Spilnota Detector Media

Message The war in Ukraine started because of the ban on the Russian language

On October 21, Russian propagandists began spreading such information via Telegram. The reason was the interview of Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC), during the political talk show "Hovoryt Velykyy Lviv" on the "NTA" TV channel. He allegedly said that the Russian language should completely disappear in Ukraine. Propagandists promote the idea that it was the ban on the Russian language in Ukraine that caused the war. Now they will allegedly rewrite and ban all history, culture, and customs in South and East Ukraine. Instead, they will impose an ideology acceptable only in the West of Ukraine. Propagandists took Danilov's words out of context and misinterpreted them.

Danilov said: "The Russian language must disappear from our territory altogether as an element of hostile propaganda and brainwashing of our population... English is mandatory, and our native language is mandatory. And it is hazardous to plant these Russian narratives here."

It is not the first year that Russian propagandists have used the "language issue" and "discrimination against Russian speakers" to artificially incite enmity between Ukrainians and divide Ukrainians by place of residence.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine, propagandists have regularly pushed the message that the Russian army is protecting Russian-speaking Ukrainians; otherwise, Ukrainians would be punished for communicating in Russian. Earlier, propagandists spread fakes that the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine plans to remove Russian literature from libraries. Propagandists also spread fakes that a woman was tied to a pole in Dnipro for speaking Russian.

Message If Ukraine continues to conquer territories, Russia will destroy them in return

According to the Center for Combating Disinformation at the National Security Council, such a message is spread by Russian propagandists in the information space.

In particular, referring to the article of the former US ambassador to the USSR, Jack Matlock, in the publication Responsible Statecraft. The Kremlin media writes, "if Ukraine tries to return the territories by force, and such actions are encouraged by the USA and NATO, then Russia is very likely to destroy Ukraine in response."

According to the Center's message, with the help of such messages, Russia seeks to intimidate Ukrainian society. In addition to intimidation, according to analysts, such messages are intended to induce Ukraine to negotiate with Russia and agree to the aggressor's terms.

Message A military coup is being prepared in Great Britain

The Russian propaganda media spread this thesis. Reports say about a military coup allegedly planned in Great Britain in the coming days.

Within 10 days, the current Minister of Defense, Ben Wallace, allegedly wants to occupy the chair of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. In their reports, the Russian media refer to an article in the Daily Express. However, it is not true. In fact, there are no reports of a military coup being prepared.

As StopFake writes, all this is fiction of the Russian media. The Daily Express article titled "Ben Wallace appointed 'emergency PM' as Liz Truss has just 10 days to save her premiership" talks about the political crisis in Great Britain and the likely candidates for the post of Prime Minister in case of resignation of Truss.

Message Ukraine has asked NATO to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against Russia

Pro-Russian bloggers and Telegram channels spread this thesis. Reports claim that Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on NATO countries to launch a pre-emptive strike against Russia before it uses nuclear weapons against Ukraine. However, Zelenskyy didn't actually call on NATO to use nuclear weapons.

According to the EU vs Disinfo project analysts, the claim that President Zelensky called for pre-emptive nuclear strikes on Russia is fake and arose from a misinterpretation of a translated interview. As analysts write, in fact, neither the US nor the EU is interested in a nuclear scenario in Ukraine. Any nuclear explosion can have unpredictable consequences for the whole world. Nuclear fallout from the explosion at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant in April 1986 also reached the United States, although its concentration was lower than in Europe.

Instead, Russia constantly hints at the possibility of using nuclear weapons in a war against Ukraine. Ukraine's counterattack at returning its territories gave rise to a new wave of nuclear blackmail on the part of Russia. It is Russia that is trying to keep the international community in tension with contradictory statements about the use of nuclear weapons.

Message Kyiv mocks the graves of the dead in Lyman by exhuming them

Russian propaganda media spread such messages. Propagandists claim that Kyiv is committing an "insult" to Ukrainians who died due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This information is spread to whiten the reputation of the Russian occupiers. Russian propagandists call the exhumation of the bodies of people who died under occupation and buried in mass graves "the height of cynicism."

"Kyiv, to satisfy its political ambitions, mocks the graves of the dead civilians of Lyman... Kyiv not only brutally killed all these people but also tried to use them for its criminal purposes after their death," claim the propagandists.

