Propaganda telegram channels working in the interests of the occupation forces in the Zaporizhzhia region quote an article from the Turkish publication dikGazete. The author of the article claims that Russian reforms in the agricultural sector of the Zaporizhzhia region allegedly led to economic growth. This, according to them, became possible thanks to the support of the Russian government, which purchases the products of local farmers at market prices and provides them with subsidies. They also praise the organization of the State Grain Operator, which creates jobs and pays high prices for grain. However, they do not have objective information about the work of this operator. They say that Ukraine, on the contrary, sold off land and neglected the region. The article was pointed out by the Zaporizhzhia Investigation Center.

Its experts found that the information in this publication is manipulative and deceitful. For example, the mention of Russia’s “rescue” actions in restoring the agricultural sector of the Zaporizhzhia region after the Ukrainian government does not reflect the real situation, since the region had developed agricultural activities even before the invasion. In addition, the statement about the sale of agricultural land to foreign investors is not true, since until July 2021 there was a moratorium on the sale of such land in Ukraine, and after its lifting, sales to foreigners remain complicated.

This media has a pronounced pro-Russian slant. At the time of writing, columns were published on the main page of the publication’s website about the alleged blackmail of the families of Russian prisoners of war by Ukraine and disappointing forecasts for Ukraine. These materials have a direct connection with Russia: the author of one of them indicated Moscow as his location, and the other - St. Petersburg.

Propagandists spread such disinformation to the TOT inhabitants to convince them that Russia supposedly cares about “new regions”, unlike Ukraine.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, Moskalkova, accused Ukraine of suspending the prisoner exchange process for several months.

However, in fact, Ukraine is ready for an exchange both in the “all for all” format and in other options. And reproaches against the Ukrainian side for “far-fetched demands”, supposedly “constantly changing”, are incomprehensible and unfounded, the Center adds.

It is Russia that is blocking the exchange, the last of which took place on February 8, 2024. Moscow similarly blocked the process in the second half of 2023, trying, as usual, to shift the blame to Kyiv. At the same time, Ukraine constantly initiates prisoner exchanges: proposals were received on April 10, 2024, on the occasion of Easter and on the occasion of the call of the Pope, but Moscow ignored Ukrainian initiatives.

Russia’s blocking of the exchange process occurs against the backdrop of numerous violations: the Russians resort to torture and execution of prisoners, use them as “human shields”, and hold civilians captive.

Also, the Russian Federation has still not provided any evidence of the death of Ukrainian prisoners of war, who were allegedly on board the Il-76 on January 24, or the bodies of the dead.

Life in the so-called new regions of the Russian Federation, that is, in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT) of Ukraine, will supposedly soon improve. These are the promises that residents of the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia region constantly hear. However, occupiers often make promises but do not keep their promises. The Zaporizhzhia Investigation Center (ZCR) has collected false promises from the occupiers, which have not been fulfilled in recent months. Its experts emphasize that checking the real situation on TOT is complicated by the lack of free access to official Russian data and possible forgeries. They rely on messages and comments from local residents. In particular, experts warn that these comments may be biased, but they reflect the actual state of affairs.

“New elevators” for Berdiansk residents

In February 2024, the occupation authorities announced that the occupied territories would receive 300 new elevators, of which 22 would be in Berdiansk. In March they even reported on the launch of three and the installation of five more. Propagandists claimed that these elevators had greater capacity and speed, were quieter, and were more reliable and safe. However, these elevators quickly stopped working. Local residents were told that their work required documents from Moscow, which were not available. They say that until the documents are completed, the elevators will not work. Residents of TOT are again forced to walk, and the occupation authorities were satisfied with filming the story and photographing it.

Marketplaces in temporarily occupied territories

The occupation authorities promised that large Russian marketplaces - Ozon and Wildberries - would begin operating on the territory of the so-called Novorossiya. However, the marketplaces themselves denied this information, saying that the TOT does not have the necessary infrastructure to open their branches. The closest place with operating online stores is temporarily occupied Crimea. TOT residents order goods from Ozon and Wildberries and receive them through private carriers, since some goods, such as medicines, cannot be purchased on TOT.

