Such a message is being spread by Russian propagandists against the backdrop of the liberation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Russian invaders of territories in the Kharkiv region. The reports say that for people living in the liberated territories of the Kharkiv region, a big problem will be that immediately after the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and maybe with them, real punishers will come. Like, they showed themselves perfectly in the fight against civilians even before the war: they fearlessly killed prisoners, fought against the flow of humanitarian aid, etc. The authors of such messages add that people in the liberated territories need to be careful. 

In addition, according to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Russian propaganda accuses the Ukrainian authorities of plans to persecute traitors and collaborators among the residents of the territories of Ukraine de-occupied from the Russian occupiers. And Russia calls on international organizations to “force Kyiv to abandon punitive measures against civilians”; appeals to all UN states "to influence Kyiv in order to prevent severe humanitarian consequences for civilians"; accuses the Armed Forces of Ukraine of "looting, torture, beatings, in order to later shift the responsibility for their crimes to Russia".

In fact, the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not persecute the civilian population in the liberated Ukrainian territories. Since the liberation of cities and villages from Russian invaders, dozens of videos have appeared on the network, which show how civilians welcome the Ukrainian military with hugs and thank them for their struggle. However, Russia once again seeks to create the image of evil Ukrainians-punishers who mock their citizens; torture them, etc.

Thus, the propaganda wants to justify the war that Russia started in Ukraine. Like, the Russian army came precisely to liberate the Ukrainians from the captivity of the terrible Nazi punishers. In addition, the Kremlin seeks to create an alibi for itself regarding the possible discovery of war crimes by the Russian army in the liberated territories in order to avoid negative reputational consequences by analogy with the tragedy in Bucha.