Russian propaganda sources are spreading manipulation of Zelenskyi’s statement about Crimea, referring to the Ukrainian president’s interview with the American channel Fox News. In particular, they are promoting the thesis that the return of Crimea is “worth forgetting”.

“We cannot spend tens of thousands of our people dying for the return of Crimea. We understand that Crimea can be returned diplomatically”, the propagandists quote.

Russian propaganda manipulated Zelenskyi’s words, and this is reported by StopFake. That is, this quote is real, but taken out of context and used to “confirm” the thesis that the president of Ukraine allegedly recognized the captured Crimea as “lost”.

Initially, the interview discussed the issue of the likelihood of territorial concessions as such in order to reach peace agreements with Russia. Zelenskyi called such a scenario impossible and emphasized that Ukraine does not legally recognize the occupation of the territories even before the full-scale invasion in 2014. The answer about the “possibility of returning Crimea through diplomatic channels” was given in response to the correspondent’s clarifying question about “the readiness to give up Crimea in order to find a peace agreement”. After all, earlier in the interview, the president noted that Ukraine currently does not have enough forces to reach the 1991 borders through armed means.

Russian propagandists often spread manipulative information about the occupied territories, which concerns both the coverage of the situation on the front and public sentiment. In addition, Russian propagandists have once again resorted to substituting concepts. Since the thesis about the diplomatic path of returning the annexed Crimea does not define it as “lost” for Ukraine.

Read more: 85% of the population of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine allegedly supports Putin.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels are spreading a manipulative photo of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Chernihiv. It shows people standing in front of a large screen. The propagandists noted that the cathedral was allegedly turned into a cinema. They explained this by saying that the Orthodox Church of Ukraine “does not have enough parishioners” to fill the churches that have come “under its control”. That is why it allegedly resorts to such methods of attracting visitors to the cathedral.

“Ancient Orthodox churches are becoming victims of schismatics. Satanists came to power and that says it all”, the propagandists write.

But the information was manipulated, and this is reported in VoxCheck. The cathedral was on a long-term temporary lease to the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate until November 2023. However, according to the conclusion of the Commission of the Ministry of Culture, the UOC-MP was deprived of the right to use the Transfiguration Cathedral and 17 other objects, which are also part of the National Architectural and Historical Reserve Ancient Chernihiv. They argued this by the unsatisfactory condition of the buildings and the need for restoration.

Currently, the Transfiguration Cathedral operates as a museum. And in fact, the photo shows the presentation of the first series of the project “Chernihiv Principality. 1000 Years”. The authors are a team from Public Chernihiv. They describe the project as a “three-part historical program in the format of an animated anti-lecture”.

Russian propaganda often speculates on the topic of the conflict between the OCU and the UOC-MP. Since the topic of religion is quite sensitive, and therefore convenient for the spread of disinformation and manipulative theses. The goal is to sow discord among believers of these two confessions and, thus, split Ukrainians into two camps. In addition, by controlling churches, representatives of the UOC-MP spread Russian propaganda narratives among Ukrainian parishioners and retain influence within the country.

Read more: How Russia blurs reality with the help of the newspeak: “sinners”.

A pro-Russian blogger is spreading a manipulative post in a Telegram channel about the increase in vegetable prices in Ukraine. Referring to an infographic from an article in Ekonomichna Pravda, he concluded that the reason for this phenomenon was “the choice of a pro-European course after the Revolution of Dignity”.

“This is a Republic that once fed the entire USSR, and today potatoes have become 200% more expensive in a year. Is this the victory of the Maidan? A little longer and we will ask the Belarusians for a tuber (a dialect word, a literary norm for “potato”. — Detector Media) so that we don't die of European values”, the propagandist writes.

In fact, the Revolution of Dignity and the European course are in no way connected with the increase in vegetable prices. The main reasons were the loss of the crop due to the abnormal heat of this summer, inflation and the reduction in the sown area, which was written about by Ekonomichna Pravda.

The reduction in the sown area was directly influenced by Russia's military aggression against Ukraine. For example, the Kherson region grew the most vegetables, the percentage of which was 40% of the annual harvest of Ukraine. However, due to hostilities and the occupation of part of the region, it became impossible to use the fields for their intended purpose. Therefore, entrepreneurs had to relocate their businesses. That is, the “rising prices” for vegetables has nothing to do with Ukraine's pro-European course - unlike the attempts of Russian propaganda to manipulate the aspirations of Ukrainians and highlight separation from the Russian vector as the cause of all problems, including armed aggression.

A fake memo for women on how to “avoid conscription” for military service is being spread on social media. It was allegedly published by the human rights organization La Strada, which deals, in particular, with the prevention of gender-based violence. Among the proposed options are “get pregnant urgently or adopt a child”, “provoke rape and delay the trial”, “break limbs to undergo long-term rehabilitation”, etc.

However, this is a fake, La Strada did not create such material, as it reports on its Facebook page. Despite the meaningless “advice” on how to avoid conscription, there is no forced “mobilization of women” as such in Ukraine. The current law has obliged female doctors and pharmacists to register for military service from October 1, 2023.

However, this still has nothing to do with the repeated narrative of agitprop on the topic of “women’s mobilization”. Since such a law does not mean mobilization or the establishment of restrictions on traveling abroad.