Russian media, in particular Ria Novosti, distributed fake documents of the alleged Azov Regiment found in Mariupol. These documents seem to be about preparations for hostilities in Mariupol and the suburbs. The fake document also states that "the local population is pro-Russian in 70% of cases." However, Russian propaganda made mistakes with the translation: although the "document" was written in Ukrainian, it was classified in Russian. "The documents have been given a strange stamp - "sekretnno " - instead of Ukrainian -" tayemno, " "the Center for Counteracting Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council said.

At the same time, the thesis about "70% of the pro-Russian population" is also untrue, according to various surveys. Despite the high level of distrust in the government, Mariupol in 2021 had a positive or neutral attitude towards Ukraine. It should be noted that there were no solid pro-Russian sentiments before; according to a 2015 poll, most residents of the south-eastern regions do not see Donbas outside Ukraine; The 2016 poll shows that 72% of residents of the free territories of Donbas would like the region to be part of Ukraine. As of May 2022, in all regions of Ukraine, the vast majority of residents have a terrible attitude towards Russia; in particular, in the South, 90% have a bad mood, and in the East - 85%. 82% of citizens who continue to live in the territory occupied after February 24, 2022, have a negative attitude towards Russia, and only 6% have a positive attitude towards it.