Russian media and officials are spreading reports according to which French President Emanuel Macron allegedly admitted that he wanted to “overthrow” the government in Russia. Propagandists are sure that he said this during the Munich security conference.

Analysts of the StopFake project drew attention to this message. They analyzed Macron's speech at the Forum and found out that he did not say this. In fact, he emphasized that regime change in Russia seemed to him an unrealistic idea, since the previous experience of regime change in other countries, in his opinion, did not bring an effective result. At the end of his speech, Macron said that he did not understand who the next leader of the regime would be and how to do it.

Thus, Russia again wants to shift the responsibility for its failures to “external forces”. In addition, propagandists often resort to conspiracy theories and in this case we are talking about the theory in which the West wants a power coup in Russia, knocking the country off a successful course. However, this is how the Russian government is trying to make up for its failures, namely the demographic crisis, terrible poverty and the absence of a number of freedoms.

For a long time, Kremlin publications have been spreading the message that the “collective West” is mired in its own lack of spirituality and attracts Ukraine. As “evidence” propagandists come up with different stories, such as, for example, the legalization of pedophilia and bestiality in Spain. They also take decisions and ideas out of context, as if the Church of England had decided on a gender-neutral definition of God. The message was repeated by Russian President Volodymyr Putin in his annual federal address. In particular, he stated that “only a man and a woman can be a family”, “moral degradation” does not exist in Russia, and that one of the reasons for the war against Ukraine is “protection of world morality”.

Such reports are obviously speculation, since the concept of spirituality is subjective, but the problem of discrimination on any grounds, including sexual and gender identity, is not. If to talk about fakes on pedophilia and bestiality, in this case we are talking about the recently adopted package of progressive laws in Spain. In particular, they ensure women's rights to go on paid “menstrual leave” and remove a number of restrictions on abortion. However, these laws do not cover bestiality or pedophilia. In the story of a gender-neutral definition of God, the main institutions of the Anglican church have only announced their desire to address this issue this spring. In addition, the appeals of Europe and the United States in this context are only advisory in nature, and the government of Ukraine has the final say on whether to implement them or not.

In such a way, Russia is again turning to the point of humiliation and ridicule of representatives of the LGBT community. Moreover, such a method of propaganda renews its true aggression against Ukraine. However, it shows that if one analyzes the statistics on the level of sexual violence in the countries of the EU and Russia, Russia itself is in a worse condition. Detector Media has previously explained why the topic of Russian disinformation is important for representatives of LGBT communities.

In the context of a full-scale war, the Russian leadership stated that they were claiming Ukrainian lands, because they had always belonged to Russia. That is why, according to them, they (Russia) came to Ukraine to take back what is theirs, that is, to “liberate” and return to itself, to reunite with the Russian lands. Allegedly, Crimea, Donetsk region, Luhansk region or even Kharkiv and Kherson regions have always been Russians, and Russians live there.

Thanks to the term “reunion”, Russia becomes a righteous state, which allegedly only returns historical justice. Nevertheless, the Russians substitute the concept, thus calling the “reunion” the annexation of the territories of another, sovereign state. In fact, Russia is holding illegitimate referendums, seizing land, destroying cities.

By manipulating the emotions of the Russians, propaganda claims that finally “the territories are returning to their native harbor”, and “brothers and sisters” of the Russians will be saved from the Ukrainian yoke. Thus, they want to distort reality and hide their real predatory, barbaric and bloody actions. Since the term is associated only with the return of one's own territories or even something joyful, finally everyone will live together “in peace and harmony”.

This is the ninth 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 that Russian propaganda uses to distort reality.

Kremlin publications spread the message that Ukraine and its statehood are in fact an artificially created project of the “collective West”, which has the informal name “Anti-Russia”. This message was echoed by Russian President Volodymyr Putin in his annual federal address. In particular, he stated that the so-called “anti-Russia” was created in Austria in the 19th century and that Russia is fighting precisely against this “anti-Russia”, since the Ukrainian people are “occupied by the West”, especially the United States. Earlier, the President of Russia said that Ukraine was artificially created in Austria-Hungary or other Western countries.

Journalists of the Ukrainian news service BBC drew attention to this message. They note that there is a number of historical evidence that refutes the above claims.

Thus, Russia again wants to shift the responsibility for its crimes to the victim. In addition, this is how the propagandists want to justify their aggression against Ukraine: because of the fight against the “external enemy”. It seems that Ukraine does not matter, because it is “controlled” from the outside. Detector Media has previously explained how Russia devalues Ukrainian statehood with the phrase “Kyiv regime”.

