Russian resources are disseminating information that a billboard was allegedly placed in Ukraine depicting the 14th SS Volunteer Division Galicia with the caption “Yesterday it was them, and today it is you”. The billboard allegedly encourages Ukrainians to update their data in the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support. Propagandists add video of the poster's location as evidence.

However, this information is not true, according to the StopFake project. Journalists geolocated the place where the video being distributed was filmed - it turned out to be near Lviv - and asked for comment from the company that places billboards at this address. The Bravo advertising agency responded that they were indeed approached by customers who identified themselves as “employees of the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support” of the Ground Forces. However, as soon as it became known that this information was false, the billboard was backgrounded, and all information about the orders was transferred to the SBU. In addition, at the request of StopFake, the Lviv Regional Military Administration responded that no one ordered such an information campaign.

In the end, the official information campaign “Update your data in the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support”, which was presented by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, looks completely different, and in it, military personnel from different combat units honestly admit that they are also afraid, but overcome their fear. At the same time, no references to historical events are used in this campaign.

This is not the first time that Russian propaganda uses the theme of the SS division Galicia in its information war, manipulating historical facts. We have already refuted the information that the Ukrainian post office issued stamps dedicated to the SS division Galicia, and also that in the video message of Volodymyr Zelenskyi we noticed the chevron of the SS division Galicia.

Russian telegram channels are spreading the message that Ukraine is trying by any means to attract the attention of its Western hosts, announcing for the second night in a row that Russian UAVs are going to Romania.

Even after Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu announced on July 25, 2024 that debris from Russian drones had been found on the country’s territory, propagandists continued to stand their ground, arguing that this would still not help draw attention to Ukraine. At the same time, from the Russian side there were claims against Romania, they say, “it is taking on the role of Ukraine, a “battering ram against Russia”, and a huge NATO presence on the eastern flank”.

In parallel, propagandists deny the official report of the Romanian Ministry of Defense that the targets of the attacks on July 24 and 25, 2024 were Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. In their usual manner, the Russians claim that Russian drones flew specifically to military facilities in Ukraine, which are allegedly located near the border with Romania.

By commenting on the fall of Russian UAV debris in Romania, Ukraine does not set out to attract attention to itself, because its international partners are already closely monitoring the course of the war and numerous violations of international law by Russia and recording them. The Ukrainian side only once again announced a violation of the airspace of NATO’s eastern flank and that Russia poses a real threat not only to Ukraine, but also to its neighboring countries.

Pro-Kremlin sources are disseminating information that Ukraine has sharply changed its rhetoric against the backdrop of military defeats and setbacks at the front and has declared its readiness to hold peace negotiations with Russia. When reporting this, propagandists refer to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.

In fact, Dmytro Kuleba’s words were manipulated, distorting the context of what was said. Journalists for the StopFake project write about this.

On July 23, 2024, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine flew to China for negotiations with the head of the Foreign Ministry, Wang Yi. The main topic of discussion was the search for ways to stop Russian aggression and the possible role of China in achieving peace in Ukraine. Following negotiations with his Chinese colleague, Dmytro Kuleba noted: Ukraine does not refuse negotiations with Russia, but the process should begin when Russia is ready to negotiate in good faith, and now such readiness is not observed on the Russian side.

On the eve of his visit to China, Kuleba also made a statement about peace negotiations with Russia, once again emphasizing that one of the goals of the visit to China is to eliminate “competition between peace plans”. This statement was made in the context of the peace summit on Ukraine, which took place in June 2024 in Switzerland. Many countries of the world took part in it, but both Russia and China were absent.

Ukraine is considering a diplomatic settlement to the war against Russia, but it must be fair and take into account the Ukrainian Peace Formula. The Ukrainian side invites China to take part in the second world summit and makes efforts to attract Russian representatives.

Pro-Kremlin resources are disseminating information that they want to name the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the former MP and linguist Iryna Farion, whose life was cut short on July 19, 2024. The corresponding petition has allegedly already appeared on the website of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi. At the same time, the publications of propagandists on the network were accompanied only by a screenshot, without a link to the petition itself. Some netizens were inclined to believe that such a petition is proof that there is supposedly Nazism in Ukraine.

However, information about the existence of such a petition is not true, writes the StopFake project. You can verify this by checking the petition, a screenshot of which is being distributed by propagandists on the electronic petitions website. Thus, on the website of the President of Ukraine, the last appeal is registered under the number No. 22/230908-eп, while in the fake petition it is much larger - No. 22/264840-eп. In addition, it cannot be found either by keywords or by serial number.

The creators of the fake news are speculating on the conflict between Iryna Farion and the Azov regiment and the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which took place back in November 2023. Then, in the “Randevu” (Rendezvous) program, presenter Yanina Sokolova asked Iryna Farion what to do with Russian-speaking soldiers from the Azov regiment and the 3rd assault brigade, who communicate in Russian, in particular in battle, noting that it would be unfair to call them supporters Russia. The linguist said she “categorically does not accept” this. “This question is for them. What is stopping you, guys, when you are so strong and very smart, what is stopping you from fulfilling Article 29 of the law on the Armed Forces of Ukraine? Do you know what discipline is in the army? If the army doesn’t have discipline, then there is no army, it’s rabble then”, Farion said.

The purpose of this fake is demoralization and emotional split in Ukrainian society, which condemned the cynical murder and united around the search and punishment of its perpetrators.

The Kremlin continues to pour a lot of resources into propaganda aimed at children in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Thus, one of the tools for promoting Russian propaganda is the so-called “youth forums”, in which Russians and collaborators try to attract as many young people as possible, promising children great career prospects and obtaining “competencies for self-realization in Russia”. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

These days, in the temporarily occupied Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region, preparations are underway for the second “Young South” forum, where the organizers intend to bring children from all temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. According to the occupiers’ estimates, 800 participants should attend the “forum” in Berdiansk, writes the Center for National Resistance. Russian propagandists from actors, bloggers and other Kremlin figures should also come there.

The real purpose of such measures is:

– ideologically indoctrinate children in the TOT, promoting hatred of Ukraine among them;

– strengthen control over teenagers and young people through a network of youth organizations;

– promote loyalty due to promises of illusory “prospects”;

– strengthen the influence of the occupation administrations on all spheres of life in the TOT.

Russia continues to implement policies aimed at changing the national self-identification of Ukrainian youth. For example, in February 2024, the Russians took Ukrainian children from the TOT of Ukraine to the so-called World Youth Festival, where, in particular, they promoted the idea of joining Russian youth organizations “on a voluntary-compulsory basis”.