Russian-speaking citizens after the liberation of the city. Like, the court and "the death penalty” awaits them. At the same time, Ukrainian-speaking residents of the city can “privatize” the property of Russian-speakers. They tried to illustrate the “patriotism” of the leaflets with the help of a trident and the slogan “Glory to Ukraine”.

This is written by Russian and pro-Russian information resources with reference to the materials of the American edition of Newsweek. Like, many countries condemned the actions of the West and supported the position of the Russian president on the “situation” in Ukraine. This is manipulation.

There is not a single mention in the Newsweek article that most countries took the side of Russia in the war against Ukraine. The author of the material writes that different countries of the world proceed from their agenda and their own interests in the context of responding to the war. Therefore, they do not always fully share the approach of the US and the EU. Many countries, for example, advocate a "diplomatic settlement" of the conflict, but do not necessarily side with Russia in this war.

As StopFake writes, Daniel DePetrice's article was published in the “Dumky” (“Opinions") section, so the author's opinion is also not necessarily shared by Newsweek. The author notes that, despite the fact that the events in Ukraine are cruel, each country primarily pursues its own geopolitical interests and does not always fully share the “approach of the West”. The article does not say that "most countries have begun to support Putin." Propagandists have distorted the idea that some countries do not want to completely lose ties with Russia and presented it as support for Putin.

 Such information is disseminated by pro-Russian telegram channels. Allegedly, this was said in an interview with “HB” (NV) radio by the commander of the volunteer battalion "Svoboda" (Freedom), captain of the National Guard of Ukraine Petro Kuzyk. In fact, Kuzyk didn't say that. The propagandists took the sentence out of context and changed it to their advantage. In an interview with Kuzyk, the word “they” means Russians. The commander was asked about the human losses near Bakhmut, where the enemy is trying to attack. “They are huge. They don't even count the body. Fields, landings in front of positions, all littered with corpses. I watched them: they dragged somebody to bury, pulled off a warm sweater from him and began to put them on right there”, said Kuzyk. One of the popular tactics of Russian propagandists is to distort the words of the Ukrainian military and pass off Russian defeats as Ukrainian ones. Thus, they are trying to hide the fact that Russian soldiers have always been “meat” for the Kremlin and that behind each of their attacks on Ukrainian soil, there are hundreds of dead Russians who will never be buried. 

Such information is disseminated by Russian propaganda media. Reports say that over the past six months, the number of HIV-infected people has increased significantly in Poland. In the texts, the propagandists refer to the Polish Ministry of Health. Like, the ministry said that the situation with HIV in the country worsened because of Ukrainian refugees. Allegedly, it was they who brought the infection into the country and spread it there. However, this is fake. As StopFake fact-checkers write, in fact, the Ministry of Health of Poland explained that the number of recorded cases of the disease in the country could increase due to the arrival of Ukrainians, among whom there are also HIV-infected. They fit into the overall statistics, and are offered advice and treatment. The fact that in Poland the incidence of HIV infection has significantly increased due to the “influx of refugees” has not been claimed by anyone. Previously, the fake about Ukrainians spreading HIV concerned Estonia. Russian propaganda systematically spreads lies about Ukrainian refugees abroad in order to change public opinion both about the refugees themselves and about what is happening in Ukraine. Russian disinformation about Ukrainian refugees, in particular, is based on differences in people's values. For example, propaganda calls Ukrainians Nazis (in the sense of radical xenophobes) or claims that Ukrainians are not ready to work to provide for themselves, but only live off European taxes. Read more about the disinformation that Russian propaganda is spreading about Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.In the texts, the propagandists refer to the Polish Ministry of Health. Like, the ministry said that the situation with HIV in the country worsened because of Ukrainian refugees. Allegedly, it was they who brought the infection into the country and spread it there. However, this is fake. As StopFake fact-checkers write, in fact, the Ministry of Health of Poland explained that the number of recorded cases of the disease in the country could increase due to the arrival of Ukrainians, among whom there are also HIV-infected. They fit into the overall statistics, and are offered advice and treatment. The fact that in Poland the incidence of HIV infection has significantly increased due to the “influx of refugees” has not been claimed by anyone. Previously, the fake about Ukrainians spreading HIV concerned Estonia. Russian propaganda systematically spreads lies about Ukrainian refugees abroad in order to change public opinion both about the refugees themselves and about what is happening in Ukraine. Russian disinformation about Ukrainian refugees, in particular, is based on differences in people's values. For example, propaganda calls Ukrainians Nazis (in the sense of radical xenophobes) or claims that Ukrainians are not ready to work to provide for themselves, but only live off European taxes. Read more about the disinformation that Russian propaganda is spreading about Ukrainian refugees in the Detector Media investigation.

