Such a fake was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The report says that at the Ukraine-EU summit, which took place on February 3, the President of the European Commission gave a clear understanding that Ukraine is allegedly not coping with the tasks assigned to it, so accession to the EU has been suspended. It's a lie.

In fact, Ursula von der Leyen did not say this during the EU-Ukraine summit. On the contrary, she claimed that she “sees persistence in implementing reforms that meet EU recommendations”. In addition, she stressed that one of the successful objectives of the introduction of reforms is “the right path that we follow”. In conclusion, the President of the European Commission added that Ukraine is maintaining the right pace, and she is confident in this, as well as in the actions of Volodymyr Zelenskyi, because he knows what “his country needs”. Therefore, there were no restrictions or even deviations in joining the EU.

By spreading this message, propagandists nourish the narrative that Ukraine is a dumb state that is unable to implement a number of reforms, including for EU accession. Thus, the authors of the messages want to convince readers that Ukraine is gradually losing the trust and support of the West, allegedly not coming up to its expectations.

Such information appeared in Russian propaganda media and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say Volodymyr Zelenskyi is allegedly threatening to cancel Ukraine's bid for EU membership unless Germany hands over Leopard tanks to Ukraine. Like, Zelenskyi is blackmailing the European community. However, this is not true.

According to the VoxCheck fact-checkers who investigated this case, this news has been made up. It was published by satirical telegram channels. At the same time, the propagandists referred to this news as real. The fact-checkers found the original source, and the telegram channel published by the text actually says that their materials are “a parody, a satire on political reality, only verified fakes”. Fact checkers add that Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not make such statements in order to get tanks.

By spreading this fake, propagandists are trying to prove that Ukraine is trying to get what it wants by various methods, blackmailing included. Thus, Russian propaganda also seeks to discredit President Zelenskyi and show that the level of support for Ukraine in the world is waning, so the authorities have to use blackmail to achieve their goal.

Such a message is being broadcast by propagandists on social networks and in telegram channels with pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It says that the EU and NATO want to unleash a world war. The Declaration of cooperation recently signed between the EU and NATO clearly shows that NATO leads the European Union. Propagandists claim that the leaders of these organizations want to unleash a large-scale war aimed at aggression against Russia. However, this is not true.

According to EU vs Disinfo analysts, on January 10, 2023, the EU and NATO signed a Joint declaration of cooperation that emphasized the strategic partnership between NATO and the EU, condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine, and presented NATO as the backbone of European and American collective defense. The EU-NATO cooperation declaration is aimed at strengthening the mechanism of collective defense, this document does not provide for any aggressive actions against Russia.

Since Russia began aggressive actions against Ukraine, Russian officials have accused NATO of a series of threats and hostilities. NATO is a defense alliance whose main objectives are to maintain peace and protect the independence, security and territorial integrity of its members.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists are trying to demonize Western partners and at the same time nourish the narrative that Russia is fighting not only against Ukraine, but also against NATO or the EU. Like, these organizations are the center of war and devastation, and Russia is only defending itself from the armed aggression of the West. However, the real aggressors are Russia and the Russian military, who unleashed a war on the territory of Ukraine and daily commit terrorist crimes against peaceful Ukrainians.

This was stated by a Russian propagandist in one of the TV programs. According to her, from the territory of Ukraine, where the Russian army entered, orphans and children with disabilities were massively taken to Europe, who were without caregivers and disappeared without a trace in the hundreds. Like, Ukrainian children disappeared in Poland, in the UK, in the Netherlands, where in particular 170 Ukrainian teenagers disappeared in the spring and allegedly they most likely became victims of transplantologists or pedophiles. The propagandist refers to information from dutchnews.nl. 

StopFake journalists found a publication on dutchnews.nl, which became a primary source for Russian propagandists. In the publication of DutchNews, referring to the news of the Dutch TV channel NOS, they are not talking about the disappearance of 170 teenagers from Ukraine.

