Spilnota Detector Media
Detector Media collects and documents real-time chronicles of the Kremlin disinformation about the Russian invasion. Ukraine for decades has been suffering from Kremlin disinformation. Here we document all narratives, messages, and tactics, which Russia is using from February 17th, 2022. Reminder: the increasing of shelling and fighting by militants happened on the 17th of February 2022 on the territory of Ukraine. Russian propaganda blames Ukraine for these actions.

On 22 December, on the 1032th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2602
Fake
774
Manipulation
753
Message
541
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Fake Mobilized prisoners allegedly sell drugs in the Sumy region

Pro-Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly detained several drug buyers in the Sumy region. After the arrest, the buyers stated that they had purchased drugs from mobilized prisoners from three brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine - 150 OMBR, 32 OMBR and 53 OMBR. Propagandists add relevant photographs as “proof”. However, this is fake.

VoxCheck project specialists found photographs based on messages from propagandists on the Facebook page of the Military Law Enforcement Service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As it turned out, the creators of this fake showed photographs not from the Sumy region, but from the Nova Poshta branch in Kramatorsk, where military law enforcement officers, together with a canine squad and employees of the National Police, inspect postal items.

As a result of two such reviews, on June 21 and 22, 2024, bags of a green plant substance similar to cannabis were found. Another photo from the message was taken on June 20 during an inspection of the personal belongings of another serviceman in the Donetsk region - then a paper parcel with a powdery white substance was found in his possession.

In all of these cases, the drugs were found on military personnel and not on civilians, as reported. Finally, the Military Law Enforcement Service reports make no mention of the individual or group of individuals from whom the substances were purchased. Accordingly, there is no reason to assert that they received these shipments from mobilized prisoners from the three mentioned brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Disclosure Information operation about Ukraine’s alleged preparation of an attack on Belarus in several directions

Propaganda telegram channels are disseminating information that Ukraine seems to be pulling troops, weapons and military equipment to the borders of Belarus. In particular, American infantry fighting vehicles, multiple launch rocket systems, heavy long-range artillery and other equipment are allegedly already located in the Zhytomyr region.

However, in a comment to the Belarusian service of Radio Svoboda (Liberty), the speaker of the Ukrainian State Border Service Andrii Demchenko, in response to propaganda reproaches about a possible invasion, said that Ukraine does not pose any threat to Belarus.

Also, the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andrii Kovalenko, wrote about Russia’s information operation to escalate the situation on the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. He claims that so-called military correspondents have already been involved in this process, saying that Ukraine is preparing an attack on Belarus. However, the threat really comes from Belarus, because there are Russian DRGs there, although there are not enough forces for an invasion.

According to Andrii Kovalenko, through this information operation the Russians are trying to draw more Ukrainian forces to the border with Belarus. Probably in order to make other sectors of the front more vulnerable to Russian attacks. Previously, we analyzed how Russia is involving the Lukashenko regime in nuclear blackmail.

Fake On the Ukrainian-Polish border they allegedly began to detain women to search for evaders among their family members

Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that on the border of Ukraine with Poland, employees of the State Border Service are detaining Ukrainian women in order to search for evaders in their families. As “proof” of this, propagandists attach a corresponding video from the Hrushiv-Budomierz checkpoint, in which women communicate with a border guard.

However, this information is not true. The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, having verified the information in the State National Security Service, reported that in fact, technical malfunctions arose at the Hrushiv-Budomierz checkpoint several days ago, which led to problems with border crossing. However, thanks to the coordinated work of the relevant specialists, the registration of citizens resumed on the same day. That is, the propagandists took advantage of the technical delay that arose at the mentioned checkpoint and presented it as a “search for evaders in families”.

By spreading this fake news, Russian propagandists are trying to intimidate Ukrainian society.

Fake Graffiti allegedly appeared in Brussels against Ukraine's admission to the EU

Pro-Russian resources are distributing a video from Brussels showing a building on the walls which allegedly depicts graffiti with a caricature of the President of Ukraine and the caption: “Please invite another bankrupt to the EU”. The voice of a man behind the scenes, who speaks Ukrainian, leads to the conclusion that supposedly Ukraine is not welcome in the EU.

In fact, such graffiti does not exist in the Belgian capital, Ukrinform journalists report. Using Google Maps, they were able to establish that opposite the graffiti allegedly with a caricature of Zelenskyi there is a pet store called Zinneke&Kats.

After Ukrinform journalists contacted this pet store, its owners confirmed that the video distributed by propagandists is fake. At the same time, it was indeed filmed in Brussels, but there is other graffiti on the house, which can be seen in the photo above.

By the way, the fake video was first uploaded to the network on June 25, 2024 - precisely on the day when the first Intergovernmental Conference on Ukraine’s accession to the EU started in Luxembourg, which gave the official start to accession negotiations. Previously, we refuted the information that in Berlin they allegedly created graffiti with Zelenskyi in the image of a maniac.

Orest Slyvenko, Artur Koldomasov, Vitalii Mykhailiv, Oleksandra Kotenko, Oleksandr Siedin, Kostiantyn Zadyraka, and Oleksiy Pivtorak are collaborating on this chronicle. Lesia Bidochko serves as the project coordinator, while Ksenia Ilyuk is the author of the project.