Stopfake fact-checkers drew attention to the message. According to fact-checkers, the exhumation of bodies from spontaneous burials discovered in the de-occupied Lyman is necessary to establish the identity of the dead and the cause of their death. Most of those killed as a result of the actions of the Russian invaders are civilians.

Earlier, the Russian occupiers spread the same message about the mockery of bodies after the liberation of Izyum, where Ukraine also had to exhume the bodies.

Message Ukrainian air defense "actually" doesn't work

During the air alert throughout Ukraine (October 19), pro-Russian Telegram channels spread messages that allegedly the Ukrainian air defense couldn't cope with mass shelling. The Ukrainian authorities allegedly inform about the work of the Air Defense Forces, and local officials deliberately write about it. Then the authorities wait until the missiles hit the target. If the witnesses don't record the "arrivals" on video, they report that they have successfully shot down all aerial targets. Telegram users deny the propaganda message. At the same time, many channels that report on explosions and air raids post numerous photos of the work of Ukrainian air defense in the sky. There are also messages about the operation of air defense systems from users (without identification of the systems` location).

Russian propaganda manipulates official sources' reports to spread panic among the townspeople directly during the shelling.

Message There is no point in donating to the Armed Forces and helping volunteers

Pro-Russian Telegram channels spread this information to discredit Ukrainian volunteers. Voluntary donations won't allegedly save the country, whose economy is bursting at the seams, and foreign partners are in no hurry to support it. In this way, Russian propaganda promotes another message - Ukraine isn't supported in the West.

Propagandists suggest buying gas stoves, firewood, and generators instead of donating to the army because this will allegedly help "as soon as tomorrow." The fact that it is necessary to prepare for winter doesn't exclude the need for help from the army. Artificial confrontation is one of the common tactics of propagandists. Moreover, propaganda writes that donations of 200-300-400 hryvnias "only create an emotional background," but any amount of help is important, saves lives, and helps the Ukrainian army. One of the reasons for the active discrediting of the volunteer movement was the record collection of funds for the purchase of drones for the Ukrainian army. At first, the propagandists accused Serhiy Prytula and Serhiy Sternenko of "cynically collecting money" during the attacks. Then began a wave of discrediting the actual drones that were planned to be purchased. Both their cost and technical characteristics were manipulated in the messages. In this way, the propagandists tried to show the allegedly dishonest work of Ukrainian volunteers and the ineffectiveness of spending the collected funds. Moreover, propagandists often manipulate the topic of reporting in the work of volunteers; allegedly, not all reports on the purchase of equipment or certain devices for the army can be made public through social networks because the enemy can use this information. However, propagandists manipulate emotions by leaving facts out of context. Since 2014, the Ukrainian volunteer movement has supported the Ukrainian army significantly. That is why propagandists try in every possible way to devalue and discredit the work of volunteers. More details.

Message Ukrainians are Russians who have become ill and brutalized

It is the opinion spread by Russian propagandists in the media and Telegram channels.

The main characteristic of Ukrainians should supposedly be the Ukrainian language, but no one communicates in it, except on television. It can be seen in the video during the Russian attack on Kyiv by kamikaze drones when people reacted by speaking Russian and using Russian profanity.

The thesis that Ukrainians are "sick" and "possessed" Russians has been spreading since at least the beginning of April 2022. As "Detector Media" already recorded, Tymofiy Sergeitsev, propagandist and author of the plan for "denazification" of Ukraine for 25 years, believes that Ukrainians don't exist, but only "malorosy" or simply sick Russians. Moreover, separatist Pavlo Gubarev called for the killing of several million Ukrainians "until they understand that they are sick and need to be treated."

Thus, propagandists justify Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine and motivate Russians to go with weapons to "treat" Ukrainians. More details.

Message Russia is not fighting at full capacity, but it will start soon

In this way, pro-Russian bloggers on social networks intimidate Ukrainians. Soon, the regrouping of the Russian army will allegedly take place in all directions, where the Armed Forces of Ukraine will launch a counteroffensive. As a result, Ukraine is allegedly facing defeat, which will be called "the turning point in the war of 2022".

Such messages are spread by pro-Russian bloggers in Telegram channels drawing their conclusions from the news that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China calls on its citizens in Ukraine to evacuate immediately because Ukraine "has a serious security situation.