Russian propagandists significantly distorted the reports of the Dutch media, which discussed the issue of registering children from Ukraine who arrived in the country unaccompanied by their parents.

Some of the children received their guardians, many minors arrived in the country accompanied by distant relatives, adult sisters, brothers, etc. The publication says that human rights organizations insist on mandatory registration and provision of guardians for such children, since refugee children from Ukraine without registration and guardians can become victims of violence, abuse and exploitation. However, none of their reports refers to the mass disappearance of minors from Ukraine in the EU.

According to Russian propaganda, Ukraine does not protect children and condemns them to organ trafficking during the evacuation. Like, Russia is not an aggressor, it wants to save Ukrainian children from the crimes of the Ukrainian authorities and “evacuate” to the territory of Russia, where it is safer than in Ukraine and Europe. Thus, Russia justifies the war with Ukraine and the forced removal of Ukrainian children from the temporarily occupied territories in an unknown direction and without the possibility for relatives and guardians to get in touch with them.

Such messages are distributed through social networks and hostile telegram channels. It says that the EU has rapidly lost its independence due to assistance to Ukraine, and therefore is unlikely to be able to further claim the role of a state institution. Like, Russia destroyed the remnants of the collective West in each country, so they are deprived of sovereignty. It's a lie.

The experts of the EU vs Disinfo project say that the European Union is a sovereign entity created on the voluntary initiative of European nations, and it has its own independent foreign policy.

EU Member States are sovereign countries and make sovereign decisions on their own domestic, economic, foreign and security policies. The European Union is clear on national sovereignty: “Member states remain sovereign and independent states, they have decided to pool some of their “sovereignty” in areas where it makes sense to work together”. That is, there is no question of any loss of sovereignty and independence.

Pro-Russian resources and telegram channels reacted to the adoption of the new media law with numerous fakes and manipulations. Like, this law is “worthy of the worst authoritarian states”. It seems that the authorities are “cleansing” the information space and introducing censorship. It seems that telegram channels remain the only platform where there is still “freedom of speech”.

In fact, this law is one of those that had to be adopted in the context of Ukraine's European integration. Media professionals and members of the public were involved in its development. The law establishes rules that did not exist before and regulates certain media processes. This will make it more difficult for Russian narratives to enter the Ukrainian information space. Therefore, before the adoption of the law, Russian propaganda launched a campaign to discredit it. Instead, Ukrainian media professionals welcome the adoption of the law, despite challenges in its implementation.

Kremlin information resources are distributing a publication stating that supposedly Ukrainian women who have gone abroad refuse to provide sexual services to African Americans and Asians. They seem to be showing racism.

According to StopFake, the publication referred to by the Russian media does not exist. A photo-edited screenshot of a Vision Times publication published on March 24 is being circulated online. It talks about the high risks of sexual exploitation of Ukrainian women who were forced to move to the EU after a full-scale Russian invasion. The propagandists changed the title of the article “War in Ukraine puts refugee women at risk of human trafficking and sex maniacs” to “Ukrainian refugee women involved in sex work refuse to sleep with blacks and people of color: the new face of European racism”. They also changed the author and the release date of the article.

Russia systematically discredits Ukrainian refugees. Read more about gender disinformation in the Detector Media study.

Russian media write about this with reference to Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Serhii Vershynin. It seems that the European Union, initiating the creation of a tribunal over Russia, is allegedly trying to “hide its involvement in war crimes in Ukraine”. They say that the creation of such a court allegedly “is at odds with the UN Charter”, and the world community “does not have an evidence base” for Russia’s crimes against Ukraine. Allegedly, this is a manifestation of russophobia of Western countries, ready to “violate the UN Charter”.

The EU has not committed any illegal actions against Ukraine and its citizens. Russia, on the other hand, systematically violates the norms of international law, stirs up wars on the territory of sovereign states, and commits crimes against the civilian population.

According to StopFake, the creation of a body investigating the crimes of the aggressor state does not contradict the UN Charter. But the attack on a sovereign country, the occupation of Ukrainian territories and the holding of illegal pseudo-referenda in Ukraine at gunpoint is a direct violation of the UN Charter by Russia.

