On October 9-10, 2024, a conference dedicated to combating disinformation, the EU DisinfoLab annual conference, was held in Riga, the capital of Latvia. In response to this event, a Polish pro-Russian Telegram channel spread information that the conference reported that Ukrainian disinformation had become a problem before the US elections. Kyiv's main goal is allegedly to strengthen Kamala Harris' position as the main supporter of continuing the war and supplying weapons to Ukraine. And over the past 4 months, the amount of disinformation from “Ukrainian agents of influence” has allegedly increased by 55-60%. In reporting this, the propagandists refer to a video allegedly released by the American magazine WIRED.

In fact, this information is not true - the video is fabricated. It is not found on the official WIRED website or on the magazine's social media pages. It is likely that the propagandists simply put the WIRED logo on the video and faked the story itself.

In addition, the video mentions a report called Disinfo 2024: Ukrainian November, but no such report has been published online. Most likely, information about its existence was invented.

Finally, the website and social media of the EU DisinfoLab organization, which held the conference, also contain no information about a “Ukrainian disinformation campaign” ahead of the US presidential elections.

With this disinformation, propagandists are trying to deflect accusations against Russia regarding interference in the US elections. Earlier, we wrote about a BBC study that showed that the Kremlin is trying to interfere in the US elections with the help of AI and fake websites.

Propaganda resources are spreading information that the military of the 5th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine began to collect “duties” from schools. Thus, the military allegedly demanded that the heads of Kharkiv Gymnasium No. 110 and Kharkiv Lyceum No. 170 collect humanitarian aid in exchange for evacuation from Kharkiv in case of danger. In the corresponding messages, the Russians refer to a publication on the Facebook page of the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade of the NGU dated October 5, 2024, which stated that Kharkiv Gymnasium No. 110 and Kharkiv Lyceum No. 170 collected humanitarian aid for the military.

In fact, the information about the “demand for humanitarian aid” is unfounded, the VoxCheck project reports.

Both educational institutions have regularly reported on the provision of aid to the military since at least December 2023. The educational institutions did not indicate the specific unit for whom the aid was intended, but in one of the posts they noted that it was for fighters in the Kharkiv and Donetsk directions. In particular, the 5th NGU brigade is fighting in these directions.

Kharkiv Gymnasium No. 110 often implemented various projects, within the framework of which children made trench candles, collected parcels for the military, drew leaflets that they handed over to the military. Lyceum No. 170 also prepared delicious treats for the soldiers. In turn, the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade indicated in its Facebook post that Kharkiv Gymnasium No.110 had been providing them with assistance since the fall of 2022. In addition, back in April 2024, Kharkiv Gymnasium No.110 and Kharkiv Lyceum No. 170 organized a joint meeting for the 5th NSU Brigade. There is no evidence that they did this under duress from the military.

Earlier, we published a refutation of the fact that in Ukrainian schools teachers “force” students to donate money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Information is being spread online that more than 60% of foreigners who fought in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly received serious injuries during military operations between August 6 and October 1. As “proof”, propagandists are adding infographics with the Statista logo, which show data on the share of “foreign mercenaries” who allegedly received disabilities, broken down by country. The data chronologically coincides with the Ukrainian Armed Forces operation in the Kursk region. Finally, under the infographic, it is written that the source of the data is the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank specializing in the study of modern armed conflicts, in particular, Russian aggression against Ukraine.

However, in reality, this infographic was most likely fabricated. This is reported by the StopFake project. First of all, Statista is a German online platform specializing in collecting and visualizing data. Although they do track events in Ukraine, Statista has never published this infographic. StopFake journalists were unable to find any information about “foreign mercenaries” in Ukraine on their website or in their social networks.

StopFake also contacted the ISW think tank to find out whether it had published data on the number of foreigners who had suffered while fighting for Ukraine. Evan Moore, ISW's deputy director for international relations, responded to StopFake's request by saying that the statistics distributed online were not prepared by ISW and do not reflect its assessments and views. All ISW materials are available on official resources.

“We are aware of graphics created by third parties that purport to reference the Institute for the Study of War to promote information and/or assessments that ISW did not produce”, a spokesman for the think tank said.

Russian propaganda regularly spreads disinformation about so-called foreign mercenaries in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Yes, we previously analyzed fake information about bonuses for Russian soldiers for the elimination of “foreign mercenaries” in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russian sources, citing a certain “news story”, are spreading information that the Colombian government is planning to restrict the showing of TikTok videos from Ukraine due to the “romanticization of war” and “propaganda of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”. Thus, the video story says that TikTok videos from Ukraine allegedly create a distorted romanticized perception of war among Colombian youth, which allegedly encourages them to join the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces en masse.