China is an ally of Russia, and therefore, allegedly, "Moscow could have warned Beijing about its future actions."

Every time the Russian army suffers heavy losses and withdraws from the occupied territories of Ukraine, propagandists change the subject and resort to intimidation, spreading messages about regrouping, an upcoming offensive, and another attack.

The Russian army allegedly previously fought at half strength, and soon new forces will be brought up, and they will not allow any more retreats.

Message The Ukrainian military purposefully destroyed the civilian population during the liberation of populated areas

Since the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the city of Lyman in the Donetsk region, anonymous telegram channels controlled by the FSB have been spreading such information. During the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian military allegedly received an order to destroy all the people who lived under the occupation. They mainly actively spread the message that it is as if the military is under orders to throw grenades into basements and shelters where people are hiding.

Message The supply of air defense systems to Ukraine continues the war

The Russian media write about this concerning the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmytro Peskov. The aid allegedly won't change the goals of the so-called "special operation" and its final result but will only prolong the "conflict" and make it more painful for Ukrainians.

Propagandists have been spreading this message periodically since the beginning of the great war after reports of new weapons supplies to Ukraine. In this way, they are trying to discredit the supply of air defense systems for the protection of the civilian population of Ukraine, which the Western partners reported after the massive missile attacks on October 10-11. As the Center for Combating Disinformation writes, the supply of air defense systems will nullify one of Russia's biggest trump cards — missile attacks.

Previously propagandists wrote that the Ukrainian military refuses to use "Bayraktary" to discredit Western weapons. Supposedly, Ukraine will no longer receive American HIMARS MLRS and their missiles. France is complicit in "crimes" against the civilian population, as Ukraine fires at Donbas from French self-propelled guns, "Caesar," etc.

Message Ukrainian government provokes Russia into war.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels spread this information. Volodymyr Zelenskyy allegedly signed an application for accelerated accession to NATO, "calls" for a nuclear attack on Russia and thereby "gives Russia an excuse" for aggression. Instead, it is alleged that NATO again "makes it clear" to Ukrainians that Ukraine isn't a member of NATO and, therefore, won't support Ukraine. The Ukrainian authorities supposedly understand that they are "playing with fire," but they allegedly "don't care" about the results of such "games."

In fact, pro-Russian propagandists began pushing this message again after the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe passed a resolution calling Russia a terrorist regime. The amendment was also included in the resolution calling for air defense systems to be provided to Ukraine.

After Russia's massive missile attacks on Ukraine on October 10-11, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that strengthening Ukraine's air defense would be NATO's top priority. Other Western partners also reported new arms deliveries to Ukraine.

By spreading such messages, Russian propagandists are trying to justify the war crimes of the Russian army and promote the narrative that Russia is alleged "only defending itself" or that "the West is provoking Russia to war in Ukraine."

Message There is a civil war in Ukraine because one nation is fighting

The state agency "RIA Novosti" published a column by propagandist Petro Akopov entitled "A new stage of the dismantling of Ukraine has begun." Its author, a full-time propagandist of several Russian mass media, called on the Russian authorities not to dwell on the destruction already caused. He suggested launching missile strikes until the destruction of the civilian infrastructure of Ukraine "with a full understanding of the damage it will cause to the civilian population."

Interestingly, Akopov explains the calls for the physical destruction of Ukrainians by the fact that, by destroying the infrastructure and economy of Ukraine, Russia is returning it "to its natural state as part of the Russian world." So the "natural state of the Russian world" is the absence of roads, bridges, heating, and light - all that other Russian propagandists call the "Middle Ages." Moreover, Akopov, like other propagandists, promotes the thesis of the absence of Ukrainians as a nation and calls for the destruction of Ukraine and Ukrainians both physically and through the belief that they are Russians. He calls the war in Ukraine a "civil war" or "a war waged by two states of the same nation." Nevertheless, he insists that Russia can't allow "generations of South Russian people to be brought up in rejection of their Russianness."

These statements correspond to several points of the definition of genocide in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. According to this convention, persons who publicly call for genocide are criminally liable.

Akopov's column is part of a general narrative that denies Ukrainians as a nation and is a modification of the historical fake about "one people," which is also spread by President Putin.