Medicine stock for TOT

A month ago, the occupation authorities announced that in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, the necessary supply of medicines had allegedly been created and now residents do not need to wait for supplies or order hard-to-find medications. According to them, over the past two years, 146 pharmacies and pharmacy points have been opened in TOT. However, TOT residents continue to search for medicines, especially those in short supply. Ordering through marketplaces remains a more reliable method than buying them at a pharmacy. Another way is to receive medicine through “transfers” from Ukraine and Europe. Thus, the promise of stock of medicines has also not been fulfilled. The occupiers manipulate statistics by announcing the opening of new pharmacies, although it is likely that they were simply re-registered according to the rules of the occupation authorities. For example, before the occupation, more than 50 pharmacies operated in Berdiansk alone, and “improvement” of the network was not required.

Promises to improve life at the TOT are part of the propaganda that creates the impression of a stable situation at the TOT, encourages those who left to return, and paints a picture of prosperity for Russians. According to ZCR, promises are made every day, and TOT residents are skeptical about them.

This was recorded by analysts of the VoxCheck project. The SMS message itself states that the evacuation of Kharkiv and nearby settlements has allegedly begun.

However, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations denied information about the announcement of evacuation from Kharkiv and noted that the State Emergency Service did not send out such a message.

Moreover, such emergency messages come from “DSNS UKR”, and not from the “DSNS Ukraina”, as in the screenshot.

Euractiv, citing the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security of the Czech Senate, writes that Russian interference poses a significant threat to the elections to the European Parliament.

Such conclusions were made after recent revelations about the activities of the pro-Russian news agency Voice of Europe, which was eventually banned throughout the EU.

“This media company tried to influence public debate in the Czech Republic and other EU countries with Russian money, worked against the interests of the Czech Republic and systematically disseminated Russian propaganda”, said Czech Senator Pavel Fischer.

Let us remind you that the elections to the European Parliament are scheduled for June 6-9, 2024. They will be the first after Britain leaves the European Union. Previously, we analyzed the Russian message that the EU would supposedly disappear after the elections to the European Parliament.

In the temporarily occupied territories, they began teaching the subject “Moral Foundations of Family Life”, in which students are taught about “Russian values”. The Center for National Resistance reports this.

During lessons, Ukrainian children are taught about Russian “spirituality” and “tradition”. In particular, they argue that a woman should give birth and be submissive to a man, and a man should defend his homeland. Accordingly, propagandists form a pattern of a “model Russian family”, where a man should die in wars, and a woman should “produce” new soldiers.

At the same time, these lessons do not teach that the international criminal Putin has illegitimate children and abandoned his wife, since this does not at all correspond to the “traditions of the Russian family”.

The Center adds that propaganda and brainwashing of children is a crime, so everyone must be held accountable for these acts. One can report crimes by Russians and collaborators using this link.

American intelligence agencies note that in recent months, Russian propaganda has intensified discrediting messages against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. This was reported by European Truth with reference to CNN.

Russian disinformation focuses on two topics - the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Avdiivka, as well as the postponement of the presidential elections in Ukraine. The Russians are trying to present the first not as a strategic decision, but as a defeat, and the second - that supposedly Zelenskyi is no longer legitimate. At the same time, we have repeatedly refuted reports about the illegitimacy of the current President of Ukraine.

US intelligence agencies believe that Russian intelligence services are behind the campaign and are spreading disinformation through pro-Kremlin media, fake websites and social networks.

