Propagandists in the media are disseminating information that the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly removing archives and exhibits from Kharkiv, preparing for evacuation, due to the likely threat of a new Russian invasion. However, this is fake.

This was brought to the attention of the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They found that no official statements about the “evacuation of the city” were published on the websites of the local regional military administration or city council. There is also no information on the communication channels of the country's top leadership. Moreover, Kharkiv is not in danger of a Russian occupation invasion.

Propagandists spread such fake news to intimidate the local population and discredit local authorities.

The Center for National Resistance and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported that the Russians are trying to force Ukrainians to participate in voting for Putin.

The occupation pseudo-administration announced a flash mob called “The whole family goes to the polls”, in which participants must publish photographs of their families from “polling stations” on social networks. In this way, Russians hope to create the illusion of mass participation in the elections.

The Center for National Resistance adds that the occupiers informed all employees of fake government agencies in the occupied Luhansk region that participation in the flash mob was mandatory. You can also read about how Russian propaganda uses residents of (de)occupied territories and what to do about it in another material of the Detector Media.

In some schools in Mariupol, which is temporarily under occupation, brochures with anti-Ukrainian content are being distributed. This was reported by the Mariupol City Council and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

The postcards feature Russian propaganda clichés, namely Ukraine's “gay troops” and false comparisons. They say that Russia and its supporters are good, but Ukraine is a “wrong choice” and fascism.

The main goal of these materials is to justify and glorify the Russian occupiers and discredit the Ukrainian military. The main target audience of such postcards are children, which means that with their help they want to shape their civic position.

You can also read about how Russian propaganda uses residents of (de)occupied territories and what to do about it in another material of the Detector Media.

Propagandists are distributing on anonymous telegram channels and other social networks a photograph of a train that was allegedly blown up by Ukrainian partisans because there was “help from the West”. They say that Odesa is resisting Ukraine and taking the side of Russia. However, this is fake.

The fact-checkers of the 15min Lithuanian project drew attention to it. They found out that the photo was real, but the disaster happened almost a year ago and it was in Russia - near Briansk. On May 1, 2023, in the Unechenskyi district of the Briansk region of Russia, after being blown up by an unknown explosive, seven carriages of a freight train derailed. Former internal affairs official Karnauchov announced the next morning that the rails had probably been blown up by a saboteur. If one looks for information about the allegedly blown up train in Odesa, it can only be found on Russian propaganda sites and on the corresponding accounts on social networks.

Propagandists spread such fake news to create the false impression that Russia is welcome in Ukraine. They say that people hate the West and are ready to do anything to help Russia.

From the very beginning of the charity campaign of the Lithuanian public broadcaster Radarom, propagandists in the Lithuanian segment of social networks began to spread information that the funds donated to Ukrainians did not bring any benefit after all. One of the most widespread reports in Lithuania claims that the purchase and sale of cars, especially premium ones, in Ukraine have increased significantly since the start of the war, which means that the warring country is trading on the support it has received. At the same time, they refer to statistics from Ukravtoprom. However, this is not true.

Lithuanian fact-checkers for the 15min.lt project drew attention to this. They found out that propagandists are silent about the fact that the growth of the automobile market began with the beginning of the war, when it was significantly depressed. It is also not mentioned that as many as a third of new cars were purchased by companies. According to Ukravtoprom, in 2023, almost 61 thousand units of new passenger cars were sold in Ukraine (most of which were purchased by companies) worth more than 105.5 billion hryvnia (about 2.5 billion euros). This is 1.6 times more than in 2022, when Ukrainians purchased 37,900 new cars, the lowest since the beginning of the century. When the war began, many off-road vehicles were purchased. According to these data, 103.25 thousand new cars were sold in 2021, and 37.89 thousand new cars were sold in 2022. Last year this figure rose to 75.99 thousand, and this year it is expected to increase to 86 thousand. Thus, neither last nor this year the same level as before the war is expected.

Ukrainian public figure in Lithuania Andrii Tapin also added that in Ukraine in 2023 there will be one new car for every 606 inhabitants. Last year, 31,000 new passenger cars were registered in Lithuania, or 1 car per 90 inhabitants. The difference is about 7 times.

Propagandists spread such disinformation to discredit Ukrainians and reinforce their “corrupt Ukraine” narrative. All this is so that foreigners stop supporting Ukraine.