In the lexicon of Russian propaganda, alongside the words “Ukrofascists”, “nationalists”, and the like, there is the word “Ukronatists”. On the one hand, it is used to fuel the Russian propaganda thesis about the alleged presence of “NATO mercenaries” in Ukraine and their “active participation” in hostilities against Russia on the side of Ukraine. Also, for Russian propagandists, the term Ukronatists can serve as a collective image of the Ukrainian military or simply Ukrainians.

This term is especially popular with the head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has repeatedly used it in his statements. For example, in response to the drone attack on Groznyi, the capital of Chechnya, on December 12, 2024, Kadyrov wrote on his Telegram channel that “four guardsmen received minor injuries” and promised, allegedly, “for these four wounded people alone, we will lay down 400 Ukronatists”. Another Russian propaganda Telegram channel rightly noted that “who these Ukronatists are and where he was going to look for them, the don [Ramzan Kadyrov - Ed.] did not specify”.

In fact, NATO troops are not involved in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The North Atlantic Alliance's statement “NATO's response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine”, last updated in October 2024, states that “NATO's actions are defensive, aimed not at provoking conflict, but at preventing it”.

In turn, the term Ukronatists has no logical basis and serves as a justification for unprovoked Russian aggression, as well as an explanation by propagandists to consumers of the products of their activities, why the so-called special operation, which was initially promised to be completed in a few days, has been going on for several years.

Russian Telegram channels are spreading information that 76,000 Ukrainian soldiers from the Lviv region died at the front. In addition, propagandists write that, according to Chinese estimates, the total losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces exceeded 1.8 million people killed.

However, this is disinformation, the VoxCheck project reports. In fact, Russian resources do not provide any confirmation of this data - they do not indicate the source of the statistics on the number of dead fighters from the Lviv region. That is, it is unknown where the information came from that the number of dead exceeds 76 thousand from just one region.

It is worth noting that the Lviv Regional Military Administration or other representatives of local authorities have not commented on the losses of military personnel from their region. In turn, the thesis “China confirmed 1.8 million losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” has been spread on Russian channels since at least April 2024. However, the situation is similar here, there are no official comments from China on the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in open sources.

On December 8, 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi wrote on his Telegram channel that 43,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion, and another 370,000 have been injured.

International media are also counting losses in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The latest estimate was published in The Economist on November 26, 2024. According to the publication's journalists, at least 60-100 thousand Ukrainian soldiers died in the war and, probably, about 400 thousand more were wounded. The journalists based their calculations on data on the death of soldiers from merged or published reports of intelligence services, comments from representatives of defense structures, researchers, and observers.

However, it is currently almost impossible to verify either President Zelenskyi’s data or the data of international analysts from open sources. The Economist does not provide links to all the sources it considered in its calculations, and points out that they are difficult to verify independently.

Previously, we recorded a fake video that the hosts of an American TV show were “laughing” at a story about the losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russian propaganda resources are spreading the alleged words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi regarding the faith of Ukrainians: “Because of this war, we have all become more religious. People are fighting and praying. And this is important. People need help, any help. Ukraine is a very religious country, very religious. Of course, we have to rely on our own strength, but we believe that God will help Ukraine”. As “proof” that the Ukrainian president really said this, the propagandists even add a corresponding video with Russian subtitles and English voiceover.

In fact, Zelenskyi's words were manipulated - the subtitles and voiceover for the video that propagandists are spreading online are fake. In particular, the President of Ukraine did not say, “we believe that God will help Ukraine”.

This is an interview with Zelenskyi on the Christian television and radio company CBN dated December 9, 2024. Answering the interviewer's question about what hopes Ukrainians have for the newly elected US President Donald Trump, Zelenskyi said:

“... Ukraine is a very peaceful state, very peaceful people. A very religious state, by the way... Very religious. You know that the largest Protestant community in Europe is in Ukraine. We have the largest council of churches. We have people of different faiths, different religions, but a very religious state. And that's why they have hope today that Trump... and he has the position of a strong president, at least that's how we understand it... that through this force... and Putin understands only force... that next to us, next to me, there will be a strong president of the country, and that we will achieve peace through force. That's why people have such hope today for the new administration of the United States, for the new president, and people believe in what he says”.

These words were uttered at 9:09-10:03 of the interview. CBN also transcribed the interview and translated it into English on its official website. This text version with Zelenskyi's corresponding words can be found here.

Previously, we analyzed a fake that a Ukrainian refugee allegedly “shot” a church icon in Zurich.