Russian propagandists addressed the military personnel of the occupation army with a “disclaimer” that the Ukrainian special services had trained a large number of saboteurs in the Kharkiv region. According to them, “representatives of the Ukrainian underground” can even be women, elderly people and teenagers. Propagandists also call for special attention to be paid to the relatives of killed or captured Ukrainian soldiers. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

In fact, information about Ukrainian saboteurs among women, the elderly and teenagers does not correspond to reality. Thus, Russian propaganda carries out “information processing” of the military in the context of intensifying hostilities, encouraging them to commit crimes against Ukrainian civilians. The Center also states that Russian propagandists must be held accountable for war crimes, as well as the authorities in the Kremlin who give orders to kill the civilian population of Ukraine.

Amid the offensive in the Kharkiv region, Russia has resorted to more belligerent rhetoric towards the Ukrainian Peace Formula. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

For example, Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, commenting on the summit on the Ukrainian Formula of Peace, which is scheduled to take place in Switzerland in June of this year, made the following manipulative statements:

- “Russia is ready for negotiations, taking into account the current realities”;

- “if the West wants to fight on the battlefield, then so be it”;

- “Switzerland is not suitable for negotiations because it has abandoned neutrality”;

-”The Istanbul agreements could have ended the war on terms favorable to Ukraine”.

The Center adds that the Russian Federation sees a threat in the Ukrainian Peace Formula, therefore, as a result, it is making efforts to discredit it on the eve of the summit in Switzerland. Moreover, the Kremlin repeats the thesis about its supposed readiness for negotiations and at the same time increases the level of threats. He also wants to force Western states to reduce military and diplomatic support for Ukraine, trying to intimidate and persuade them to make concessions.

Propagandists began a large-scale disinformation campaign in connection with the escalation of hostilities in the Kharkiv region. For example, because of propaganda materials, information was disseminated that in the Kharkiv region there was supposedly no evacuation of the local population from Vovchansk. Like, “Nazi groups are using city residents as human shields”. StopFake writes about this.

Propagandists claim that “local residents made an agreement with the volunteers, but they did not let anyone into the city or let anyone out of it”. Such publications are accompanied by a screenshot of correspondence in which an unknown person writes that “no one has arrived” and “we are not allowed in”. It is not indicated which volunteers it is about, as well as whose correspondence this is.

However, the information about blocking the evacuation of Kharkiv residents is false. The removal of the population of border settlements continues, and in recent days about 6,000 people have been evacuated from the Kharkiv region. On May 13, the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleh Syniehubov, visited Vovchansk, supervising the evacuation process of local residents.

The Center for Countering Disinformation also noted that the goal of this campaign is to create a destabilizing situation in the region and discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are actively opposing the Russian occupiers in the Kharkiv direction.

Russia uses various means to influence public opinion both in its own country and at the international level. These means include not only “positive propaganda” but also complex “information operations”. The Jamestown Foundation wrote about this in more detail.

For a long time, the main line of Russian propaganda was to propagate the idea that truth is different or even non-existent. The main methods of such operations include spreading disinformation, manipulating ideas, exacerbating existing social conflicts, and discrediting the fundamental values and institutions of democratic societies.

The combination of cynicism and ideology led to the emergence of a unique Russian phenomenon known as “ideological cynicism”, where “geopolitics” became a cult without regard to moral guidelines or principles.

In addition, Russian propaganda uses contradictions in Western countries and between governments, as well as politicians' avoidance of real problems, to cause discord and deepening social polarization.

The most effective tools in these information operations have become “ideologies for export”, the essence of which is the creation of “mini-ideologies” — individual, often self-contradictory worldviews for different social groups. However, they can be countered through exposure and refutation.

By identifying the underlying strategies that underpin Russian propaganda, the West can develop more effective methods to counter Russian information operations and reduce global support for Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov, in an interview with a Bosnian TV channel, made a number of propaganda statements to discredit the Ukrainian peace formula in the international arena. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

In particular, Lavrov believes that the West is allegedly lying, claiming that the Russian Federation refuses negotiations, because “the Russian Federation is actually open to negotiations based on realities”. He also stated that “Ukraine and the West are not ready for a serious conversation about peace”, and “The peace formula is an ultimatum to the Russian Federation” and “an absolutely dead-end format”. Russia itself will not participate in any measures promoting the Ukrainian peace formula, noted the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry.