The network is spreading a message that Ukraine allegedly supplied Azerbaijan with banned white phosphorus ammunition during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in the fall of 2020. Robert Menendez, chairman of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, said this. This is not true.

Speaking at the hearings on the consideration of US policy in the Caucasus, Robert Menendez really accused Azerbaijan of violating humanitarian law during the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in the fall of 2020, in particular, in the use of ammunition containing white phosphorus. He also said that these munitions were supplied by Ukraine. Mendez neither specified what kind of a "report" he was referring to, nor did he provide any other evidence that Ukraine did indeed transfer banned weapons to Azerbaijan. He added that in the fall of 2020, this information was "widely covered" in the media. Philip Reeker, senior adviser for Caucasus negotiations at the US State Department, denied the existence of such reports.

According to StopFake, in early November 2020, Russian media, citing the Russian film director of Armenian origin Sarik Andreasian, spread information that Ukraine allegedly supplies Azerbaijan with phosphorus bombs, which they use to bombard Nahirnyi-Karabakh. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said that Ukraine did not provide any military assistance to Azerbaijan during the war, although it supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. Like, Zelenskyi got scared and abandoned plans for the military de-occupation of Crimea. Allegedly, Zelenskyi was convinced that the Russian army would not leave Crimea just like that, and therefore "they should not waste time on forceful methods". Allegedly, Crimea should be de-occupied through diplomacy. Like, the "collective West" advised Ukraine to "more realistically" look at the de-occupation of Crimea. This is not true.

In fact, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, in an interview with the Financial Times, did not say anything about his intentions to refuse to return Crimea. Moreover, he noted that Ukraine will return all its territories. As long as the occupation of Ukrainian territories continues, there will be no peace in Ukraine. The president also noted that Russia is trying to force the Ukrainian authorities to make concessions due to systematic attacks on critical infrastructure and the energy system.

According to StopFake, the propagandists took out of context Zelenskyi's phrase that he would support the non-military de-occupation of Crimea, if any. Crimea, according to the President, should be de-occupied, and everything else is a waste of time.

This information was disseminated by Russian TV channels. Like, the students told reporters that it was hard for them to study when the teachers spoke to them in Ukrainian. Now teachers explain in class that Ukrainian language is inconvenient and how Ukrainians themselves get confused with it.

As an example, the TV report shows one of the schools in the temporarily occupied Melitopol, which has been under the control of Russian troops since February 25. Since then, the inhabitants of Melitopol, who stay in the city, have been persecuted by the Russians. For a blue and yellow ribbon or the Ukrainian language, Russian invaders can shoot them, and if, while checking the phone on the street, they find Ukrainian content in instant messengers or somewhere else, they punish people with a fine or imprisonment.

Schools in the Zaporizhzhia region continue to work online. In schools that began to work offline in the occupied territory of the region, children are taught according to Russian textbooks, where history is rewritten according to the KGB manuals, many teachers are brought from Russia, as the locals refused to cooperate with the occupiers. Therefore, it is incorrect to say that all schools in Zaporizhzhia have switched to Russian standards; rather, operating schools have been forced to switch to Russian standards.