Such information is disseminated in the Russian propaganda media. Reports say that NATO and the EU are preparing another charade for domestic consumption, the protagonist of which is Russia. Like, considering the general corruption of the European Commission and the European Parliament, they urgently need a smokescreen to divert the attention of their citizens from this problem. It is in this way that propagandists call the EU demand put forward by Russia to withdraw from Ukraine as a distraction. Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case in the network. According to experts, this disinformation story concerns a future joint EU-NATO statement promising support for Ukraine and urging Russia to stop the invasion and withdraw from Ukraine. However, this statement has nothing to do with the corruption scandal that erupted in December 2022 after several members of the European Parliament were accused of taking bribes from at least one country.

Such messages are distributed in social networks to foreign audiences. The messages also provide a link to a website that allegedly confirms the car theft story. Social media users linked these messages to the war in Ukraine and donations for the needs of the Ukrainian army. Like, after this Ukrainians do not deserve help. This is manipulation.

This story has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine and the current minister Denys Maliuska. In the photo in the messages you can see Oleksandr Lavrynovych, Minister of Justice of the Yanukovych era (2010-2013). The story that his company car was stolen in Germany and legalized in Ukraine was spread back in 2011. The fact checker of the dpa.factchecking project drew attention to the spread of the old story.

Russian propagandists spread such messages to the Western audience. Allegedly, if Russia is forced to sell oil cheaply, this will put pressure on other suppliers from the markets to sell oil to Europe also cheaper. Like, Western countries will continue to thrive on cheap oil, even if it is not from Russia. However, this is not true.

According to the analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project, this thesis contradicts another narrative that was previously spread by propagandists that supposedly limiting oil prices would destroy Europe.

The purpose of the restriction is not to benefit Europe. The price limit for Russian oil was set as an additional sanction for Russia's illegal aggression against Ukraine. Price restrictions were initiated by the G7 countries and supported by the European Union.

The Council of the EU said in a statement: “Limiting the price of Russian oil will limit the price spikes caused by emergency market conditions and will sharply reduce the revenues that Russia received from the sale of oil after it resolved its illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. This will also contribute to the stabilization of world energy prices and mitigation of negative consequences for the energy supply of third countries”.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation reports that three propaganda videos have already appeared in the media space of Europe in two weeks. They urge Ukrainians to return home in different languages. Allegedly, the authors of this video are citizens of European countries. Numerous errors indicate that the video is fake, including messed up languages, countries, flags, etc.

As the Center notes, the purpose of the video is to create a false image of Ukraine and its citizens in the European information space to discredit Ukraine's integration into the EU and NATO.

This is the message Russian propaganda spreads to foreign audiences. Like, the European Parliament has always been a collection of extremists. Allegedly, the application of legislation that has been enacted over the years is a threat to peace. They say, fortunately, the real policy is determined by the European Commission, and the European Parliament is “only a virtual game within the framework of the created utopia”. Allegedly under the influence of American propaganda and the absence of real threats, the Europeans came up with an enemy in the person of Russia.

The fact-checkers of EU vs Disinfo drew attention to the spread of the message. The European Parliament is one of the two legislative bodies and adopts EU laws together with the Council of the EU on the basis of proposals from the European Commission. The European Parliament has a number of other important powers, in particular, budgetary, controlling, human rights, etc.

The European Parliament supported the resolution recognizing Russia as a state - sponsor of terrorism on November 23, 2022.

Russian media write about this with reference to the words of Dmytro Medvediev. Like, Zelenskyi is less sorry for the Europeans, so he is ready to use them at infrastructure facilities as "cannon fodder" instead of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to the spread of the message. Such a reaction was caused by Volodymyr Zelenskyi's appeal to the European Union with a proposal to send special missions of international control to Ukrainian critical energy infrastructure facilities. Such statements, according to the Center, indicate that international control will make impossible the Russian tactics of massive shelling of Ukraine's critical infrastructure.

