The Russian media write about this regarding the words of Vasily Nebenzya, the permanent representative of Russia at the UN.

For example, Western delegations demonstrate double standards by denying residents of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine the right to self-determination. This situation allegedly has no difference from the exit of Kosovo from Serbia. Nebenzya referred to the decision of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations in 2008. He also said that annexing Ukrainian territories to Russia is more legal because of "referendums".

The referendum in Kosovo was held from September 26 to 30, 1991. It was boycotted by the Serbian minority living in the region. The turnout of Albanians was 87%, and 99% of them voted "for" independence. Kosovo Albanians were not in danger at that time. Yugoslavia no longer existed, and there was a foreign peacekeeping contingent in Serbia. Instead, in Ukraine, Russia held "referendums" in violation of international law and under the pressure of armed soldiers.

So there is no question of the legitimacy and voluntariness of the expression of will. Democratic countries unanimously declared their non-recognition of the results of the illegal "referendums" held by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories, even on the eve of their holding.

Since 2020, 97 states out of 193 (50%) UN member states have recognized the independence of Kosovo; 22 out of 27 (81%) member states of the European Union; 26 out of 30 (87%) NATO member states. Among those who didn`t recognize the independence of Kosovo were Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, and Ukraine.

The UN International Court of Justice has never recognized the independence of Kosovo. The court ruled that the declaration of independence adopted by the Assembly of Kosovo didn`t violate international law. At the same time, the court didn`t consider the legality of unilateral secession and the question of Kosovo's independence.

It is not the first time that Russia uses manipulative statements about the Western "policy of double standards", although it actively uses them itself. Earlier, propagandists wrote that accusations against Russia regarding the violation of the Budapest Memorandum are "impossible" because "Russia's opponents have repeatedly disrespected the fundamental norms of international law, the principles of the UN and the OSCE." The message was noticed by the fact-checkers of The Insider publication.

The Russians spread such rumors and intimidate people who, for various reasons, remained in the temporarily occupied territories. All of them allegedly will eventually be punished for collaborationism.

Currently, there is no law on collaborationism in Ukraine. Since March 15, certain regulations regarding responsibility for cooperation with the occupiers have entered into force, and a single punishment in this regard has not been provided for yet. Depending on the circumstances, it can be different: from a ban on holding certain positions to life imprisonment. But it is precisely about cooperation, and not about staying in the temporarily occupied territories for various reasons.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to this message in his daily address. "If a person did not serve the occupiers and did not betray Ukraine, then there is no reason to consider such a person a collaborator," the president said.

The occupiers deliberately spread such rumors to intimidate the inhabitants of the temporarily occupied territories and induce them to cooperate. Earlier, they claimed that Ukrainians would be punished for receiving Russian humanitarian assistance in the temporarily occupied territories.

The message is spread by the Russian media concerning the deputy of the Russian Duma Serhii Mironov.

The Russian official called to "destroy" the entire infrastructure of Ukraine: traction substations, power plants, all bridges, and roads. He said it was necessary to "liberate" the territories and protect the lives of civilians. The message got into the Ukrainian information space through pro-Russian media.

According to the Center for Combating Disinformation, such statements are associated with defeats on the front line. The Russians, under the guise of rescuing civilians, openly call for the destruction of civilian objects. In this way, Russian propaganda exerts emotional pressure on Ukrainians — it tries to intimidate them, force them to surrender, and sow distrust in the actions of the authorities. Leaving people without light, heat, and means of livelihood is not "care" for the lives of civilians, but genocide, which Russia is trying to blackmail against the background of the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

It is not the first time Russian agitprop has spread such messages. Similar calls were made during the liberation of the Kharkiv region. Moreover, on September 11, the Russians attacked the Kharkiv CHP plant and left several regions without electricity: Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk, and partially Donetsk. At that time, the propagandists claimed that the Ukrainian energy system was under "self-fire."