Russian media are spreading the message that Ukrainian President Zelenskyi and Moldovan President Sandu have conspired to escalate the situation in Transnistria. Propagandists claim that it is they who are trying to provoke Tiraspol to aggression, and it is for this that Maia Sandu wants Moldova to join NATO. In addition, the Russian media are convinced that the ex-Prime Minister of Moldova was replaced precisely at the direction of the US State Department and Zelenskyi.

Analysts of the EUvsDisInfo project drew attention to the message. They note that the pro-Kremlin media continue to perceive Moldova as part of the sphere of Russian influence. With this in mind, they are spreading narratives that criticize the current pro-Western government of Moldova. In particular, Russia accuses the Moldovan government of ending the dialogue with Russia on the discount on gas supplies, as well as supporting Ukraine. Last July, President Sanda announced her intentions to strengthen Moldova's combat capability while maintaining neutrality.

Thus, the Russian propaganda wants to destabilize the situation in Moldova in order to use it to escalate the situation in Transnistria. Also, because of such messages, propagandists want to convince Ukrainians that even the closest allies have turned their backs on Ukraine, but reality proves the opposite.

Russian media are spreading reports that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi is allegedly using his daughter as a “live offshore” to acquire real estate abroad. As a result, propagandists claim that Zaluzhnyi's image in the West will “fall” like a house of cards. It's fake.

The Insider drew attention to the case. According to their research, the original source of the fake is anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It was they who had “scans” of registration certificates for villas in Las Palmas on the island of Gran Canaria and in the Chilean city of Valparaiso. The authenticity of the “scans” is indicated by the English spelling of the name of Zaluzhnyi's daughter as Kristina Zaluzhnaya. Ukrainian documents use Ukrainian transliteration of names, respectively, the true option is Khrystyna Zaluzhna. In addition, the analysts of the VoxUkraine project checked the cadastral codes for real estate indicated in the “evidence” and found out that they are fake.

Thus, Russian propaganda wants to undermine the reputation of the Ukrainian military leadership abroad and cause discouragement among Ukrainians.

Russian media are spreading information that during his visit, US President Joe Biden ordered Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to step up the actions of the Ukrainian army and launch a counteroffensive. At the same time, propagandists refer to the material of the publication Politico. Allegedly, its authors indicate that Ukraine should launch a counteroffensive now, since the pace of assistance from the West will slow down significantly. This is manipulation.

Analysts at the StopFake project found that the Politico article made no mention of the slowdown in aid to Ukraine and Biden's orders. The material is devoted to the results of the Munich Security Conference and the then upcoming European tour of the US President. The authors of the article argue: “U.S. officials believe that the defense of Ukraine is about to reach a critical phase, when Russia will launch its long-awaited offensive. The Biden administration is strongly urging the administration of President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to build on the gains made and perhaps launch a counter strike”.

The Russian media do not correctly quote the publication and give an inaccurate translation of the phrasing from it. For example, if we are talking about the pace of arms deliveries, the word “freely” is used in the original material. And propagandists translate it as “slowly”.

Thus, Russian propaganda wants to re-emphasize Ukraine's “inability” to make independent decisions. The propagandists also want to convince their audience that the West is tired of helping Ukraine, but recent decisions to provide new military and financial aid packages prove otherwise. The Russian media is still spreading disinformation about the US President's visit to Kyiv. Detector Media has already published a selection of the main messages spread by propagandists on this issue.

This thesis was spread by the Russian media. Like, British ex-premier Boris Johnson called the Normandy format “diplomatic imitation”. Propagandists believe that this is evidence of the lack of desire in Europe to fight further to the last Ukrainian. This is manipulation.

On January 26, Boris Johnson gave an interview to Rada TV channel. Analysts of the VoxCheck project found out that propagandists are referring to him, taking the phrase out of context. A TV journalist asked the ex-premier how to convince Western leaders to provide more assistance to Ukraine. To this, Johnson responded that the Normandy Process and the Minsk agreements were a “fundamental lesson” that Europe has already learned well.

“We then applied some sanctions, launched this diplomatic imitation called the Normandy process, and achieved nothing. And Putin concluded that the West would not stop him. That was the mistake. I think now everyone sees this and understands that Ukraine needs to be given what Ukraine needs”, the ex-premier said.

Although the ex-premier called the Normandy format a “diplomatic imitation”, in fact he did not oppose the peace settlement and Europe's participation in it.

By spreading this manipulation, the propagandists want to shift the responsibility for the attack to Western countries, emphasizing Ukraine's “inability” to determine its own destiny. Quite often they use interviews with foreign officials, pulling the right phrases out of context.  Detector Media has already published a selection of manipulations that propagandists disseminated based on an interview with former Israeli Prime Minister Bennett.