Propagandists are spreading information that Ukraine is building a nuclear weapon, namely a “dirty bomb”. They say that it is used in a provocation against Transnistria, and for its manufacture, radioactive materials have already been brought to Ukraine from the West, namely California-252. It's fake.

StopFake analysts drew attention to it. They found that Californium-252 is an extremely rare and expensive radioactive metal. It does not occur in nature, and its production is made exclusively in the laboratory and lasts an average of two years. Only two countries in the world produce California-252: the USA and Russia. Due to the specifics of production, the price per gram of this metal can reach $ 27 million, so it is not stored in large quantities in warehouses, as the Russians say. In addition, its use is closely monitored by a number of US and international agencies. The speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolaienko has already called the inventions of propagandists “fake”.

Thus, propagandists try to justify the actions of the aggressor again and shift the responsibility for them to the victim of aggression. Like, Russia is fighting against a disenfranchised Ukraine that wants to destroy Europe. Detector Media has already written about disinformation about the alleged creation of nuclear weapons by Ukraine, which the IAEA once denied.

Propagandists are spreading information that allegedly the former commander of the British contingent in Afghanistan, Colonel Richard Kemp, in his opinion column for The Daily Telegraph, said that Ukraine will not be able to seize Crimea. Like, Kemp “dispelled the dreams of Ukraine”. This is manipulation.

StopFake analysts drew attention to it. They found that Kemp's article titled “A total Russian collapse is surprisingly close” does not mention that Ukraine will not be able to return the previously annexed Crimea. On the contrary, the colonel concludes that Ukraine will be able to take back the peninsula and “achieve the complete collapse of Putin's forces, but only with boosting our support”. In the column, Kemp notes that contrary to the expectations of many people, Ukrainians continue to successfully lead resistance against Russian soldiers. He is surprised that many Western observers still underestimate Ukraine and notes that “Far from being cowed, Zelensky’s government is emboldened. Kyiv is openly preparing its own major thrust against Russian ground forces in the spring”. The colonel also says that “It is a crying shame when the possibility of a total Russian collapse remains within reach”.

Thus, propagandists are trying to demoralize Ukrainian society and convince them that Europe is tired of helping Ukraine. Like, the West does not see progress, and the Ukrainian armed forces are incompetent. Detector Media has already written about how the Russians repeatedly try to use the statements and materials of foreigners against Ukraine, taking words out of context.

Propagandists distribute a photo, allegedly a screenshot of the Russian version of the BBC news website. According to it, the President of Ukraine said that allegedly he personally will feed the fish at the pier in Crimea this summer. It's fake.

Analysts of the Georgian project MythDetector drew attention to it. They could not find the full version of the material mentioned in the “screenshot” in the public domain. In addition, they asked the representatives of the news program if they had published such an article. Correspondents of the Russian news BBC confirmed that the image is fake. In fact, Volodymyr Zelenskyi said at a press conference on February 24 that Ukraine is mentally prepared and is getting ready in a military sense for the de-occupation of Crimea.

Thus, propagandists are trying to personally discredit the President of Ukraine. Like, he does not understand what he is talking about and has lost a sense of reality. Detector Media has already written about how the Russians are trying to destroy Zelenskyi's image with the help of manipulations and fakes.

Propagandists are outraged by the situation that recently happened at the Peoples' friendship university of Russia. As part of the traditional exhibition of the culture of the home countries of the students, a Ukrainian stand was installed. Like, since the flag of Ukraine was on the stand, this means support for the nationalist regime. Moreover, according to a number of Russian officials and media people, the university is a place where the display of the Ukrainian flag is inappropriate and harmful. Propagandists also drew attention to the page of the Ukrainian community of RUDN University on the website of the educational institution. It states that “Ukraine is the Carpathians, vyshyvanka, trembita and the Mriia plane”, which is provocative.

The situation was analyzed by The Insider. According to their findings, this case is an attempt to “cancel” everything Ukrainian in Russia. The symbols, which were called provocative, are unlikely to be russophobic in nature - in particular, the Mriia was designed by the Soviet aircraft designer Viktor Tolmachov, who was born in Kursk, and then studied in Kharkiv and worked in Kyiv. Trembita is a wind instrument, the basis of the Hutsul culture not only in Ukraine, but also in Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Hungary.