Anonymous Telegram channels promote the thesis that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is the return of territories, not the liberation of people.

For example, the Ukrainian military scares residents with death who do not meet them with flags and pancakes. Moreover, they also do not let people go into the territory occupied by Russia, shooting cars on the road.

Propagandists began to actively reproduce these thoughts after the SSU discovered a convoy of cars shelled by the Russians in the so-called "gray zone" in the Kharkiv region, where 20 people died, including 10 children, as well as after a convoy of cars was shot by Russian missiles in Zaporizhzhia, where were mostly locals who transported humanitarian aid to their relatives in the occupied territory.

People with different views remained alive in the liberated Ukrainian military towns and villages: some were waiting for the Ukrainian army, and others wanted to return to the USSR and spoke favorably of the Russian occupiers. However, no one from the military or SSU persecuted them, moreover, no one threatened them with death for their views. For example, in liberated Izyum, some Ukrainians with pro-Russian views freely gave interviews to Ukrainian journalists, and no one threatened them with violence or harm.

Russian media and anonymous telegram channels actively reacted to the statement by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi about filing an application for accelerated entry into the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO).

Earlier during the week, Russian propagandists claimed that in the event of a nuclear strike, Ukraine would not retaliate and NATO would not help it in any way. They promoted the message that Ukraine may want to join NATO, but no one will take it there. On September 30, after Putin's speech about the annexation of four regions of Ukraine to Russia and Zelenskyi's statement about joining NATO, the propaganda rhetoric changed dramatically. They presented Ukraine's accession to NATO as a fait accompli.

We have identified several main theses of propagandists.

The application to join NATO is Zelenskyi's pathos.

This opinion is shared by pro-Russian bloggers in telegrams. Like, all this was done so that NATO would give more weapons, since Ukraine fixed the direction. And are the national leaders of NATO member states ready to send their citizens to their deaths?

Ukraine enshrined in the Constitution the course towards the European Union and NATO back in February 2019, when the Verkhovna Rada voted for the relevant bill.

Also during the war, the number of Ukrainians supporting accession to the EU and NATO increased. In a referendum, this initiative would be supported by 76%, against - 10%, 12% would not vote. In March 2022, 68% supported joining the Alliance. This is evidenced by the results of the thirteenth nationwide survey in the conditions of war, conducted by the Sociological Group "Rating" on June 18-19, 2022.

In addition, the United States is realistic about the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO. So Zelenskyi's statement is fully justified and aimed at the result, not provocation or pathos.

This is the counter-message to Russia that it officially takes over four regions.

Like, Bankova interrupted the Kremlin's information about Moscow's victorious reports. Zelenskyi in his statement showed a clear plan for Ukraine - we will recapture all our territories and are ready for negotiations with Russia, but with a different president of Russia.

The statement about joining NATO was made with an eye to at least something in time to grab from the collapse of Ukraine if Kyiv crumbles.

In announcing his application for accession, Zelenskyi urged Western partners to implement Ukraine-prepared proposals for security guarantees set out in the Kyiv Security Treaty. There are no alternatives to security, the President said. Ukraine can stop Russia's aggression only with the help of Europe and the United States.

Zelenskyi’s statement resembles the move with the “acceptance” of Ukraine to the European Union, how much joy there was and everything eventually calmed down, but they filled out a questionnaire for candidacy for the EU.

US President Joe Biden said the US would help Ukraine regain its territories. In response to annexation attempts, the United States along with allies and partners is announcing new sanctions today.

Accession to NATO, as well as to the EU, is not a quick process, but on this path Ukraine is supported and met.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Ukraine is eligible to apply for membership, but the priority now is aid.

Ukraine's accession to NATO is dragging the United States into a war with Russia.

Putin has repeatedly threatened a nuclear attack on Ukraine. The US and the West understand that this is possible and that Putin needs to be stopped, so they support Ukraine and participate in this war with their help, although officially without their military on the territory of Ukraine.

"Bloody butchers go to the NATO trash can".