We will remind you that "RIA Novosti" is not the first time to publish calls for the destruction of Ukrainian statehood and the genocide of Ukrainians. In early April, another propagandist, Tymofiy Sergeitsev, published a column in which he drew up a plan for the "denazification" of Ukraine for 25 years, which provided for the complete russification of Ukraine, the "repentance" of Ukrainians for "russophobia," as well as the re-education of Ukrainian children according to the rules of Russian propaganda, where Ukrainians don't exist. Still, there are only "malorosy" or simply sick Russians. Sergeitsev called the suffering of Ukrainians from the war a necessary stage of "denazification." President Volodymyr Zelenskyi called Sergeitsev's article evidence at the upcoming tribunal.

Message The "Anglo-Saxons" are behind the explosions on the Crimean bridge and the leaks of the Nord Stream gas pipelines

In this way, the USA and Great Britain "revenge" Russia for the events in Ukraine. Foreign pro-Russian media write that allegedly after the explosion of the Nord Stream gas pipelines and the "terrorist attack" on the Crimean Bridge, it "became clear" that Washington was "planning large-scale terrorist acts" that would give Moscow a "pretext" for a nuclear strike. The publications write that "Anglo-Saxons" are behind both events. The spread of this misinformation a few hours after the explosion on the Crimean bridge, when no details of this event hadn't yet known, was noticed by fact-checkers of the EUvsDisinfo project.

Message Ukrainians "kill" each other faster than Russian missiles

With such a message, pro-Russian Telegram channels are distributing videos of people, allegedly, trying to get into a shelter during an alarm, but they are not allowed to go. The video is accompanied by comments that "repositories for the chosen ones" have appeared, and Ukrainians, instead of helping in times of need, are "pushing each other under bullets." The posts also say that "there is a mess in the country," and officials only "record videos as if everything is fine."

In fact, the video shows how a group of people forcefully breaks into the premises shouting, "we are in the shelter." However, it becomes clear from the words of the institution's employees that it is a school shelter, and there are children. The girl who posted the video claims that she "knows the law"; therefore, she and other people are "obliged" to be allowed to shelter during the air raid alert.

Following regulatory requirements and recommendations, outsiders may not use the school shelter. The school shelter must be organized so that children can stay safely and comfortably during an air raid, even for a long time. The area of ​​the school shelter, water and food supplies, medicines, ventilation system, and other vital things are regulated by regulations. Therefore, there is no allowance for outsiders to go into the school shelter, so the institution's employees acted by the requirements and took care of the children's safety first of all.

Message Ukrainian volunteers "cynically collect money" during Russian attacks

The message was widely distributed by pro-Russian Telegram channels as a reaction to the announcement of the joint meeting of Serhii Prytula and Serhii Sternenko, which was joined by other volunteer initiatives.

Propagandists claim that the volunteers are allegedly using the attack on Ukraine to get more money for themselves or for what the West is already giving Ukraine for free.

In fact, as reported by Serhii Prytula, Ukrainian volunteers prematurely announced the fundraising for RAM II kamikaze drones scheduled for October 12. In the post, Prytula also argued for the need to purchase such weapons for the Ukrainian army.

Ukrainians once again demonstrated their resistance to Russian propaganda and disinformation. When Russia was massively shelling almost all of Ukraine with missiles, despite the lack of electricity and interruptions to the Internet, Ukrainians actively sent donations for weapons for the Ukrainian army. As of the morning of October 11, the number of fees exceeded 276 million hryvnias, the final amount hasn`t been announced yet.

Russian propaganda systematically tries to discredit the work of volunteers who significantly help the army. Previously, propaganda massively spread fakes about the purchase by the Serhii Prytula Foundation of "People's Satellite" for 600 million hryvnias.

Message There are "more and less important" regions for the Ukrainian authorities

Such information is spread by pro-Russian Telegram channels, speculating on Russian shelling and the operation of air defense systems.

The day before, anti-aircraft defenses were allegedly taken away from the Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv regions, leaving these regions without adequate protection. Now, these systems are "urgently" returned. Instead, according to reports, Kyiv and Dnipro are "excessively" protected because they are "more strategically important" to the authorities. The same speculations were previously observed in local telegram channels of Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv regions, etc. Propagandists deliberately spread messages as "insides" or "rumors" after shelling, manipulating the victims' emotions and taking advantage of the fact that the location and number of anti-aircraft warning systems are not disclosed. In this way, the propagandists also advance the narrative about the division of Ukrainians by place of residence.