Russian propaganda uses the tactics of information support of massive missile strikes to further pressure and intimidate Ukrainians. They say that massive rocket attacks are revenge for the explosions in the Russian rear, for Kherson, for the drone attack in the Sevastopol Bay, etc. Also, the Russians shift the responsibility for their crimes to the Ukrainian authorities, saying that the Office of the President exaggerates the effectiveness of air defense and “invents” missile attacks.

Such messages are spread by propagandists and anonymous telegrams through channels. Message says that the European Union is stealing Russian funds in order to transfer it to Ukraine. Like, Europe is sharing Russia's money, not its own. However, this is not true.

In fact, we are talking about Russian assets that Europe recently froze. According to Politico, the EU has frozen a total of 68 billion euros of assets.

Currently, the EU and partners are developing a plan for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets in favor of Ukraine.Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, said that Brussels, together with partners, is already working on a plan to freeze Russian assets, then transfer them to the reconstruction of Ukraine and to compensate for the damage caused by the war unleashed by Russia.

This is what the propagandists called the”stealing”, although the assets are located on the territory of the European Union.

This fake is aimed at discrediting the European Union and its assistance. Allegedly, the EU illegally uses Russian resources to help Ukraine.

  Russian propaganda spreads the message to a non-native audience that the EU is seeking to give a new character to its confrontation with the Kremlin. To do this, indirectly related norms are introduced - the recognition of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism and the confiscation of frozen Russian assets and property. The first is supposed to provide an "ideological cover" for the final discrediting of Russia, and the second is to legalize the expropriation of its assets. The fact-checkers of EU vs Disinfo drew attention to the spread of the message. The resolution of the European Parliament says that Russia poses a threat to the security of the entire European continent. That is why the European deputies recognized Russia as a state-sponsor of terrorism and a state "using terrorism". Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to devalue the opposition to Russian aggression at the global level. Similar tactics were used to devalue European sanctions, saying that they do not work and strengthen Russia. Earlier propagandists claimed that the international tribunal for Russian war crimes in Ukraine would be illegitimate. 

Russian propaganda media, including Pervyi kanal (Channel One), Russia Today, Vesti (News), Ukraina.ru, Izvestia (News reports), Arguments and Facts, FAN and others, have distributed a photo of a 3D graffiti caricature of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They wrote that this graffiti was made in Paris, and the authors of the picture posted on social networks with the following description: "Hello France, give me all your money!" and a response from supposedly France: "I'm sorry, but I don't care".

As the fact-checking project Myth detector found out, this picture is a fake. Investigators found out that the photo shows the exit from the Saint-Mande metro, next to it you can see the La Florangerie flower shop. The project asked its own employee to go and see if there was graffiti there: as of December 3, there was none there. The project also contacted a representative of the flower shop and he confirmed that the store has not had any graffiti at all lately.

The photo of the fake graffiti was posted on an Instagram account that only has two posts. The previous one is also a photo of graffiti with Zelenskyy allegedly made in Warsaw. Three fact-checking projects at once found out back in November that this was a fake and there was no such graffiti in Warsaw either. Such graffiti is part of the propaganda messages that allegedly the Ukrainian authorities “demand money” from the West in order to wage “a war that no one needs” or “get rich”. They also constantly try to send a message that “Ukraine, like a black hole, absorbs money and weapons”, that is, spends it on both without control. But propaganda efforts are in vain: the EU, the US and other partners continue to support Ukraine.

Such information is distributed through propaganda and anonymous telegram channels. Reports say the West has run out of patience with Ukraine's insistence on not negotiating with Russia. Like, the West takes the initiative to negotiate. However, this is not true.

According to EU vs Disinfo fact-checkers, there have been no major changes in the rhetoric of the Kremlin's actions on the part of the West. For example, the European Parliament recognized Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. At the same time, the NATO Parliamentary Assembly recognized Russia as a terrorist state. In addition, during the Assembly, NATO officials said that they strongly oppose Russian aggression and plan to increase support for Ukraine. There is no sign that the West is forcing Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.