This thesis is spread by the Russian propaganda media. Like, Volodymyr Zelenskyi is asking for a tribunal for Russia, but a real tribunal should be for the Ukrainian Nazis who neglecting all the legal norms of war and peace for eight years stormed the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and killed adults and children.

According to the EU vs Disinfo project analysts, this is a recurring disinformation thesis of the pro-Kremlin media that the Nazi junta ruling in Ukraine is persecuting ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking Ukrainians.

This statement was made to justify Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelenskyi came up with the idea of ​​a special UN tribunal to punish Russia for war crimes in Ukraine. He stated this in a speech at the UN General Assembly.

“Punishment for torture and humiliation of women and men. Punishment for the catastrophic turbulence that Russia provoked with its illegal war, and not only for us Ukrainians, but for the whole world,” Zelenskyi said. “Why were you silent for eight years when you were killing children in Donbas?” - this phrase and its variations are today one of the most popular arguments of Russia's supporters. More details in the text of Yaroslav Zubchenko.

Russian propaganda media disseminate information that the West is responsible for everything that happens after the referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Like, because the EU can put pressure on Kyiv to negotiate with Russia, and if not, then Washington should do it. However, the West, according to propagandists, is doing the opposite, trying to frustrate any attempt at negotiations. And accordingly, he is responsible for what is happening in the occupied territories.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to this message. In fact, the spread of such messages is part of a wider disinformation campaign designed to justify Russia's illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory after the fake referendums. By blaming the West, propagandists are trying to divert responsibility from Russia for the consequences of its illegal actions. This is a kind of attempt to put pressure on Western countries to force Ukraine to accept the expected results of the so-called referendums.

In fact, it is Russia that is responsible for everything that happens in Ukraine because it was this country that started the bloody war, occupied Ukrainian territories and held illegal referendums there forcing people to vote for joining Russia at gunpoint.

Such a message has appeared over the past week in anonymous telegram channels that systematically disseminate Russian propaganda narratives. Reports say that NATO is most likely preparing to invade Russia.

Correspondents draw such conclusions due to the fact that the US Embassy in Moscow called on its citizens to immediately leave Russia. "I understand that a decision is being prepared at the decision center," the messages said. Propagandists also claim that the governments of European countries, including Poland and Estonia are calling on their citizens to leave Russia, not because they have begun to mobilize, but because of the likely invasion of Russian territory.

Thus, propaganda seeks once again to shift the responsibility for its crimes on the territory of Ukraine to Western countries and show that they allegedly pose a threat to Russia itself. However, there is no real reason to believe that a NATO invasion will take place.

On the contrary, representatives of the Alliance have repeatedly stated that NATO is not a party to the Russian-Ukrainian war and will not enter into conflict. However, the Russians have repeatedly stated that it is not the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but the NATO military that are fighting the Russian military on the territory of Ukraine.

Such information is disseminated by Russian propaganda media, and the thesis is also circulated in anonymous telegram channels.

Reports say Western puppet Volodymyr Zelenskyi is using Ukrainians in his fake political campaign, and there are alleged similarities between South Africa's apartheid regime and Zelensky's.

Like, they have the same sponsors and the same tactics: they tend to separate people by ethnicity. In such reports, they add that the "peoples" of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions have the right to self-determination, because "human rights are not only for Americans".

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the message on the network. According to them, such misinformation fuels the ongoing pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative that Ukraine discriminates against Russians living on its territory and that the legitimate government of Kyiv is a puppet in the hands of the West.

However, Ukraine is a sovereign state. Only Russia denies its sovereignty and existence, declaring that Ukrainians and Russians are one people.

Also in Ukraine, Russians are not discriminated against on the principle of apartheid. In Kyiv, they adopted the Law on ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language without discrimination of any languages. Russian and other minority languages ​​can be freely used in private communication, religious ceremonies, book publishing, the media and education. Ukraine is not a Russophobic, anti-Russian country. Relations between the countries escalated after the occupation by Russia in 2014. In addition, the fake referendums that Russia held in September 2022 have nothing to do with the right to self-determination, human rights and the rule of law.