On the other hand, to date, about 80% of the Zaporizhzhia region has been occupied by Russians. The city of Zaporizhzhia has never been under occupation, so no one has taught schoolchildren of Zaporizhzhia city and is not teaching now according to Russian standards.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that the “real” goal of the Ukrainian authorities is not to obtain electricity, but to terrorise and create a “dirty bomb”. Also, allegedly Ukraine will be used for the disposal of nuclear waste. It is not like that.

Ukraine, the US, Japan and South Korea will cooperate to build a small nuclear reactor. This became known on November 12. This will help Ukraine improve the country's energy security. It will take two years to complete the project.

According to StopFake, small nuclear reactors are used to generate electricity. They have nothing to do with nuclear weapons. Most of these small reactors are installed underground, which is also an advantage in the face of possible rocket attacks.

Such news is spread by propagandists and anonymous telegrams. Reports say that Russia is allegedly only targeting military infrastructure, resulting in power outages in residential buildings. However, this is a substitution of facts.

According to experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation, Russia is shelling the energy infrastructure of Ukraine in order to leave Ukrainians without electricity and heat in the winter. That is, the occupiers are destroying civilian infrastructure.

In addition, the military infrastructure does not power civilian homes as it is designed to ensure the current military activities.

Russian propaganda resources, in particular Volodymyr Soloviov's telegram channel, are happy to post photos of queues in Kherson, where people stand for water, humanitarian aid, phone cards and the like. They also write that those who did not want to live under the “Russian world” now should “survive under the Ukrainian one”. This is open and direct manipulation.

In Kherson, after the liberation, the situation is very difficult: there is no electricity, communication, Internet, water, heating, problems with medicines and food. But these are the consequences of the Russian occupation, during which the Russians first robbed the city, then destroyed critical infrastructure facilities, including gas and water supply systems, and energy supply. Now local utilities are trying to return light and heat to the city as soon as possible, volunteers bring water and humanitarian aid, mobile operators distribute mobile cards so that people can call relatives in other cities. The authorities are asking people not to return to the liberated city for the time being due to the difficult humanitarian situation. But all this is the fault of the Russians, who systematically and massively stole from the Ukrainians and Ukraine everything that could be taken out (for example, a raccoon), and everything that they could not loot was destroyed.

Examples of how the “Russian world” operates can be found in any Ukrainian cities under occupation: systematic looting, destruction of civilian infrastructure, destruction of everything that cannot be sent to Russia.

Telegram channels from a network run by Russian intelligence are promoting the following message: Ukrainians have suffered because of the decision of the President's Office to restore power as soon as possible. Firstly, their equipment breaks down, and secondly, this will lead to fires and big problems with the energy system. This is manipulation.

Firstly, because the Office of the President does not turn on or order the lights to be turned on after massive shelling by the Russian army. This is done by the state enterprise Ukrenergo together with local services, as well as the DTEK concern. They bring light to homes whenever possible, they also turn it off: sometimes according to the schedule to stabilize the system, sometimes in an emergency - after damage to the system and before it is restored.

Secondly, this manipulation is an attempt to blame the Ukrainian government or the president for blackouts in order to divert attention from the main culprit, that is, Russia. Ukrainians now often live without electricity due to the fact that Russia is massively shelling the objects of the energy system of Ukraine, it has been doing this systematically since October 10th. This is a war crime for which Russia is responsible. And the Ukrainian government and the power industry itself are trying to restore this system after the destruction. Unfortunately, the situation is critical. And fires occur in Ukraine not because of the voltage fluctuations, but because of Russian missiles.

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. Allegedly, the information that Kadyrov was excluded from the sanctions lists was published by the U.S. Treasury department on November 14. It is not true.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) indeed published information about the amendments to the sanctions lists on November 14th. Among other things, it was said that the deleted data of Ramzan Kadyrov, associated with various transliterations of his name - "KADYROW, Ramzan Achmatowisch" - was changed to "KADYROV, Ramzan Akhmadovitch".

Data from the Sanctions List Search tool confirms that the sanctions against Ramzan Kadyrov are in effect.