Thus, propagandists are trying to justify their aggression against Ukraine. Like, Ukrainian culture and its simple symbols have no right to exist. This may indicate that the real goal of the war against Ukraine is the destruction of an ethnic group that meets the definition of genocide. Detector Media has already investigated how Russian propaganda hangs “russophobia” labels.

Propagandists scoff at the statements made by the wife of the President of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, regarding victims of sexual violence by the Russian army as part of the war against Ukraine. They say that the data that she announced on March 4 at the United for Justice international forum, which was attended by lawyers from all over the world, are not true, and the very topic of sexual violence against women, children and men in war conditions is not of great importance.

In fact, the problem of sexual violence in war is becoming a “gambling” character. The Russian military perceives rape as revenge, and the victims of sexual violence and their suffering as a reward and trophy. Although it refers to women, there are also men among the victims of rape by the Russian military. Olena Zelenska said Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating 171 cases of sexual assault by the Russian military. 39 men and 13 minors are among the victims. In this case, we are talking only about those persons who dared to tell law enforcement officers about the rape. On the other hand, the number of victims may be even higher due to the fact that the topic of sexual violence in Ukraine still has its “taboos” in society.

By mocking the words of Zelenska, propagandists are trying to devalue the dignity of Ukrainians. Like, Ukraine is already known only for its prostitutes. Russian propaganda is stamping Ukrainians with sexual violence. This serves as repeated evidence of a lack of understanding of the rules of warfare. Detector Media has already investigated how propagandists mock Ukrainian women, speculating on stereotypes as part of gender disinformation.

Together with the “special military operation” or even the “Ukrainian crisis”, Russian propaganda deliberately hides its actions and avoids responsibility. In order not to constantly resort to official statements that have become part of state rhetoric, propagandists use a more informal definition of war - “conflict”.

This term appeared back in 2014, when Russia began to call the war in Ukraine, the annexation of Crimea and the seizure of Donbas and Luhansk region a “conflict”. Despite numerous evidence of Russia's involvement in the war, Russia has not officially acknowledged the fact of its invasion of Ukraine. Therefore, it allegedly called it a “conflict” or the conduct of “military operations” or a “civil war”.

Now and then, these terms are intended to cover up the bloody war that Putin and the Russian army are waging, having received the support of the Russian people with appropriate statements or silence. The term “conflict” is associated with some kind of diplomatic process, with a situation that can be resolved through negotiations, agreements, etc. The annexation of territories and subsequently a large-scale attack on the territory of Ukraine, the killing of Ukrainian civilians, the destruction of Ukrainian villages, cities and towns, the seizure of territories is not a manifestation of diplomacy, but an example of waging a barbaric war, the destruction of the Ukrainian people. Such actions are in no way subject to negotiations and agreements and further achievements of “peace”. In the “special military operation”, “Ukrainian crisis” and “conflict”, there is a clear definition that Russian propaganda is trying to avoid by all means – war.

This is the twelfth text for the new section “Newspeak”, which Detector Media launched as part of the “Disinformation Chronicles” project. In it, we will tell and explain new lexemes used by Russian propaganda to distort reality.

Propagandists are spreading a photo that allegedly depicts an order to prepare Ukraine for an attack on Transnistria. According to it, before February 27, the personnel of the engineer-sapper battalion of the 28th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is part of  the Operational Command “South”, was to advance to the village of Kuchurрan, bordering Transnistria. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the fake. They found out that the document is a forgery. Several factual errors point to this, in particular:

there is no name of the document in the photo (it is not clear if this is an order, decree or report), while in the messages where this fake appeared for the first time, it is called an order;

the order number is indicated on the right side of the document;

in the upper left corner it should contain information about this order;

the abbreviation SESB (separate engineer-sapper battalion) must be written in capital letters;

settlements are usually indicated without the abbreviation “n.p.” (name of the settlement point);

in the main text of the document they mention 534 SESB, but there is no mention of it in open sources.

Moreover, the document in the photo does not talk about Ukraine's offensive against Transnistria. It only notes the supply of ammunition, which, according to VoxCheck analysts, does not necessarily mean preparations for offensive operations.

Thus, propagandists are trying to destabilize the situation in Europe and shift the responsibility for their possible provocations in Transnistria to the West and Ukraine. Allegedly, Ukraine wanted to attack Russia, and now wants to start a war against Moldova. Recently, there have been more fakes about the situation in Moldova in Russian propaganda. Detector Media has already written about their examples and their true goals.