Spilnota Detector Media
Detector Media collects and documents real-time chronicles of the Kremlin disinformation about the Russian invasion. Ukraine for decades has been suffering from Kremlin disinformation. Here we document all narratives, messages, and tactics, which Russia is using from February 17th, 2022. Reminder: the increasing of shelling and fighting by militants happened on the 17th of February 2022 on the territory of Ukraine. Russian propaganda blames Ukraine for these actions.

On 17 November, on the 997th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2533
Fake
751
Manipulation
735
Message
535
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Message Ukrainian authorities lie to Ukrainians about no losses in the Armed Forces of Ukraine

Such messages are distributed by pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, not only the Ukrainian authorities, but also Western politicians know the truth about the “shocking” losses of the Ukrainian army. However, this truth is hidden from Ukrainians. Like, Ursula von der Leyen let slip about the losses, but the video of the performance was immediately corrected.

Thus, Russian propaganda uses the tactics of reflection. In practice, the expression " No losses in the armed forces of Russia" from the very beginning of the great war became a meme. It was Russia that for a long time did not recognize its losses, and subsequently significantly underestimated them. At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities have never denied the losses, moreover, they emphasize the price that Ukraine pays every day, although they do not clearly state the number of dead.

Fake Ukrainian servicemen film "staging" with the wounded

Social networks and pro-Russian telegram channels are circulating a collage of photos of one woman putting makeup that looks like wounds on the face of another. The last photo shows how three people allegedly provide medical assistance to the injured person. In the captions to the photo, they note that this is how the Ukrainian military is supposedly preparing “fakes” with the victims. Like, these photos were received from the phone of “employees of the Ukrainian Center for Information and Psychological Operations (CIPsO)”. It's fake.

In fact, the photo shows medical assistance training from military doctors in 2016. The VoxCheck fact checker, using PimEyes, a people-search service on the web, and a reverse search in Google Images, found the original photos and the names of the people on them. These are representatives of TacCat, a Ukrainian organization that conducts first aid courses, held, in particular, with the help of paint and mannequins.

Message Rejecting everything Russian, the Ukrainian nation is degrading

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this in the context of the decision to demolish the monument to Catherine II in Odesa. Like, now in Ukraine there is a “cleansing” of the remnants of Russian culture. Further, there will allegedly be a “change in reality”: renaming cities, replacing monuments and names of heroes, the Russian language will be banned “everywhere”, moreover, people will be fined for its use.

In fact, Russia (USSR) has been rewriting history and continued Russification for many years. Now Ukraine is restoring historical truth and Ukrainian culture. Due to Russian aggression, Ukrainians voluntarily refuse to use the Russian language, associating it with the language of the occupier. Russian propaganda manipulates the language issue and uses the "inferiority complexes" of Ukrainian culture and Ukrainians imposed by the Soviet period.

Message The vast majority of those who had the opportunity to compare the Ukrainian and Russian authorities do not want to go to the territory of Ukraine

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this. They say that only 28 people from Kupiansk applied for evacuation, despite problems with heating and electricity. As if the same situation was in Izium. They say that only a “few dozen residents” also wanted to evacuate there. The propagandists conclude that people allegedly do not want to “move to the territory of Ukraine” because they had the opportunity to compare the Ukrainian and Russian authorities.

Disclosure Fraudsters offer 5,000 hryvnias of Ukrposhta and Nova Poshta assistance

Social networks are circulating messages about the opportunity to receive five thousand hryvnias of assistance from Ukrposhta or the Nova Poshta State Assistance Fund. To do this, you need to fill out a questionnaire and take a short survey. This is a fraud. There are no such assistance programs.

Fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project checked the messages and found out that there are no reports of financial assistance for the survey on the official pages of Ukrposhta and Nova Poshta. The sites linked in the messages are fake. The real sites of Ukrposhta (ukrposhta.ua) and Nova Poshta (novaposhta.ua) do not contain extra letters in the title. The appearance of original and fake sites also differs.

On the sites of scammers, any buttons do not work, except for those that are needed to participate in the draw. To do this, you need to take a survey on four simple questions, the same for both sites. Only the company name and color have been changed. After answering all the questions, it becomes possible to win gifts in three attempts. To receive a gift, you must share information in 5 groups or with 20 friends and complete registration. Both sites have reviews of those who allegedly received the winnings. However, these users are fake, mostly having names and surnames atypical for Ukrainians.

Fake Russia used a powerful vacuum bomb to strike the Armed Forces of Ukraine

On social networks and through pro-Russian telegram channels, a video with a powerful explosion is being distributed. The comments note that these are footage of the alleged detonation of the ODAB-500P volumetric detonating (vacuum) air bomb dropped by the Russian Su-34 bomber on the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is not true. The video has nothing to do with Ukraine. According to StopFake, it was probably filmed in Syria. This video has been circulating online since at least December 2019, that is, before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, it was the Russian media that published these footage in 2019 and, with the help of military experts, found out whether the explosion of a vacuum bomb was actually recorded on the video, or, perhaps, it was the use of other weapons. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to demoralize Ukrainians with its "advantages" in armament and "victories" at the front. Previously, Russian propaganda passed off footage from a video game as the “destruction” of a Ukrainian tank division. 

Fake Charlie Hebdo dedicated the cover to the Ukrainians who paint the Nazi salut to the football mascot in Qatar

An allegedly new cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo is being circulated online. The cartoon shows men in blue-and-yellow clothes writing Nazi salut on a wall. And men in hijabs look up the meaning of this greeting in the dictionary and say: “This is something in Ukrainian.” Users who distributed the “cover” indicate that the special issue is dedicated to the fact that the Ukrainians drew Hitler's mustache to the football mascot in Qatar. It is not true.

The report that supposedly Ukrainian football fans were detained because of Nazi graffiti in Qatar is not true. This fake has already been debunked. The Charlie Hebdo cover is also fake. Allegedly, this is a special issue dated November 24th. However, on the website of the French magazine, the last issue was published on November 23.

The site also features a paper edition created during October-November dedicated to the World Cup in Qatar, but the illustration for this edition also differs from the image distributed online.

Orest Slyvenko, Artur Koldomasov, Vitalii Mykhailiv, Oleksandra Kotenko, Oleksandr Siedin, Kostiantyn Zadyraka, and Oleksiy Pivtorak are collaborating on this chronicle. Lesia Bidochko serves as the project coordinator, while Ksenia Ilyuk is the author of the project.