This statement is spread by Russian propagandists in the media and telegram channels. Such reports stated that the referendums were organized in order to realize the people's right to self-determination. Propagandists assured that during illegal referendums, their organizers observe the same rules as in France. Like, no one puts pressure on people, they vote absolutely voluntarily. Recall that during September 23-26, Russia really held illegal referendums in four occupied regions of Ukraine (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson). Illegal referendums condemn Western countries and will not recognize their results.

“The European Union strongly condemns these planned illegal “referendums”, which contradict the decisions of the legitimate and democratically elected Ukrainian authorities, violate the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and are a gross violation of international law. The results of such actions will be invalid and will not be recognized by the EU and its Member States”, Borrell said.

This thesis is spread by Russian propagandists. Like, because of the energy crisis in Europe and economic difficulties against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, the West is falling apart. Propagandists claim in their reports that the EU will become deindustrialized due to high energy prices caused by Russia's decision to cut gas supplies to Europe.

However, this is not true. After all, despite the Kremlin’s decision to limit gas supplies to Europe and other consequences of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the EU economy is recovering from the crisis caused by COVID-19. For example, according to a recent forecast by the European Commission, growth of 2.6% is expected in 2022. Inflation is also expected to average 7.6%.

According to EU vs Disinfo analysts, the EU statistical office Eurostat indicates that in the 2nd quarter of 2022, the eurozone GDP grew by 0.8%, employment grew by 0.4%. Compared to the same quarter last year, seasonally adjusted GDP grew by 4.1% in the euro area and by 4.2% in the EU in the second quarter of 2022. The European Investment Bank estimates that real economic growth in 2022 will be below 3%, 1% below the forecast at the beginning of the year. It also notes that EU member states will have to deal with rising prices for households and industry, disruptions in trade, and so on. However, the EU is in a good position to avoid recession.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has been spreading the message that the countries of the West are "decaying" and will soon fall apart. Thus, the Kremlin puts pressure on Western governments and seeks to blackmail them by creating public panic over energy insecurity/cost of electricity, etc.

Russian media report that "official delegations from all over the world" allegedly arrived in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to observe the so-called referendums. Like, it is these "international observers" who prove the "legitimacy" and "transparency" of holding illegal pseudo-referendums.

According to StopFake, instead of "independent observers", specially trained actors and fans of the Kremlin were brought to the occupied territories, posing as official delegations of foreign countries. They have no real political and diplomatic weight.

According to the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, many foreign correspondents of Russian state media were found among foreigners who, in violation of Ukrainian legislation and international humanitarian law, took part in holding pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories.

The “Italian journalist” Eliseo Bertolazi, who was presented as an “official international observer” by propagandists, is a correspondent for a Russian propaganda resource. "Official observer" from Latvia Alina Herlinei works as the editor-in-chief of a Russian state publication in Latvia. “UK watcher” Vanessa Wiley is the editor of a pro-Russian and anti-Western publication that frequently publishes conspiracy theories. Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan, which also sent "observers" to the pseudo-referendum, are under sanctions for authoritarianism, abuse of power, violation of the rights of their own people.

Like, they were simply “handed Ukrainian passports”, so now they only want to return “to their roots”.

This message is spread by the Russian media in the context of holding illegal referendums in the occupied territories and the narrative about primordially Russian territories.

According to the fact-checkers of The Insider project, in 2001 almost 1 million 927 thousand inhabitants lived in the Zaporizhzhia region, of which 70.1% were Ukrainians and 24.7% were Russians. Ukrainian was named as their native language by 73.6% of the respondents, and Russian - only 24.6%.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has manipulated ethno-national issues. Previously, they said that Ukraine does not have "historical rights" to the "Northern Black Sea" or that the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region have the right to self-determination under the UN Charter. Thus, they are trying to justify the invasion of Ukraine

Russian telegram channels write about such assumptions.