With such contradictory statements, the Russian Federation is trying to mislead the world community. Speaking about the supposed readiness for peace, the Russian Federation is only trying to relieve itself of responsibility for the war. The Kremlin sees a threat in the promotion of the Ukrainian peace formula, so on the eve of the Swiss summit, information attacks intensified, the Center adds. The ultimate goal of this campaign is to ensure that the World Formula is supported by as few countries as possible.

Journalists from the Finnish publication Yle claim that in May the Russian Federation seeks to use Eurovision and the World Hockey Championship as a platform for propaganda. Then the Russians plan to use similar narratives in the summer at the European Football Championship in Germany and the Olympic Games in France.

The publication adds that a similar campaign was previously recorded in the Latvian segment of social networks. Then a group of hockey players from Latvia took part in a tournament organized by Putin in Kazan. After this, the Hockey Federation introduced a number of bans, and thousands of bots suddenly appeared on social network X, speaking out in defense of hockey players and demanding to “separate sports from politics”.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that Moscow is going to take advantage of large-scale measures in EU countries to weaken Europe and slow down support for Ukraine. Previously, Detector Media wrote about how Russian propaganda reacts to the exclusion from the 2024 Olympic Games.

On the social network TikTok, videos of some “bloggers” are being distributed who promote the thesis about the alleged “illegitimacy” of the Ukrainian authorities with calls for Ukrainians to go to protests. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

This is happening as part of Russia's massive disinformation campaign called Maidan-3. Its goal is to destabilize the situation in Ukraine as much as possible, discredit the military-political leadership of the state, and also sow chaos and an atmosphere of mistrust in Ukraine.

The Center adds that such calls correspond to the interests of Russia, which is preparing for an offensive at the front and is interested in disorganizing the situation in Ukraine. And the main efforts aimed at this are being prepared for the 20th of May.

Statements by Russian figures about the need for destruction and withdrawal of the population of Kharkiv were accompanied by a constant stream of similar messages on social networks. Since the beginning of 2024, there have been signs of an organized campaign to fill the online space with alarming messages promoting the idea that Kharkiv will soon become uninhabitable. Mariia Avdieyeva writes about this for the Ukraine Alert Atlantic Council project.

In her opinion, the role of social networks in Russia’s information attack against Kharkiv is very important. Platforms such as Telegram, TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter) serve as platforms for carefully orchestrated Russian propaganda. Groups of accounts associated with the Kremlin are intensively promoting key propaganda messages on this topic. These include the hopelessness of the military situation in Ukraine, the inability of the Ukrainian state to protect its citizens and the likelihood that Kharkiv will suffer the same fate as Mariupol.

The Russian information attack is also expressed through the spread of false statements attributed to Ukrainian authorities. For example, accounts from Russia spread disinformation that the Ukrainian government was allegedly calling on residents of Kharkiv to immediately leave the city to avoid a cordon by Russian troops. Fake reports from Ukrainian authorities were also distributed that Kharkiv was on the verge of a humanitarian crisis.

These fakes usually look convincing and are almost indistinguishable from official communications from the Ukrainian government. They even come with detailed information about “safe escape routes”. As a result, many residents of Kharkiv are exposed to this misinformation and unwittingly become accomplices in the spread of Russian fakes.

In addition, propagandists use real news and distort it to mislead the population and provoke panic. For example, they described a series of planned evacuations from certain settlements along the front line as a full-fledged evacuation of entire districts of the Kharkiv region.

In addition to faking government announcements and deliberate distortions, propagandists are also actively distributing videos. One of them said that thousands of cars were allegedly leaving Kharkiv. However, it later turned out that this is archived video from the beginning of the invasion in the spring of 2022.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that the Kremlin has launched another disinformation campaign.