Message The Ukrainian authorities demand not to publish photos and videos of the consequences of missile strikes to hide what is really happening

Russian propagandists spread this thesis after the massive missile strikes that Russia carried out on the territory of Ukraine today, October 10.

In particular, information about this appeared in Telegram channels controlled by Russian special services. In their reports, they claim that the Office of the President and the heads of regions urge Ukrainians not to publish photos of the destruction caused by missile strikes, and the SSU allegedly writes to the administrators of public social networks and demands that they stop publishing such photos.

Propagandists claim that such a demand by the authorities is aimed at stopping the spread of panic, because "if there are no photos and videos, then there are no hits and losses."

So, according to propagandists, the Ukrainian authorities lie to Ukrainians and try to hide the true picture of events from them. "And the rockets continue to fly," the propagandists write. In fact, photos and videos of missile strikes are recommended not to be shared immediately after shelling, so as not to help the enemy target, and not to hide the picture of destruction.

Information about missile strikes, as well as photos and videos of events, are gradually appearing on the Internet and the official pages of government representatives, particularly on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Propagandists need such messages to assure Ukrainians that their government deceives them.

Moreover, instead of solving the problem, the authorities allegedly simply ignore it, pretending that nothing is happening, hiding photos and videos of the destruction.

Such messages discredit the leadership of Ukraine. However, it is not the authorities of Ukraine that are to blame for what is happening, but Russia, which has not stopped shelling Ukraine for seven months.

Message The attack on the Crimean bridge opened a window of opportunity for Russia to start a "full-scale war"

After the fire on the Crimean bridge yesterday, October 8, several messages related to this event appeared in anonymous propaganda channels. In particular, propagandists spread the thesis that after the fire and partial collapse of the bridge, Russia will have a large window of opportunity to start a major war against Ukraine. It will be a good reason for a full-scale war, as at one time the USA allegedly started a war in Afghanistan in response to a terrorist act in September 2001.

So, in this way, propagandists claim that Ukraine is a terrorist state that carries out terror against Russia and Russian infrastructure objects. However, there is no official confirmation that Ukraine is involved in the situation with the bridge. Such messages have another function - intimidation. Because of such acts of alleged terrorism, Russia will now strike Ukraine's military and infrastructure facilities more and more often and will have an excuse for a full-scale war. Nevertheless, Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine already began on February 24 of this year: Russian troops illegally occupied four Ukrainian regions, destroyed dozens of not only infrastructural but also civilian objects, purposefully targeted convoys of civilians, destroyed residential buildings, hospitals, schools, etc. Although with the help of such messages, the propagandists allegedly show that Russia is not yet fighting at full strength, and Ukraine is provoking aggression.

The propagandists also claim that the "undermining of the Crimean bridge" is the same terrorist act of Ukraine as the alleged murder of Daria Dugina in Moscow. However, the fact that Ukraine was involved in the murder of Dugina has not been proven, and Russia has no serious evidence, except for propagandists' fiction. However, by portraying Ukraine as a terrorist country, propagandists shift the responsibility for their crimes and the outbreak of the war. Another message related to the fact that the "Western curators" finally gave the command to Ukraine to blow up the bridge. It is allegedly not Ukraine involved in this, but some other third and more developed countries, which were hoping for radicalization in the war on the part of Russia, but there is none yet. Read more about what was written in Telegram channels after the situation on the Crimean Bridge in the "Detector Media" review.

Message Ukraine works on creating a "dirty" nuclear bomb

Such a message intensified this week in Russian media and anonymous Telegram channels controlled by the Kremlin.

The process of negotiations with Great Britain allegedly regarding the transfer of nuclear weapons to Ukraine to deter Russia has failed. Because of this, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy ordered to gather of all nuclear scientists in Ukraine as soon as possible to create a "dirty" nuclear bomb. Messages that Ukraine was "preparing" the so-called "dirty atomic bomb" were actively spreading on the eve of Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

This was also indicated among the reasons for Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Later, Russian propaganda spread the thesis that Kyiv was trying to turn the plant into a "dirty" nuclear bomb by shelling the Zaporizhzhia NPP, and that the US was allegedly interested in having a "dirty" bomb in Ukraine.