Allegedly, the Ukrainian special services will shake up the situation in Russia not only because of the protests, but also because of "working with mentally unstable elements."

Propagandists immediately drew parallels between the shooter from Izhevsk and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The man who caused the shooting at the Izhevsk school was wearing a T-shirt with Nazi symbols.

Also, the man who set fire to the recruiting office in Uriupynsk, Volhograd region, was called an ardent Nazi.

Like, Nazism is always evil, Nazism kills, Nazism is the same everywhere, so Russia is forced to conduct a military-political operation against the Nazis in Ukraine.

The authors of many “patriotic” telegram channels in Russia were outraged not only by the exchange of the leadership of the Azov Regiment, which the Russian authorities promised to give to the tribunal and generally ruled out the possibility of their exchange, but also by the fact that Viktor Medvedchuk was among those who surrendered to Russia.

The military or political leadership of the Russian Federation has not yet commented on the exchange because of the indignation of the “patriots” who consider it a defeat, real and informational. But Russian propagandists and PR people are making significant efforts to distance the leadership of the Russian Federation in the information field from any defeats and shift the responsibility to someone else. Therefore, commenting on the exchange of more than 200 Ukrainian military and foreigners who fought on the side of Ukraine was instructed to Denys Pushylin, the leader of the “DNR”.

He stated that he “signed the order himself” on the exchange, which is surprising since the exchange was coordinated by the efforts of a group of negotiators, including the Turkish president, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, representatives of President Zelenskyi’s office – and none of these countries, of course, recognized the “DNR” as “a part of the conflict”, and Pushylin as a person who can decide at least something. Still, Erdohan thanked the efforts of “Zelenskyi and Putin” for creating the possibility of an exchange.

But it is Pushylin who is spread by Russian propaganda where he explains that Medvedchuk was “liberated from Ukrainian captivity”. Although Medvedchuk was in custody and is a citizen of Ukraine, therefore he cannot be captured and thanks to his previous “merits” he cannot be involved in organizing the exchange of prisoners. And it seems that the absence of Medvedchuk in Russia “complicated the referendum and support for this referendum”. Consequently, the detained Medvedchuk complicated the process of “expression of will” in the occupied parts of Ukraine, and how come “free Medvedchuk” could help the “referendums” that would begin tomorrow, Pushylin, of course, did not explain.

All these incomprehensible statements are another proof that in any defeats, Russian propaganda is trying to shift the responsibility to the “people of Donbas”. For example, during the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region, it was the Russian propaganda who blamed the defeat on those mobilized from the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Russian propaganda telegram channels began to distribute a video that should “explain” to the Russians what the Russian Federation will “receive” as a result of the so-called “referendums” in the occupied territory of Ukraine.

Oddly enough, there is no mention in the video of the “liberation of Russian-speaking brothers from the Nazis, or their “protection” from ghostly “oppressions”. At the same time, they focus only on the fact that Russia has seized more than 100 thousand square kilometers of land, the territory of Ukraine “will decrease by 20%”, and the population - “by 21%”.

The video tells how much grain can be grown in the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and reports on the same grain that the Russians stole this year in Ukraine. Since it is also impossible to boast of the “benefit” from the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, because the industry of the occupied Donbass was destroyed during the 8 years of the war, the video reminded that “the USSR in the Donetsk region produced 30 million tons of coal annually”, and “before the Maidan, GDP of Donetsk region accounted for 16% of the total gross domestic product of Ukraine”. The propagandists decided not to specify anything about the Luhansk region, they only indicated that “it has huge mineral reserves”.

The video also shows a map of Ukraine, which demonstrates all these calculations for the territory of all regions within their administrative boundaries but none of these four regions is completely occupied.