According to the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, the Russians are spreading fake news about the alleged division of prisoners of war into categories or about Ukraine’s reluctance to release individual defenders and defenders from Russian captivity.

This is done with the aim of sowing discord among the families of captured military personnel provoking artificial conflicts. At the same time, such actions indicate Russia’s recognition of the effectiveness and perseverance of Ukraine in the issue of the release of all prisoners, including defenders from the Mariupol garrison, the Center adds.

For Ukraine, the priority is the release of every captive, regardless of age, gender, religion or other characteristics. Previously, we analyzed a Russian fake about lists of Ukrainian prisoners of war, whom Ukraine does not seem to want to return.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council has recorded a new information campaign by Russian propagandists to discredit the approval by the US Congress of a bill to allocate almost $61 billion in aid to Ukraine.

According to the Center, the key narrative of Kremlin propaganda is: “US assistance will have no impact on the situation on the battlefield”.

Russia also promotes the following messages:

“Assistance will only prolong the war and lead to more casualties among Ukrainians”;

“Most of the funds will remain in the United States. Americans are enriching themselves at the expense of the lives of Ukrainians”;

“The allocated assistance will be the last that Ukraine will receive”;

“The United States provided assistance during the harsh mobilization in Ukraine”;

“Now, after the decision to help Ukraine, is the best time to negotiate a truce”.

Russian propagandists, on behalf of Alina Bondarchuk, deputy head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, claim that Ukrainian military prisoners are being used as part of the “Evader” flash mob.

In fact, Alina Bondarchuk did not make a corresponding statement. They write about this in the Center itself. There is no information with similar content on her official Facebook page, where the correspondence was allegedly taken from. In addition, the official profile of the Deputy Head of the Center has a different name and a different photo.

Such fakes are being spread as part of Russia’s large-scale information campaign called “Evader” in order to discredit the work of the Center, which, in particular, is counteracting this information campaign. Discrediting mobilization, sowing discord among Ukrainian society, and undermining Ukraine’s ability to defend itself are the main goals of this IPSO.

Users of such messengers as Telegram and Signal began to receive messages on behalf of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine that the Ukrainian authorities recommend that residents of Kharkiv evacuate from the city by April 22, 2024 due to its likely encirclement by Russian troops. In addition, these messages are accompanied by a reminder about what to do in case of evacuation.

In fact, the State Emergency Service stated that they did not send such messages to Ukrainians. The military leadership of Ukraine is constantly monitoring the situation and has not recorded any signs of Russia’s readiness to attack Kharkiv. They write about this in the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

The very messages about the evacuation from Kharkiv are informational stuffing aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine, the State Emergency Service notes and urges not to trust dubious sources of information.

This is not the first time that disinformation about the “evacuation from Kharkiv” has been spread. Previously, we refuted the information that “panic sentiments allegedly prevail in Kharkiv - city residents are leaving en masse”, “Ukraine allegedly announced the deportation of Kharkiv residents, preparing it for defense”, or that “Kharkiv authorities are allegedly planning to flee the city”.

The Russians launched a large-scale information campaign aimed at romanticizing evasion of mobilization and the evaders themselves. Videos have systematically begun to appear on TikTok and other social networks in which supposedly Ukrainian men film themselves abroad on vacation and call themselves “evaders”. This was reported by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Such content quickly gains views and comments from the audience - approving and critical, but discussions under these videos only propel them into trends. “Folk” songs have even been created for such videos, the lyrics of which always contain the main message – praise of the evaders, the GUR adds.

The following things indicate a targeted Russian information campaign:

the synchronicity of the appearance of numerous songs and videos “heroizing” men who refuse to stand up in defense of their own country;

anonymity of video authors;

promotion of this content by organized groups of bots.

