Propagandists are distributing a video on social networks that they are trying to present as a mocking video on behalf of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It depicts Ukrainian soldiers allegedly laughing at the counteroffensive, repeating the phrase “we carried out a successful counteroffensive in our pants”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that this video is not on the official pages of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the General Staff on social networks, nor on their official websites. In addition, during editing, the propagandists made a mistake with the symbolism, using the cross of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine instead of the emblem of the Armed Forces. All ten frames from which the video is compiled are taken from open sources. For example, one fragment is taken from a video published on the Insider UA telegram channel, where fighters ask for financial support for the Kraken unit. Another excerpt was found in a video filmed on the day of the liberation of Kherson by the Defense Forces in November 2022.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has used the phrase “successful counteroffensive in your pants” to discredit Ukraine. President Zelenskyi acknowledged that the Defense Forces' summer counteroffensive did not produce the expected results, mainly due to insufficient allied support and the lack of necessary weapons, but he did not call it a failure. Propagandists manipulate this. Detector Media also wrote about other Russian fakes regarding the counteroffensive.