Telegram channels controlled by the the main office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation such as Lehitymnyi (Дegitimate), Resident and others began to manipulate the topic of the exchange of Ukrainian prisoners of war in order to reduce another defeat for Russia in particular on the information front.

For the sake of this, they distribute several theses at once. The first is that prisoners of war, in particular, the commanders of the Azov regiment, were exchanged as part of a “grand agreement” that provides for “freezing the conflict” and ceding Ukraine to Russia. For example, stopping the offensive or recognizing Crimea as Russian or recognizing the results of so-called referendums. Probably, a rather narrow circle of people who were negotiators in the process of exchanging the Ukrainian military for Viktor Medvedchuk and the Russian military know the terms of this exchange. But this is definitely not a cessation of hostilities or consent to the loss of territories. After all, it is known that President Zelenskyi offered to export Russian ammonia through the territory of Ukraine in order to exchange the Ukrainian military and return them home. That is, it was about economic, not military-political issues.

The second thesis, spread by telegram channels, has no rational explanation at all: the authors of the messages insist that now that “even the Azov people” have been exchanged, that is, those whom Russian propagandists proposed to publicly condemn and execute, the Ukrainian military will surrender en masse, because that "they will understand that nothing threatens them in captivity." And this, it would seem, is “a side, but negative, consequence of such an exchange for Ukraine”. Why the fighters of the army leading the offensive and knowing how they shoot, torture, burn Ukrainian prisoners alive, should “surrender en masse”, the network of the main office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation channels does not explain.

The Kremlin media is spreading this message using international affairs specialist Mark Gaziq, political commentator Rachel Marsden, and Professor John Laughland.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, the Russian narratives are repeated by China Daily. They write that the EU will be in a situation of “the greatest loser, regardless of how the conflict between Russia and Ukraine unfolds”. At the same time, the authors of the material note that the dependence of most countries on Russian gas is not very high, but in general, the future of the EU as an independent political pole in the global geopolitical arena “looks unattainable” precisely because of the support of Ukraine.

Russian propagandists systematically put pressure on the EU leadership, individual member states and citizens through assistance to Ukraine. Russia resorts to outright gas blackmail, saying that without Russian gas Europe will slide into the Middle Ages, as if the US is pushing Europe into the abyss. They also wrote earlier that allegedly in the EU they started talking about the gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia.

Such a message is spread by anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, Ukraine treats the graves of the fallen without due respect.

After the liberation of the Kharkiv region in Izium, the bodies of the dead are being exhumed. According to the head of the Kharkiv regional administration Oleh Syniehubov, most of the exhumed are civilians, including children. Some of the dead have signs of violent death, there are bodies with their hands tied and signs of torture. The deceased were also found to have mine-explosive injuries, shrapnel and stab wounds. According to law enforcement officers, 11 dungeons have already been found in the territories of the Kharkiv region liberated from the Russians, six of them in the city of Izium. So the exhumation will make it possible to legally record the crimes committed by Russian soldiers and subsequently bring the perpetrators to justice.

In this way propagandists try to emotionally influence the exposure of their war crimes. Previously, they were proactive in asserting that Ukraine staged a genocide in Izium, and now they are digging up graves and blaming the Russians in order to get help from the West. The propagandists also prepared the Russians in advance for the fake “Bucha-2” in the Kharkiv direction.

Propaganda media write about this by comparing the interruption of the supply of water and electricity to the temporarily occupied Crimea with Russian missile strikes on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, as a result of which Ukrainians were left without electricity and water. Allegedly, the West professes a policy of "double standards", they say: in 2014 no one said that Ukraine was committing crimes against Crimea. And as soon as Russia struck back, it was accused of violating humanitarian law and condemned such actions.

According to StopFake, the supply of electricity to the temporarily occupied peninsula was stopped due to Russia's unwillingness to comply with the terms of the contract. A similar situation with water supply through the North Crimean Canal - Russia refused to pay for the services provided, so Ukraine stopped the water supply. After that, Russia began to promote the narrative of “water ecocide” in Crimea.

