Russia actively declares that “the Kyiv regime refuses to take away the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers who have surrendered”. Propaganda also uses prisoners of war to create various videos that promote the thesis that Ukrainians are “better off in captivity than at home”.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They claim that since the full-scale invasion, Russia has been using Ukrainian prisoners of war for its propaganda purposes. Thus, Russia is once again violating international law and the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, according to which prisoners of war have the right to respect for their person and honor and must be protected from acts of violence, intimidation, as well as insults and excessive attention from the public. In addition, Russia violates international law by preventing organizations such as the Red Cross from accessing Ukrainian prisoners of war, which prevents an objective assessment of the conditions of their detention.

The message that Ukraine does not want to take back its prisoners of war is not true. The Ukrainian authorities constantly emphasize that its position is an exchange on the principle of “all for all”. This approach aims to return all Ukrainian prisoners of war as part of a comprehensive exchange. This concept was discussed at the recent Peace Summit in Switzerland. President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi noted that working groups will be created on each of the issues and there are already countries that are organizing separate meetings on these topics. At the same time, the Commissioner for Human Rights in Ukraine, Dmytro Lubinets, claims that the only problem in implementing this idea is the reluctance of the Russian side. Russia's reluctance to carry out such an exchange is confirmed by the fact that Ukraine was recently forced to open a third camp for holding Russian prisoners of war.

Ukraine is always ready for prisoner exchanges and participates in them at the first opportunity. Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, more than 3 thousand Ukrainians have already been returned from captivity, and on June 25 another exchange took place.

The message that the Ukrainian military in Russian captivity is “better than at home” is also untrue. This misinformation is refuted by reports from international human rights activists. For example, a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights for the period from December 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024 states that “torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian internment sites is widespread and systematic, and conditions the contents do not meet the requirements of international humanitarian law”. “85% of the 60 prisoners of war interviewed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights provided detailed information about how Russian soldiers or officials tortured or mistreated them while in captivity. The most common methods of torture were beatings, electric shocks, threats of the death penalty, mock executions, and awkward positions”, the report noted. Ukraine provides full access to international organizations to places where Russian prisoners of war are held, which Russia does not do.

By spreading such disinformation, Russia wants to justify the invasion of Ukraine and discredit the Ukrainian authorities.

In its digest of anti-Ukrainian messages in Russian media, the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine highlighted the manipulation and fake news spread by Russian propagandists.

Russia seems to be offering a “peace agreement” rather than issuing an ultimatum to Ukraine.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that Russia is offering Ukraine a peace agreement to end the war. Thus, Russia is highlighted as a peacemaker, a party desiring peace. At the same time, propagandists claim the “unwillingness” of Ukraine or the West, which “leads Ukraine”, to end the war.

In fact, Russia issued an ultimatum to Ukraine. The Russians’ demands included: the transfer to Russia of the territories it occupied and international recognition of Ukrainian territories as part of Russia, the non-aligned and nuclear-free status of Ukraine, and the lifting of sanctions against Russia.

Russian propagandists have resorted to replacing concepts in order to portray Russia not as an aggressor, but as a peacemaker. Such propaganda affects both Russian and foreign audiences. It demonizes the West, portrays Russia as morally superior, and instills doubts in Western society about the wisdom of continuing to support Ukraine.

Ukraine allegedly uses cargo ships for military purposes

Propagandists baselessly claim that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly launching missile attacks on Sevastopol and Crimea using dry cargo ships on which launchers with ATACMS missiles are placed. Thus, the ship is supposedly capable of entering the Black Sea or Odesa cargo port after an attack and merging with the dry cargo ships stationed there.

However, this is a fake, since a cargo ship is a transport vessel designed to transport dry cargo and is not suitable for installing weapons on it. Moreover, Russian propagandists cannot provide any evidence of the use of such vessels by Ukraine.

The dissemination of such a fake is an attempt to legitimize Russian attacks on non-military vessels that are allegedly used for military purposes. So the Russians are blowing up maritime security and jeopardizing one of the trade routes for Ukraine. In addition, in this way, Russian propagandists are spreading fear among Ukrainians and, in general, undermining trust in Ukraine.

Propagandists have again begun to spread information about the “nuclear threat” from Ukraine. This time they are using a statement by Ihor Kyrylov, the head of the Russian radiation, chemical and biological defense forces. He stated that spent nuclear fuel is allegedly being imported into Ukraine, from which it is planned to later create a nuclear weapon (“dirty bomb”). They say that this process is being handled by the head of the Presidential Office, AndriI Yermak. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine wrote about this. They noted that such accusations against Ukraine are unfounded. “Dirty bomb” is more of a journalistic cliche. Such weapons have never been used and, in fact, they are not classified as nuclear. Ultimately, in 2022, as a result of Russian claims about the production of a “dirty bomb”, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arranged inspections of Ukrainian facilities, denying the Russian claims.

To spread this fake news, the Russians are resorting to whataboutism tactics with the intention of distracting attention from the Russian nuclear threat. While Ukraine demands that Russia be recognized as a state sponsor of terrorism, Russia is trying to accuse Ukraine of terrorism.

Spreading fake news about a “dirty bomb” to create distrust and fear of Ukraine. Thus, they are trying to convince the world that Ukraine is supposedly a threat to it and justify Russian aggression.

Propagandists are distributing information on anonymous telegram channels that allegedly six prisoners who joined the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine escaped with weapons from the training center. However, this is fake.

Journalists from Radio Svoboda (Liberty) deny this information, citing a comment they received from the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Thus, propagandists want to discredit the Law adopted on May 8, 2024. It provides for the parole of certain groups of prisoners in case of joining the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, it has already been signed by the President of Ukraine and, according to its provisions, persons convicted of murder, rape, terrorism, high treason, encroachment on the life of law enforcement officers and some other articles cannot become voluntarily mobilized. This ensures the safety of both military personnel who are in the same formation with former prisoners, and the safety of civilians who have contact with them both during and after hostilities.

Russian propagandists are speculating on the topic of the presence of prisoners in Ukrainian military formations, resorting to their stigmatization among the Ukrainian population. Distrust in the involvement of this group of people is also fueled by the recurrent behavior of Russian prisoners on parole, who, after participating in hostilities, commit crimes in civilian space.