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andrii Kovalenko, commented on the situation: “The pseudo-flash mob with the hashtag evader is another hostile IPSO. This is a classic technology of splitting society, which uses the same principle as the technology of splitting by language, only in this case the enemy incites hatred, leveling the constitutional obligation”.

Discrediting mobilization, sowing discord among Ukrainian society, and undermining Ukraine’s ability to defend itself are the main goals of this IPSO.

Read also: “Defending the Fatherland is a punishment”, “the party of draft dodgers would defeat the Servant of the People”. Theses of Russian propaganda on mobilization in Ukraine are in the MediaSapiens section.

According to Microsoft, Russian hackers have become more active over the past 45 days. At the same time, this activity is still less compared to the 2020 American elections. Reuters reports this.

Messages are distributed through traditional media and social networks by at least 70 cyber groups. Accounts linked to Russia spread controversial content, such as criticizing American support for Ukraine. Moreover, hackers spread disinformation in different languages and allegedly in the name of a “whistleblower” or “journalist”.

The fake messages are then published on a number of websites, including DC Weekly, Miami Chronical and Intel Drop. They write about this in the Center for Strategic Communications and Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. It should be noted that the mentioned resources are fake, created by Russians and, accordingly, information is distributed to them in the interests of Russia. Previously, we analyzed the manipulation of Russian propaganda, saying that the West and PACE are “interfering” in the Russian presidential elections.

The first episode of the Zelenskyi Unmasked project was recently released: Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyy? (“Zelenskyi without a mask: Who is Volodymyr Zelenskyi?”). It was brought to the attention of journalist Serhii Mamaiev and a detailed analysis on his YouTube channel “Special Projects of Serhii Mamaev”.

The series is hosted by Ben Swann, who calls himself an investigative journalist. But it is not so. Mamaiev found out that he was actually a television sports producer, and later a news journalist, producer and editor-in-chief of the FOX network affiliates and Russia Today America. Based on the released analysis, Detector Media presents the main messages consonant with Russian propaganda, which can be found within the first series of the project.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi did not know Ukrainian and came to power dishonestly

The authors of the film made many inaccuracies in the biography of the President of Ukraine, which indicates that the material was not carefully prepared. In particular, they also noted that Kryvyi Rih is located in the south of Ukraine, although the map that was inserted into the video refutes this. According to the creators of the project, Zelenskyi allegedly did not know Ukrainian at all before his presidency. However, in fact, he only did not use Ukrainian in everyday life.

In addition, the authors demonized both the creation of Kvartal 95, the transition of Kvartal to 1+1, and the series “Servant of the People”, the creation of the “Servant of the People” party and Zelenskyi’s participation in the presidential elections. Like, he is not who he claims to be.

The situation in Donbas is expected as it is historically a Russian region

The authors of the project repeated Russian propaganda cliches on Euromaidan and the war in Donbas from 2014. They deliberately did not mention the true reasons for the Revolution of Dignity and the shooting of students. The presenter also kept silent about the annexation of Crimea and Russia’s orchestration of the creation of the so-called LPR and DPR. The authors of the project do not talk about torture and executions of pro-Ukrainian activists in Donbas by Russians. Instead, all this is summed up with the message that Donbas is in fact a historically Russian region. However, Mamaiev notes that most of the residents of the eastern regions identified themselves as Ukrainians in the population census.

Zelensky is spreading ultranationalism in Ukraine

The presenter says that Zelenskyi allegedly betrayed his native Russian language and turned Ukrainian society towards ultra-nationalism. They say that discrimination against Russian-speaking Ukrainians is also evidenced by legislation restricting Russian music and literature. Allegedly, this was one of the reasons for the invasion. However, the authors do not mention that the Decrees on quotas on Ukrainian music and acts limiting the distribution of Russian literature came after the full-scale invasion.