There was also an option that Ukrainian scientists were already working on the components of a "dirty" bomb directly near the Russian border. A "dirty bomb" is a type of "radiological dispersal device in which a conventional explosive, such as dynamite, is combined with radioactive material. Such bombs don`t release enough radiation to kill people or cause serious illness.

However, the explosion of such a bomb can cause fear and panic, pollute the space, and require expensive cleanup. Such bombs are considered to be weapons of terrorist groups rather than armies. "Ukraine doesn`t have nuclear weapons and doesn`t conduct any work on their creation/acquisition. We are a responsible member of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote on his Twitter account. The Center for Combating Disinformation drew attention to the fact that Ukraine has nowhere to get uranium, and plutonium was produced by the reactors of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant and such work has not been carried out for a quarter of a century, therefore statements about the creation of a "dirty nuclear bomb" have no basis.

At the same time, members of the National Commission for Radiation Protection of the Population of Ukraine, Anatoliy Nosovskyy and Viktor Dolin, reported in an interview with Science magazine that during the occupation of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant by Russian troops, a barbaric raid was carried out on the Ekocentr radiation monitoring laboratory, and it was looted. According to scientists, in the laboratory, the Russians could extract radioactive isotopes that were used to calibrate devices and the remains of radioactive waste. "These materials can be mixed with conventional explosives to form a 'dirty bomb' that spreads pollution over a large area," Nosovskyy said.

Message The West is using the war in Ukraine as a tool for realizing geopolitical ambitions

Such a message came from the Russian Foreign Ministry. The report said that allegedly the West was deliberately supplying weapons to Ukraine in order to keep the country in its sphere of influence. They say that's why the West can resort to using nuclear weapons.

In fact, Russia is engaged in nuclear blackmail, it wanted to intimidate the West so that it would not supply weapons to Ukraine. In fact, after Ukraine’s successful counter-offensive, the propagandists intensified their disinformation campaign about the nuclear threat. Also, after an unsuccessful attempt, the occupiers resorted to a different rhetoric, namely the one that the West allegedly “wants to flood the whole world”, therefore it is trying to supply weapons and bring death everywhere. However, the Western community is helping Ukraine with weapons and is supporting the country in every possible way in protecting its territories from Russia that has unleashed a war in Ukraine.

Message The USA warns Ukraine not to prepare for new terrorist attacks

Back in April, Ukraine recognized Russia as a terrorist state, and since then pro-Russian and Russian mass media, Telegram channels, and bloggers have been trying to spread the mirror message that Ukraine is a terrorist state.

Another reason for this was an article in The New York Times, in which unnamed "representatives of US intelligence" and "American officials" believe that Ukraine is involved in the murder of Oleksandr Dugin's daughter Daria.

The article also states that American officials didn`t know about the special operation in advance, didn`t provide any information to the Ukrainian side, and were surprised that they weren`t consulted before the special operation.

The article doesn`t specify why any country in the world should consult with representatives of the US government when conducting its covert operations. Moreover, the article doesn`t specify who exactly in the Ukrainian government could authorize such a special operation and why.

Blogger Anatoliy Shariy even recorded an urgent video about this gender, where he read the material of The New York Times and tried to convince the audience that this publication is a warning to the Ukrainian government from American officials so that Kyiv doesn`t think about preparing "further terrorist attacks in the style of September 11." Moreover, Shariy noted that the Americans had already known the target, so they wanted to distance themselves from the consequences of this future terrorist attack.

All these fictions of Shariy are part of a more general message promoted by Russian propaganda about Ukraine as a "terrorist state". For the same purpose, Russian Telegram channels call Ukraine "ISIS", or "Ukrainian State" group, and react in this way to real evidence of terrorism by the Russian state - the bombing of civilian infrastructure, shelling of residential buildings, seizure of nuclear power plants and mass crimes against citizens of Ukraine in the occupied territories.

Ukraine has repeatedly stated that it had nothing to do with Dugina's murder. However, the Russian special services have repeatedly killed or tried to kill political opponents of the regime or inconvenient witnesses - mostly they poisoned them, but they also killed them with firearms and even blew them up in cars.