Probably, in this way, propagandists are trying to undermine the confidence of Ukrainians in the United States. Previously, there were already reports that the United States could betray Ukraine.

This was written by the Russian media with reference to the British edition of the Financial Times.

Allegedly, Lieutenant colonel John Harris who is in charge of training Ukrainians said that they are poorly mastered in “weaponry, battlefield tactics and cyber security” and that “the Russian armed forces makes it difficult” to resist.

We are talking about the article «Ukrainian army recruits join British boot camp to prepare for combat» in the Financial Times.

As the fact-checker Stopfake noted, the Russian propaganda completely distorted the essence of the article in the Financial Times, because the material just praises the high motivation of Ukrainians and their willingness to learn.

“They are the most motivated, determined, hungry-to-learn trainees that I’ve worked with across the world in my 20 years of soldiering,” Harris said. “That they train in water up to their knees for 36 hours and can still laugh, joke and quickly answer questions says it all for me.”

The conclusions are completely opposite to what the Kremlin propaganda writes about.

Russian propagandists are spreading manipulations about the “failure” of the Ukrainian military in exercises abroad, because they are actually afraid of motivated opponents trained according to NATO standards who will launch a counteroffensive and push Russian troops out of Ukraine.

Such information is disseminated in social networks. The authors of the publications allegedly refer to a survey conducted for the German TV program ARD-Deutschland Trend. Russian media write that the Germans rebelled against the increase in military assistance to Ukraine. This is manipulation.

As StopFake writes, the German company Infratest Dimap really conducted a survey commissioned by the German TV program ARD-Deutschland Trend. Such surveys are carried out systematically. This time, 1,307 Germans with the right to vote expressed their opinion. The survey was conducted over the phone or online from 31 October to 2 November. The question on the supply of weapons to Ukraine sounded like this: “Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. Germany reacted to this with different steps. Please indicate below in each case whether they are appropriate, excessive or insufficient (…) regarding German arms support for Ukraine?”. That is, in this case, they estimated the number of weapons, and did not investigate issues of support.

A total of 41% of Germans consider the volume of military assistance sufficient, which is 2% more than in August this year. 30% of Germans consider excessive deliveries of weapons - this is 2% less compared to August. 21% called aid to Ukraine insufficient, which is also 2% less than two months ago. The remaining 8% probably found it difficult to answer.

In social networks, they write that supposedly the US military is already on the territory of Ukraine. Social media users write that Biden is allegedly “approaching World War III” or “risking the lives of Americans to launder taxpayer dollars to enrich himself, his family and his corrupt allies”. This is manipulation.

In fact, US military personnel are checking the delivery and distribution of weapons in Ukraine. There is no evidence of the presence of combat forces in the country, Reuters fact-checkers note. During a November 1 press briefing, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder provided details on US military personnel in Ukraine. He said small teams of embassy personnel conduct "inspections" and provide security assistance. Their mission is to “track the US-provided weapons and prevent their illegal distribution throughout Eastern Europe”. Ryder also said that this should not be taken as an escalation of U.S. involvement in the war noting in particular that U.S. personnel "are not going to operate on the front lines".

In the Georgian segment of social networks, a video is being circulated in which they open a notebook with Ukrainian symbols and show that on the page with the date February 26 it is noted that this is the “Day of the beginning of Russian aggression against Ukraine”. The author of the video also emphasizes that the notebook was made in 2021, and the full-scale invasion of Russia began in 2022. As a result, they note that this notebook confirms that the Russian attack on Ukraine was pre-planned by the West. This is manipulation.

In fact, the notebook notes the beginning of the Russian occupation of Crimea on February 26, 2014, and not the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. So, the videos distributed on social networks are manipulation, probably counted on ignorance of the history of Russian-Ukrainian relations. The Georgian fake checkers from MythDetector drew attention to the spread of the fake.