Propagandists spread this fake in order to discredit the West as an unreliable partner. Allegedly, the West is not at all interested in Ukraine and its interests, but is only looking for different ways to negotiate with Russia. However, the unconditional help of our partners testifies the opposite.

Such information appeared in the Russian propaganda media. Like, the Russian propagandist Dariia Duhina was killed by order of the French special services. Reports say that all this happened because of the situation in Olenivka. Allegedly, Dariia was going to expose those responsible for the shelling of the colony in Olenivka. In particular, the reports say that Duhina had evidence that the French special services are helping Ukrainians in the Donbas, and the colony was hit by the HIMARS system, which is in service with the Ukrainian military. That is why, according to propagandists, in order to hide all the evidence, the French secret services killed Duhin. The EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the case. In fact, this version of the propagandists is not supported by any evidence. According to analysts, such disinformation is aimed at blurring the picture around the killing of Ukrainian soldiers in Olenivka.

A message appeared on pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels that the Pohrebok (A cellar) café opened in Berlin, the advertisement of which became viral immediately after it appeared on the network.

This café, according to propagandists, is allegedly Russian and they glorify Putin, drink to his health, and Berliners like it, which is why advertising has become so popular.

“The advertisers fantasized about the consequences of the coming European winter. In their opinion, next year Putin will be signed on German television as Chancellor of Europe. Visitors argue about his role in history: "It was he who liberated our Scholz!", "Europe is humiliated!", "Instead, we no longer supply arms to anyone", "Yes, thanks to him we have freedom!". As a result, everyone agrees that thanks to Putin, there are delicious pancakes and authentic kvas from Pohrebok in Berlin”, the propagandists write. However, there is no such café in Berlin. As the StopFake fact-checker writes, the so-called “viral advertising”, in which the Germans drink to Putin, is distributed exclusively on Russian websites and in the Russian-language segment of social networks. The actors in the video are also non-native German speakers and speak with a very strong Russian accent. That is, the so-called advertising is just a staging. And you can't really advertise a place that doesn't exist. However, with the help of such fakes, propagandists create the appearance of support for Putin's policies in Europe.

They say that the Europeans have long understood that their leaders are weak and are leading the EU to collapse, while Russia's policy is strong and the EU will not stand without its help. In the so-called commercial, propagandists also use the thesis of a cold winter that will destroy the Europeans, because the EU leadership allegedly does not think about citizens when it imposes sanctions against Russia. Thus, the Russians create the appearance of the excessive importance of Russia. Like, other countries will not be able to do anything without its help.

Tiktok is circulating news which says that the Bundestag allegedly introduces a “solidarity tax”, which will be automatically calculated from wages to help Ukrainians. Like, such a decision was made due to the fact that Germany should support Ukraine with 500 million dollars a month. It is not true.

According to the fact checker of the Correctiv project, the video was published on Tiktok on October 31, it gained more than 815,000 views and 2,100 comments. Its primary source is a satirical account. However, in further shares, users often did not tag the video as satirical, so it received a lot of negative comments.

Fact checkers received a comment from the Federal Government in which the authorities denied the imposition of an additional tax. The government did discuss certain changes in taxation, but it was about existing taxes, and not about introducing new ones.

У такий спосіб проросійські користувачі намагаються нашкодити партнерським стосункам України та Німеччини, а також налаштувати німців проти допомоги Україні.

Such news is spread by propagandists and anonymous telegrams. The reports say that the European Commission is moving military forces to the east, to the borders of Ukraine, which indicates that the EU allegedly seeks to take control of part of the territory of Ukraine because of economic interests. Like, all EU countries will divide a part of Ukraine among themselves. However, this is not true.

In fact, according to EU vs Disinfo experts, the assertion that other EU countries will take Ukrainian territories is unfounded. EU member states respect international law regarding state borders, fully support the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and do not put forward any claims to Ukrainian territory.

