Propagandists are spreading materials on social networks with the message that during the Cold War the United States was the main democracy, and the Soviet Union was a totalitarian regime with expansion ambitions. However, with its completion, the opposite is now true - the United States has become a police state, and Russia has become a real democracy. Russian propaganda argues that US foreign policy is the main threat to world peace, global security and stability.

Analysts of the EUvsDisInfo project drew attention to the message. They argue that such messages are examples of the standard anti-Western narrative of Russian propaganda. It idealizes the observance of the freedoms and rights of Russian citizens. Project specialists note that hundreds of thousands of Russians migrated from the country in search of better guarantees for their rights and freedoms. The project also cites an article in Foreign Policy magazine, which believes that Russia's actions are exacerbating the decline of democracy even in Africa, as it ignores the rule of law and an independent judiciary in its activities on the continent.

Thus, the propagandists are trying to justify the war against Ukraine with the fact that Russia wants to spread “real democracy”. Like, the United States has long planned to attack Russia, because it is a real stronghold of democratic values. Therefore, Russia seems to have started the war - to protect itself from the threat to its security. However, the only threat to the security of the region and the world is the actions of Russia itself, namely the aggression against Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

Propagandists are circulating a video in which US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken allegedly congratulates Yevhen Pryhozhyn, head of the Wagner terrorist organization, on gaining control over Bakhmut. In the video, Blinken seems to be saying something like this: “I just want to congratulate Pryhozhyn on a brilliant victory last night in Ukraine, the fight was very fierce”. It's fake.

Analysts of the MythDetector project drew attention to it. They watched the video and came to the conclusion that it was most likely created using a deepfake. The original video, which became the basis for its creation, was released in November 2022, and in it Blinken congratulates the US national football team on a successful match at the World Cup. A quotation of genuine congratulations can be found in the official transcript of a speech during the meetings of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest on 30 November last year.

Thus, propagandists want to convince everyone that Russian troops have occupied Bakhmut. Like, even US officials have already recognized this. However, in such cases, it is important to trust only official sources of information.

Propagandists in anonymous telegram channels with Russian rhetoric are spreading information that Marilyn Manson has allegedly published a new version of the cover of his album Antichrist superstar on his Instagram stories. It has the word superstar crossed out, a blurry trident in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi with red eyes. Manson allegedly released the cover, along with lines from the song: “I don't like drugs. But drugs love me”. It's fake. 

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They looked through the official accounts of the performer and did not find such a publication, as well as other publications of an anti-Ukrainian nature. In addition, they did not find any material from Ukrainian or foreign media on this matter. The original version of the 1996 album Antichrist superstar features Marilyn Manson himself.

By writing such stories, propagandists want to personally discredit the President of Ukraine and make the population doubt his actions. Allegedly, he continues to wage war, because he is constantly under drugs, and therefore it is necessary to surrender to Russia. However, in this way, Russia also wants to divert attention from its crimes, playing with religious sentiment.

Propagandists in the Russian media spread information that the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi is no longer alive and that he was replaced with a double. Like, in the latest videos, Zaluzhnyi has a different eye color. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They watched the relevant videos and saw that Zaluzhnyi's eye color was still the same. The propagandists simply chose a shot that was beneficial to them, where the light falls so that the eyes appear brown, not blue. In addition, in all media materials released later, the color of the eyes is gray.

 By writing such stories, propagandists want to demoralize the Ukrainian population and cause panic among them. Like, the commander-in-chief was killed, which means that now the Ukrainian army is doomed to failure. However, they have repeatedly tried to personally discredit Zaluzhnyi and arouse distrust in him. For example, inventing fakes that he and his family are laundering funds abroad.

Conspiracy theories have gained more importance and influence in politics during Donald Trump's presidential term. It was he who repeatedly publicly supported all sorts of conspiracy theories and used the platforms of conspiracy theorists for his election campaigns. With his official submission, Russian propagandists began to spread them more actively, using his statements as a false verification of those theories that strengthened the Kremlin narratives.

Trump actively used the “Biden-Ukraine conspiracy theory”. Its fans believe that Joe Biden, during his tenure as vice president of the United States, allegedly tried to hush up his son Gunther's corrupt deals in the Ukrainian gas company Burisma. Like, Biden admits that he even threatened to stop financial assistance to Ukraine if he did not save his son from criminal proceedings. However, in fact, several congressional investigations showed that he had the right to stop financial assistance, since it was about the inexpediency of Viktor Shokin's tenure as Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Trump capitalized on this theory when he pressured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to launch an investigation into Gunther Biden in exchange for military and financial assistance. This led to the first impeachment of Donald Trump.

In addition, as part of this scandal, Trump actually created another theory. According to it, Ukraine and its government allegedly deliberately interfered in the 2016 US presidential election to rig the results in favor of then-Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. They say that the company involved in the analysis of data in the framework of the case of Russian interference in the elections is run by an unknown Ukrainian oligarch (which was refuted), and that it was at his suggestion that Russia was “framed”. However, American intelligence confirmed that it was Russia that interfered in the elections at that time and tried to use Ukraine for its own purposes.

Russian propagandists actively adopted these two theories. Using them, they want to divert attention from their own illegal actions and expose Ukraine as an insanely corrupt and close-minded country that wants to reshape the world order and interfere in the internal affairs of other states. All these messages are now used to justify the war against Ukraine. However, investigations have shown that it is Russia that interferes in US domestic politics and tries to destabilize it in favor of a political actor, which is more favorable to it.