Last week, the third demonstration in the last two months took place in the Czech Republic, organized by the ultra right, the Communist Party and fringe groups. Among the demands of the protesters: to start negotiations with Russia on the purchase of gas. To do this, they believe, it is necessary to cancel sanctions and stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine. They also demand to ensure the status of neutrality, that is, withdrawal from NATO and the EU. More than 100,000 Czechs took part in these protests, organizers say. This is manipulation.

In fact, eyewitnesses say that this demonstration was the weakest, with no more than 10-20 thousand people taking part in it. According to the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project, according to the results of the poll, 8 out of 10 Czechs do not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, in support of Ukraine, many more demonstrators once again come out to Prague squares than to pro-Russian rallies. These actions are held under the slogans "Czech Republic against fear" and "We can cope".

Anti-government rallies in the Czech Republic are organized by pro-Russian leaders. One of them is Ladyslav Vrabel, known as "an ardent admirer of Putin." The day before, he noted the need to go to Moscow and conclude gas agreements. Vrabel repeatedly gave interviews to Russian propaganda media and rejoiced at pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The action was filmed by Czech videographer Zharko Yovanovich who previously worked on the Russian army TV channel “Zviezda” (Star).

The Czech government has already taken action to deal with the crisis by capping energy prices and launching broad support for families and individuals struggling with rising gas prices. The government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala is taking a hard line on the Russian invasion and is an important partner for Ukraine. The Czech Parliament declared the Russian regime a terrorist one. Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov announced more than 50 projects with the participation of the Czech Republic to strengthen the Ukrainian army.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that volunteers have announced another “muddy collection” for British Spartan armored personnel carriers. It seems that the purpose of raising funds is not the purchase of armored personnel carriers for the Ukrainian army, but the desire for profit. Like, Serhii Prytula announced that it is necessary to collect 200 million hryvnia for 50 cars, but in fact they will cost about 58 million. This is not true.

Detector Media received a comment from the Prytula’s Fund regarding car purchases. As the volunteers explained, Spartan armored personnel carriers will be bought from warehouses in the UK. The need to purchase was agreed with the military command. The choice was influenced by several factors: technical condition, price, sufficient quantity in warehouses and logistics. The Fund also explained that the amount of the fee, in addition to the cost of the armored personnel carriers themselves, includes their pre-sale preparation, transportation, and customs clearance. Also, the amount of the fee includes the training of the Ukrainian military by British instructors.

Russian propaganda is systematically trying to discredit the work of Ukrainian volunteers. Earlier, propagandists wrote that Ukrainian volunteers “cynically collect money” during Russian attacks and tried to convince them that it makes no sense to donate to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and help volunteers.

Such information is disseminated by pro-Russian information resources. They say that sanction restrictions do not prevent sales of cartridge products in the United States and do not have a significant impact on the work of the enterprise. This is manipulation. The posts cite the company's explanations for the 2021 income statement. In fact, the sanctions against the Tula plant have nothing to do with the war in Ukraine, since they were imposed as a US reaction to the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Oleksii Navalnyi with the Novichok nerve agent. The sanctions limit the conclusion of new contracts for the supply of weapons and ammunition from Russia. However, the sanctions did not affect previously concluded contracts, and therefore it was possible to continue their implementation. Over the period from September 2021 to March 2022, the volume of cartridge imports from Russia to the United States did not really decrease. However, in April 2022, the US government made a legislative decision to stop the usual trade relations with Russia. From April 2022, the duty on the import of cartridges from Russia to the United States is 30-45%. In April-June, the import of Russian cartridges decreased by 88% compared to the previous quarter. In June, the US President set a fixed duty rate for Russian products at 35%. Given that almost half of the products of the Tula Cartridge Plant are systematically exported, the company is now suffering from the loss of one of its main sales markets. In July, out of 1,397 workers, the plant transferred 530 workers to downtime with the payment of two-thirds of their wages, and another 337 workers quit. Thus, Russia is trying to promote disinformation messages that sanctions are not hurting the Russian economy and the West is still secretly trading with Russia despite the sanctions. More details.