However, this information is fake, writes the StopFake project. The video clip that the Russians are distributing is fabricated. The attackers used the corporate style and logo of the Colombian publication City Noticias TV to create the fake, but did not take into account that the publication publishes content not in English, but exclusively in Spanish. There is no such clip on the media’s website or social networks. There is also no similar news on the Colombian websites of the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications and the Ministry of National Defense, as well as on any authoritative Spanish-language or English-language media.

Finally, the “facts” in the video contradict reality and common sense. For example, the story claims that the average age of Colombians joining the Ukrainian army has dropped from 22 to 18 due to the influence of TikTok. However, this is highly unlikely, since 18 is the minimum age to join the International Legion.

On the contrary, most Colombians in the Ukrainian army are veterans with combat experience – this was written about by a number of publications that studied the motivations of Colombian citizens to join the International Legion. Accordingly, such experienced fighters are encouraged to join the war with Russia not by a romanticized perception of the war, but by decent financial compensation.

Previously, we recorded a number of Russian propaganda leaks on the topic of Colombian citizens in the ranks of the International Legion. For example, we analyzed the fake that the body of the fallen Colombian fighter Michael Ramirezi Fino from the International Legion was allegedly returned to his family “without internal organs”.

Russian resources write that Germany will apparently no longer supply military aid to Ukraine. They say that the transfer of heavy military equipment has allegedly been suspended, new supplies are allegedly not planned, and that this is “another blow to Kyiv”. In reporting this, the propagandists cite the German publication Bild.

In fact, the Bild publication's material was manipulated. This is reported in the StopFake project. Bild did publish a text in which, citing anonymous sources, it was claimed that Germany would no longer transfer heavy equipment to Ukraine, and supplies were mentioned specifically from the Bundeswehr. However, the material did not say that aid to Ukraine in the form of weapons would be stopped in general. Also, the German Aid to Ukraine blog reported that the Bild article only spoke about the cessation of deliveries of heavy equipment to Ukraine from the Bundeswehr's stockpiles, and not about heavy equipment in general.

Germany will continue to supply Ukraine with tanks, self-propelled artillery, and air defense systems until at least 2028 under existing contracts. On October 17, 2024, the list of items included in military support was updated on the German government website; according to it, even more equipment is being supplied than was originally promised. The website also states:

“So far, almost €5 billion (2023) and approximately €1.6 billion (2022) have already been allocated for military support to Ukraine; another €2.9 billion was allocated in the first two years of the war as permits for deliveries that will only be carried out between 2025 and 2028”.

The page dedicated to military support for Ukraine also clarifies that Germany supports Ukraine with supplies of equipment and weapons from the stockpiles of the Bundeswehr and through industrial supplies financed from federal government aid funds.

That is, the information that Germany will no longer help Ukraine is not true. With such propaganda, the Russians are trying to impose a narrative about the “West's fatigue”  from the war in Ukraine. Earlier, we analyzed a Russian disinformation message, supposedly the German authorities said that the German economy is deteriorating because of Ukraine.

A video is being distributed in Russian Telegram channels where a woman claims that the price of potatoes in one of the Odesa stores is about 40-50 UAH/kg. Accordingly, it seems that the Odesa resident is indignant and says that she does not know what to be more afraid of - the strikes or the prices in the stores.

In fact, this is manipulation, as reported by the VoxCheck project. In the video, a woman shows one of the most expensive varieties of potatoes available in the Silpo supermarket assortment - home-grown Granada potatoes. At the same time, this vegetable can be found cheaper in Ukrainian supermarkets. For example, in the same Silpo in Odesa, there are potatoes for 31-35 UAH/kg. In other stores, such as ATB or Tavria V, prices for a kilogram of potatoes range from 25 UAH/kg to 27 UAH/kg.

Also, according to the State Statistics Service, the average price of potatoes in Ukraine in August 2024 is about 20 UAH per kilogram. However, this is not the highest price for this year, because in June Ukrainians bought this vegetable on average for 28 UAH per kilogram.

There are varieties of potatoes that are more expensive - 50-60 UAH/kg. The same goes for other goods, for example, tea, which can be purchased for 70 UAH, or for 129 UAH. Therefore, such videos that Russians distribute are manipulative, because they do not reflect all market prices, but selectively show more expensive ones.

Earlier, we refuted the information that a 70-year-old pensioner was allegedly beaten because she refused to hand over potatoes to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.