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 20 September, on the 939th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2395
Fake
732
Manipulation
714
Message
508
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Message The Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly use ammunition with the same toxic substances that were used by the Third Reich

The head of the radiation and biological protection troops of the Russian Armed Forces, I. Kirilov, said that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly use ammunition with the same toxic substances that were used by the Third Reich in the gas chambers of concentration camps. However, this is fake and manipulation.

The Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to it in its official telegram channel. They found out that this message of Russian propaganda is another attempt by the enemy to discredit the Ukrainian military and justify aggression against Ukraine as a “fight against Nazism”.

Ukraine is a signatory to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons, and therefore adheres to its provisions.

Accusing the Ukrainian Armed Forces of using toxic substances is part of an ongoing Russian campaign of disinformation about Ukraine's creation of a dirty bomb and the presence of American biological laboratories in territory controlled by the Kyiv junta.

At the same time, Russian propagandists systematically publish videos and photos on their telegram channels confirming the gas and chemical attacks of the Russian army on the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

For example, according to the Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Support Forces, during May 2024, 715 cases of Russians using ammunition containing dangerous chemical compounds were recorded and documented, which is 271 more than in April.

On July 15, Russian telegram channels were already spreading fake news about the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ plans to use chemical weapons in the Donetsk and Kherson directions.

Disclosure How Russia spreads messages about alleged crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region

Russian propagandists continue to spread new disinformation about the operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region. This time, a story began to actively spread on social networks that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly shot a pregnant 24-year-old woman in front of her husband and little son.

On August 7, a multimillion-dollar Russian propaganda channel published a story that “Ukrainian soldiers” allegedly shot at the car of a pregnant civilian woman who was trying to evacuate with her family from the territory of Sudzha (Kursk region). No evidence was shown that directly indicated the veracity of this news or the involvement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the incident. A few hours later, another telegram channel decided to present an audio telephone conversation with the man of the deceased, in which he stated that he allegedly saw “one AFU military” and “clearly remembered the blue electrical tape on his helmet” before this soldier opened his phone, his and his wife's cars were under direct fire.

Also, immediately after this audio recording, a video was released from the father-in-law of a 24-year-old girl, who decided to remove the damage left on the car after the shelling. However, it is clear that all 4 windows of the car were completely broken, and the glass on all sides was smashed to pieces towards the inside of the passenger seats, which is not natural if the shelling was carried out from one side, as the man stated in a telephone conversation.

Military defeats at the front and, as a consequence, the transfer of hostilities from the territory of Ukraine to the territory of the Kursk region significantly shook up the political elite of the Russian Federation, calling into question many of the myths that propagandists “fed” the entire Russian population for many years.

In addition, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation, the Russian military and political command is very concerned that the fighting in the Kursk region is not accompanied by violence against civilians by the Ukrainian army. Therefore, today Russian propaganda is actively trying to shift the emphasis from the defeats and mistakes of the leadership of their country. on the Ukrainian Armed Forces, creating an external and internal message that the Ukrainian army is allegedly killing civilians in the Kursk region. Thus, on August 12, the Center for Countering Disinformation and the Security Service of Ukraine already warned that the Russians would try to stage war crimes in the Kursk region by dressing in the uniform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Disclosure The Ukrainian Red Cross warned about the creation of a fake telegram channel

Administrators of the fake telegram channel “Red Cross of Ukraine” encourage people to leave their personal data in an online application to supposedly “receive cash assistance in the amount of 6,500 UAH”. The Ukrainian Red Cross warned about this on its official Facebook page.

The organization noted that it does not collect personal data or bank card data through social networks and bots, and also emphasized that all official communication channels of the Ukrainian Red Cross are verified, that is, “recognized by social networks and have a blue circle with a tick next to the name, which confirms this status”. If suspicious information is found, they encourage people to write to the Ukrainian Red Cross support service sos@redcross.org.ua or check the information in the Information Center at 0 800 332 656.

On August 6, it was already reported about scammers who sent out fake letters from the tax office in order to break the mail of Ukrainian organizations.

Message The Ukrainian Armed Forces attack on the Kursk region is allegedly Zelenskyi’s “political agony”

Propagandists are spreading information in the media that the attack by Ukrainian forces on the Kursk region allegedly indicates the “agony” of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and that panic and a coup d’etat will soon begin in Kyiv. In doing so, they refer to statements by American political scientist Scott Bennett.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security drew attention to this message. They note that this is not the first time that propaganda has been trying to predict the collapse of the “Zelenskyi regime”, starting in 2023, constantly spreading fiction about a military coup, a “third Maidan” or the elimination of the President by third forces. The goal of these Kremlin manipulations is to impose on Ukrainians and Western audiences the idea of Ukraine as a “fragile” and “vulnerable” state.

Scott Bennett is a longtime darling of Russian propaganda. For example, in November 2023, he visited the temporarily occupied territories of Donbas and spread lies that Soledar was allegedly destroyed by “American weapons”. And in March 2024, Bennett even approached Putin with a request to grant him Russian citizenship, declaring a desire to use his skills “for the good of Russia”.

Fake The Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly attacked the Zaporizhzhia NPP because of the “failure” of the operation in Kursk

Propaganda anonymous telegram channels disseminate information that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly failed during the offensive in the Kursk region and, in “desperation”, attacked the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security drew attention to it. In fact, the fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant occurred on August 11, and Russian propagandists immediately accused the Ukrainian army of attacking the station. Now fake news is filling the information space with messages about supposedly “Ukrainian drones” and that “it is not profitable for Russia” to set fire to nuclear power plants.

However, an IAEA statement dated August 12 noted that agency experts checked the fire site and did not find any “remnants of drones”, which refutes the Kremlin propaganda claim that the station was shelled.

The only source of threat to the nuclear power plant is Russia, which has seized the plant, turned it into a military base and is using it for provocations and nuclear blackmail. Russia has more than once organized provocations at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and accused Ukraine of attacks on energy facilities.

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.