Message The torture of Ukrainians is a fake exposed by German journalists

Russian mass media, as well as pro-Russian bloggers and Telegram channels, write dozens of messages refuting "fake Ukrainian propaganda" about torture centers where teeth were pulled. Russian propaganda accuses the Ukrainian police and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine of spreading this fake.

Indeed, in a tweet by the Ministry of Defense, the torture chamber in the village of Pisky-Radkivski with the items found there - a gas mask, a box with extracted teeth and dentures - was called a "mini Auschwitz". That is, the report gives the impression that the Russian military tortured Ukrainians, pulling out their teeth, as the Nazis used to do in concentration camps.

Taras Topolya, a singer and now a soldier, drew the same parallel by comparing two photos - a black and white one from a German concentration camp, on which the gold crowns of the murdered people are visible, and a color photo from the Pisky-Radkivski torture chamber. Some Ukrainian mass media, referring to Taras Topolya, published news in which they claimed that the Russians pulled out the teeth of those who were abused in the torture chamber, but the Ukrainian police didn`t make such a statement.

On the contrary, it clearly stated that the police had evidence of torture using gas masks, as well as burying people alive in the ground. "A dildo, a box with torn dentures were also found in the torture chamber. Investigators and prosecutors are working to establish all the facts that happened in this torture chamber," said Serhii Bolvinov, head of the National Police Investigation Department in the Kharkiv region. So the police didn`t claim that the dentures belonged to the victims of the Russian military.

The day after the gruesome discovery, German journalists from the Bild tabloid found a local dentist in the village, who told them that the prostheses belonged to him, as he kept the removed prostheses of his patients. He also said that the Russians robbed his house, and he thinks they may have taken the box of prosthetics because they thought they were gold or to intimidate the Ukrainians who were being held in the torture chamber. After Bild's material appeared, some Ukrainian publications deleted the news in which they claimed that the Russians tortured prisoners by pulling out their teeth. But mostly, the Ukrainian mass media immediately wrote that the investigation is trying to establish all the circumstances of the crime.

Russian propaganda uses this case to prove that the Russians don`t torture Ukrainians at all, and every terrible find in the de-occupied territories is a fake. For this, for example, they kept quiet that in the Bild article residents talk about screams from the torture chambers, as well as about a person who was subjected to torture. That is, journalists don`t doubt that the Russians are torturing prisoners, civilians, or the military.

Message Ukraine is being "prepared" for a nuclear accident, which will be arranged by "third parties," but they will blame Russia

Pro-Russian Telegram channels write about it. He said that the very fact of a nuclear attack on Ukraine would be important, and they would not be able to figure out who would carry it out. Because of this, allegedly, the Ukrainian authorities issued a manual on the rules of behavior during a nuclear threat. Some anonymous Telegram channels are spreading rumors that the Americans will strike at the spent nuclear fuel storage in the Chornobyl zone.

Since February 24, Russia has systematically threatened Ukraine and the world with the use of nuclear weapons. At the beginning of a full-scale invasion, the Russians put the nuclear forces on special combat duty. During a speech on September 21, Putin again threatened the possibility of using nuclear weapons in the event of a "direct threat to Russian territory," saying that this was "not a bluff."

Considering the seriousness of the danger, the Ukrainian authorities developed appropriate recommendations for citizens, which agitprop immediately called "preparation for a nuclear accident."

Russian propaganda conducts informational terrorism to induce Ukraine to negotiate on the Kremlin's terms.

Message France is an "accomplice of genocide" in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine

This message is spread by pro-Russian media. Allegedly, Ukraine is shelling Donbas with French self-propelled guns "Caesar", therefore France is complicit in "crimes" against the civilian population.

The fact-checkers of the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to the message. Russian propaganda has been spreading the narrative that "Ukraine is shelling Donbas" since 2014. Agitprop baselessly called these actions genocide.

The atrocities of the Russian army in Ukraine have signs of genocide. Western countries are helping Ukraine resist the Russian invasion and supplying the necessary weapons. In particular, France provided the Armed Forces with 18 Caesar howitzers as part of military aid. It is also planned to deliver several additional units of this weapon (from 6 to 12). These self-propelled guns belong to the category of precision weapons, which limits collateral damage.

Earlier, propagandists spread fakes that the Ukrainians sold self-propelled howitzers "Caesar" to the Russians, and it turned out that they were allegedly not very effective weapons.