The very statement about the transfer of military forces to the eastern borders of the European Union, distorted by propagandists, was announced during the development of the Action Plan for military mobility, which regulates a simplified procedure for the response of the Armed Forces on the territory of the EU.

Пропагандисти поширюють цей меседж, аби залякати українців та продовжувати підсилювати наратив про те, що ніхто не зацікавлений в Україні як повноцінній державі. Мовляв, усі країни лишень хочуть її розділити. Однак активна підтримка європейської спільноти свідчить про інше.

Such information is disseminated in social networks. The authors of the publications allegedly refer to a survey conducted for the German TV program ARD-Deutschland Trend. Russian media write that the Germans rebelled against the increase in military assistance to Ukraine. This is manipulation.

As StopFake writes, the German company Infratest Dimap really conducted a survey commissioned by the German TV program ARD-Deutschland Trend. Such surveys are carried out systematically. This time, 1,307 Germans with the right to vote expressed their opinion. The survey was conducted over the phone or online from 31 October to 2 November. The question on the supply of weapons to Ukraine sounded like this: “Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February. Germany reacted to this with different steps. Please indicate below in each case whether they are appropriate, excessive or insufficient (…) regarding German arms support for Ukraine?”. That is, in this case, they estimated the number of weapons, and did not investigate issues of support.

A total of 41% of Germans consider the volume of military assistance sufficient, which is 2% more than in August this year. 30% of Germans consider excessive deliveries of weapons - this is 2% less compared to August. 21% called aid to Ukraine insufficient, which is also 2% less than two months ago. The remaining 8% probably found it difficult to answer.

A video with the same title is circulating online. Its author is allegedly the European Security & Defense College, an EU body that provides training in the field of general security. The video says that the EU will allegedly be forced to stop the reform of "green" energy, since the funds provided will be used to restore Ukraine; it will pay for assistance to Ukraine from NATO at the expense of state medical programs, fight the growing Ukrainian corruption.

It is not true.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, European Security & Defense College is not the author of this video. Also the claims that are circulating in the video are false. Ukraine's accession to NATO and accession to the EU are not interrelated processes. NATO includes not only EU countries. Therefore, the authors of the video manipulate causal relationships.

The Center emphasizes that all information, even the one published by allegedly well-known Western institutions, requires careful verification.

Last week, the third demonstration in the last two months took place in the Czech Republic, organized by the ultra right, the Communist Party and fringe groups. Among the demands of the protesters: to start negotiations with Russia on the purchase of gas. To do this, they believe, it is necessary to cancel sanctions and stop the supply of weapons to Ukraine. They also demand to ensure the status of neutrality, that is, withdrawal from NATO and the EU. More than 100,000 Czechs took part in these protests, organizers say. This is manipulation.

In fact, eyewitnesses say that this demonstration was the weakest, with no more than 10-20 thousand people taking part in it. According to the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project, according to the results of the poll, 8 out of 10 Czechs do not support the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Moreover, in support of Ukraine, many more demonstrators once again come out to Prague squares than to pro-Russian rallies. These actions are held under the slogans "Czech Republic against fear" and "We can cope".

Anti-government rallies in the Czech Republic are organized by pro-Russian leaders. One of them is Ladyslav Vrabel, known as "an ardent admirer of Putin." The day before, he noted the need to go to Moscow and conclude gas agreements. Vrabel repeatedly gave interviews to Russian propaganda media and rejoiced at pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The action was filmed by Czech videographer Zharko Yovanovich who previously worked on the Russian army TV channel “Zviezda” (Star).

The Czech government has already taken action to deal with the crisis by capping energy prices and launching broad support for families and individuals struggling with rising gas prices. The government of Prime Minister Petr Fiala is taking a hard line on the Russian invasion and is an important partner for Ukraine. The Czech Parliament declared the Russian regime a terrorist one. Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksii Reznikov announced more than 50 projects with the participation of the Czech Republic to strengthen the Ukrainian army.