In accordance with international law, Russia, as an occupying country, is obliged to provide Crimeans with everything they need. This has been repeatedly confirmed by the UN monitoring mission in Ukraine. However, Russia is known to be violating its obligations, moreover, it transfers its responsibility to Ukraine.

Russian media disseminate information that in all the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, a voluntary decision was simultaneously made to immediately join Russia. Moreover, the invaders are already spreading information about how many residents are ready to take part in the “referendum” and what (positive) decision will be: in the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, 80% of residents will vote “for”, in Luhansk - 90%, and in Donetsk - 91%. The occupiers are trying to imitate "democracy" and, according to the results of "polls", they assume that in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region, part of the inhabitants will "vote" for "remaining part of Ukraine".

Recently, due to the successful counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army, as well as due to partisan resistance in the temporarily occupied territories, collaborators reported about the "postponement of referendums for security reasons". However, on September 20, the self-proclaimed authorities in all the temporarily occupied territories simultaneously announced the "immediate holding of a referendum" during September 23-27.

Such decisions have no legal force: neither Ukraine nor the world recognizes the results of the so-called voting. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, "the territory of Ukraine within the existing border is integral and inviolable" and questions about changing the territory of Ukraine are resolved exclusively by an all-Ukrainian referendum.

This thesis is spread by Russian propagandists. In their messages, they refer to the head of Rosatom, Lykhachov, who said that IAEA specialists understand who is really shelling the Zaporizhzhia NPP. They say that the experts of the organization who visited the Zaporizhzhia NPP know who exactly is shelling the plant, but the statements do not mention attacks on the Zaporizhzhia NPP allegedly by Ukrainians because of the political component.

In fact, the experts of the IAEA mission in the report do not mention shelling by Ukrainian troops because they do not consider Ukrainians to be guilty of the situation there. The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council notes that the IAEA resolution, following the results of the mission at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, calls for “immediately stopping all actions against and in relation to the Zaporizhzhia NPP and any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine”.

The Ukrainian side has repeatedly recorded shelling from the Russian side. There is a proof of this, but there is no confirmation that the shelling came from Ukraine.

This message is spread by Russian propagandists. They say that the withdrawal of the Russian military from the territory of the station will allow Ukraine to bring its troops there and, under their weapons, implement repressions against the local population as well as take out spent nuclear fuel and from which create a nuclear bomb.

However, the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupies a leading place in the energy system of Ukraine, so control over it is needed not to create a bomb but to prevent a catastrophe. After all, the Russian military repeatedly shelled the territory of the ZNPP causing emergency conditions and disconnecting it from the power grid. Also, according to Enerhoatom, the plant personnel work in improper conditions, which increases the likelihood of an accident. In addition, control over the station will provide electricity to the entire south of the country.

Ukraine in the early 1990s voluntarily renounced its nuclear status (https://ms.detector.media/trendi/post/27933/2021-08-05-ukraina-mogla-zalyshyty-sobi-yadernu-zbroyu-i-shantazhuvaty-svit-pravda-chy-ni/.) The creation of a nuclear bomb is a lengthy and expensive process, and its beginning will spoil relations with Ukraine's partners among nuclear states. Ukraine is not a terrorist state, therefore it is not working on the creation of a nuclear bomb. Ukrainian officials have also commented on this more than once.

This message is spread by Russian officials who are quoted by pro-Russian telegram channels. According to them, the supply of missiles with a longer range than now is a critical border. Like, in this case Russia reserves the right to defend “its” territory.

This message is part of a larger Russian propaganda narrative that Russia is indeed at war not with Ukraine, but with the US, the EU or NATO. Propagandists are constantly trying to draw another side into the war and every time they create new red lines. Like, if a country gives Ukraine weapons, it can be considered a party to the conflict and guilty of the fact that the war is still ongoing. In fact, Russia is solely to blame for the war that continues in Ukraine, and the partner countries send weapons to Ukraine so that we can defend ourselves from the invaders and recapture the occupied territories.

