Propagandists write that the European Union does not adhere to its own principles. Like, it encourages the UK to supply weapons with depleted uranium to Ukraine, but condemns Belarus for placing Russian tactical weapons on its territory. It seems to be the same, but the EU is only playing to substitute concepts. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the EU vs DisInfo project drew attention to it. They argue that propagandist material creates the false impression that depleted uranium weapons and nuclear weapons have the same effect. As a conclusion, the deployment of tactical weapons in Belarus is a completely different case. On March 21, a spokesman for the British Ministry of Defense stated that although Russia is trying to equate the status of weapons with depleted uranium with the status of nuclear weapons, this is not true due to the fact that weapons with depleted uranium are not prohibited.

Propagandists want to distract the world community from Russia's actions in this way. In particular, it is Russian troops who in Ukraine use weapons with characteristics prohibited by international law.

The State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine reported that in January-February of this year, the governmental computer emergency response team CERT-UA handled more than three hundred cyber incidents and cyber attacks, which is almost half as many as in the corresponding period last year. The department explains the then high activity of Russian hackers by the preparation of Russia for a full-scale invasion.

Since the beginning of 2023, CERT-UA has recorded an increase in the number of cyberattacks for the purpose of espionage, with an emphasis on maintaining permanent access to the organization. In addition, most of the malware distributed by Russian hackers is data collection and remote access to devices.

According to specialists from the State Service for Special Communications, Russia is thus preparing for a long war and is trying to obtain any information that can give an advantage in the war against Ukraine, including data on the mobilization and logistics of Western weapons.

This thesis appeared in the Russian propaganda media. Like, a projectile made of depleted uranium does not emit radiation, but is very toxic, because its dust can get into the human respiratory tract. This is what, according to Russian propaganda, is a “dirty” nuclear bomb, the use of which Russian propagandists wrote about in the spring of 2022.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case. Analysts say this message is part of a Kremlin disinformation campaign that is bringing fear of the use of nuclear weapons. Thus, Russia seeks to expose Ukraine as a threat. Allegedly, it is precisely because of Ukraine and the use of shells with depleted uranium that it will cause irreparable consequences. This is how propaganda transfers responsibility for what it does in Ukraine. They say that Ukraine itself is an aggressor.

However, depleted uranium projectiles are not considered nuclear weapons and even so-called dirty ones.

“They are not designed to poison people. They are used because of their ability to penetrate armor”, says Dr. Maryna Miron from King's College London.

Depleted uranium has a greater density than ordinary steel: about 2.5 times and about 1.5 times denser than lead. This is what allows the tank projectile to gain more momentum and more effectively penetrate armor.

Such information appeared in the Russian propaganda media. They say that the use of shells provided to Ukraine by the UK is a crime against humanity and the planet. The reports add that the use of such projectiles is unacceptable and immoral.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case. According to them, such a message is part of the Kremlin's disinformation campaign against the supply of depleted uranium to Ukraine.

However, the depleted uranium shells that the UK sends to Ukraine are not prohibited by any international agreement. Also, crimes against humanity are traditionally defined and prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, mass systematic rape and sexual enslavement during war, etc.). The use of depleted uranium projectiles cannot be considered one of the crimes against humanity. In 2007, the UN General Assembly began research to find out the impact of depleted uranium weapons on human health. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) found that the effects of depleted uranium did not cause significant poisoning.

With the help of such messages, Russian propaganda seeks to portray Ukraine as the aggressor. They say that it is Ukraine that violates the rules of war, uses prohibited weapons that can cause a catastrophe, and the countries of the West, in particular, Great Britain, only help him.

According to the Security Service of Ukraine, new facts have emerged confirming that even in the conditions of war, Russia attracts minors to spread disinformation in Ukraine.

In particular, the SSU exposed a group of teenagers involved in the dissemination of a series of anonymous reports about pseudo-mining in the capital and other regions of Ukraine.

According to the SSU report, teenagers “mined” the buildings of state authorities, as well as social infrastructure facilities. The investigation established that the members of the group were remotely coordinated by representatives of the Russian special services. For coordination, a specialized Internet community was created, in which teenagers from Ukraine were regularly attracted.

According to the investigation, letters about the mining were sent on behalf of outsiders and with the help of special programs they hid the localization.

Such reports appeared in the Russian propaganda media. Their authors argue that the sanctions against Russia do not seem to be working and everything indicates that the sanctions have reached their peak or bottom. Like, the West is disappointed with the ineffectiveness of the sanctions, which is why the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Volodymyr Putin.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case in the network. Analysts are convinced that messages that do not work are part of Russia's strategy to avoid responsibility for its own war crimes. Messages that Western sanctions do not work appeared in the information space last spring. Then the propagandists assured the audience that sanctions harm countries that impose them more than Russia itself. Like, because of these sanctions, both Ukraine and the EU countries will freeze in winter. But the Russians will be fine.

Western experts are indeed examining the effectiveness of sanctions. However, the International Criminal Court's warrant for Volodymyr Putin's arrest is not an escalation of Western pressure on Russia because sanctions don't seem to be working. An arrest warrant was issued in the case of the deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. That is, the European Union expressed support for the investigations of the ICC prosecutor.

This thesis appeared in Russian propaganda media and on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say that one of the UN reports noted that Ukraine discriminates against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate. Like, the report was published by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and concerned freedom of religion in Ukraine. However, this is not true. The UN has not published any report on this topic.

In the messages, the propagandists referred to a long document titled “Report on the situation of human rights in Ukraine – 1 August 2022 – 31 January 2023”, published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on 24 March 2023. It contains a single paragraph about searches by the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) in the premises of the UOC and reports of suspicion to the clergy of the UOC, as well as the sentence: “OHCHR is concerned that the activities of the state against the UOC may be discriminatory”. But, in general, the report concerns war crimes of Russians in Ukraine. However, propagandists are silent about this in their messages.

Russian propaganda needs such fakes to discredit Ukraine and the Ukrainian authorities. Thus, Russian propagandists show that even in international organizations, the attitude towards Ukraine is allegedly changing and the world is beginning to understand what Ukrainians really are.