After the liberation of the Kharkiv region from Russian invaders, Russian propagandists increasingly draw parallels between the tragedy in Bucha and the mass graves in Izium.

In telegram channels, they spread theses that everything is not so simple and that one should not believe the Ukrainian authorities, who are promoting themselves on dug up graves, because the Russians have nothing to do with the murders in Izium.

We explain the messages about the burials in Izium which the propagandists came up with:

1. The leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine refused to take the bodies of the dead Ukrainian soldiers from the morgue from Izium. The Russians with the locals buried them in the local cemetery.

If the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine delayed the operation to transfer the bodies of the dead soldiers from the occupied Izium, there could be only one reason for this - the constant shelling of the city by the Russians.

On one of the crosses in the forest is written: "AFU, 17 people, the city of Izium, from the morgue". At the same time, some of the graves are without crosses.

In addition, burials of about 20 Ukrainian servicemen with their hands tied were found nearby. This may indicate that they were in captivity, said the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights Dmitro Lubinets in his Telegram.

2. Civilians of Izium died from Ukrainian shells arriving in the private sector. The Russians fought only on the outskirts of the city.

Since the beginning of March, people have died daily in Izium as a result of Russian airstrikes and bombings. Already on March 6, the Russian military was in the villages near Izium and tried to capture the city, and when they failed to shell the residential areas. And so it went on until April 1, until the Russians captured Izium.

3. Ukrainian authorities tear up the graves in the cemetery to show as many victims as possible.

In the forest near the cemetery, a mass grave of about 500 people who died during the occupation was discovered. Many crosses are knocked down from boards. Some have inscriptions - the surname and date of death, and mostly the serial number is indicated on the crosses. Judging by the date of death, at least some of the civilians died during the shelling of Izium by the Russian army. Currently, search groups are exhuming unmarked and mass graves.

4. Journalists were called to the cemetery to create a huge news story.

During the exhumation, Ukrainian and foreign journalists are indeed present but not to evoke emotions, but to show the world Russian crimes in the cities where the occupiers enter.

5. Zelenskyi will use the Izium case to get the West to tighten sanctions and Ukraine to receive more financial and military assistance.

It was the Russian military who attacked Izium and occupied the city, killing and torturing the locals. The world needs to know what war crimes and genocide Russia has committed in Ukraine.

6. Ukrainian authorities are using the mass graves in Izium as an explanation for why Zelenskyi is not negotiating with Putin. Like, Putin is ready for negotiations and the completion of the military operation can positively affect the lives of ordinary Europeans.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that negotiations with Russia are possible only if Russian troops leave the illegally occupied territory of Ukraine. Mass graves in Izium do not affect his decision.

7. Yermak published a photo of the graves from Izium where the date of death is March 9. That is, these people were tortured and executed by the Ukrainians themselves.

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak published a photo of the graves of an entire family who died on March 9 in a house as a result of a Russian air bomb. At least 44 people died under the rubble of the house.

Daria Herasymchuk, an adviser to the President's Office for Children's Rights and Child Rehabilitation, said that the Russians killed six members of the same family of three generations - Olena and Dmitro Stolpakov, little Sasha and Lesia, and Olena's parents Tetiana and Oleksandr. “Lesia Stolpakova, five years old. The Russians killed her on March 9, along with her mother, father and eight-year-old sister Sasha. Lesia's parents died very young. Mom Olena Stolpakova turned only 31 on February 1, and dad Dmytro - 33. Private entrepreneurs sold children's clothes and owned an online gift store. They raised two daughters. The family lived a happy, peaceful life until Russian troops came to kill Ukrainian civilians”, added Daria Herasymchuk.

8. The picture of the bones with yellow-blue ribbons was drawn even before the excavations, so it coincided and the artist guessed right.

A body with a yellow-blue bracelet on its arm was found in a mass grave.