Russia only wants to restore the USSR, and NATO and the USA really provoked it to attack Ukraine and sabotaged the peace process

The authors justify Russian aggression by saying that Russia simply wanted to rebuild the Soviet Union and presented this statement in a positive sense, as if what Ukraine is against looks strange. In addition, according to the presenter, it was the United States and NATO that provoked Russia into invading Ukraine, since NATO allegedly surrounded Russia on all sides. But even here the authors contradict themselves, since they show a map where NATO members indicate states that joined the Alliance after Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

Next, the authors tell how in the spring of 2022, Ukraine and Russia almost agreed on a peace agreement. However, according to the presenter, the peace fell apart allegedly because of the United States and Europe, which pushed Ukraine to continue the war. They say that it is because of them that Ukraine allegedly thwarted all agreements and continued repression within the country. However, in fact, the negotiations were stopped after the criminal actions of Russian troops in Bucha. And Russia calls “repression” any actions directed against violations of the law on cooperation with occupiers, deliberately dramatizing the situation.

Propagandists as project experts

A number of people who regularly play along with Russian propaganda provided their comments for the first episode. Among them is Andrii Telizhenko, a former Ukrainian diplomat who was a frequent guest on Medvedchuk’s channels, where he promoted relevant narratives. At one time, according to Mamaiev, he also tried to help promote the idea of then-President Trump, who supposedly Zelenskyi was collaborating with the US Democratic Party.

Another character in the project is Gonzalo Lira, about whose history we have written more than once before. The project repeats the story about the “illegality” of his detention. Like, in fact, he is in prison because of his criticism of Zelenskyi. However, the SBU, during Lira’s imprisonment, emphasized that the main charge for this was the justification of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Zelenskyi destroys religion in Ukraine

The authors of the project repeated the Russian message, complaining that Zelenskyi is trying to usurp religion in the state for himself, trying to delegalize the UOC-MP. However, they are silent about the fact that the priests of this denomination justified the invasion of Ukraine and aimed missiles at civilians. And not a word that Ukraine has its own church. The authors create the impression that Zelenskyi bans Orthodoxy in Ukraine as a whole, although this is not the case.

The United States has already made films about Ukraine, where they disseminated messages in tune with Russian propaganda. In particular, director Oliver Stone at one time began making films about dictators. In particular, in 2016 he published the work “Ukraine on Fire”, where he interviewed Medvedchuk. A year later, he recorded an interview with Putin.

Conservative media in the United States further spread skepticism regarding Ukraine, including through the spread of conspiracy theories. All this has a special context, given that the first impeachment of then US President Donald Trump was announced due to the phone call scandal with Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Since then, Trump fans have called the topic of Ukraine “toxic” and are trying in every possible way to reconcile Ukraine with Russia. This is clearly visible on Trump’s Truth Social, where we previously found a large amount of anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. This “information bubble” does not help Ukraine, and anti-Ukrainian messages are supported by the target audience of these media - recent polls from CBS News show that 61% of US citizens who identify as Republicans oppose assistance to Ukraine.

While monitoring the information space, the Center for Countering Disinformation discovered a fake telegram bot posing as the official account of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration. This bot directs users to an anonymous Telegram channel that distributes misinformation.

“If you come across a fake Chernihiv regional military administration resource, block it and do not follow any links. The Center calls on Telegram channel administrators not to create fake pages of official government agencies, so as not to mislead readers”, the Center for Countering Disinformation urges.

Fake telegram channels from authorities or officials may be created to spread misinformation. For example, in mid-July 2023, attackers created a fake telegram channel with the name of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov. This channel spread a fake that Budanov thanked Ukrainian patriots for the partisan special operation in Crimea. The news was replicated by both Ukrainian and pro-Kremlin media. Later it turned out that Kyrylo Budanov did not make such statements.

In November 2023, a fake page of the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, appeared on Telegram.

The head of the Poltava Regional Military Administration, Filip Pronin, said that scammers on his behalf are sending fake letters asking for financial assistance for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They write about this in the Center for Strategic Communications and Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. 

However, the Poltava Regional Military Administration did not send any such letters. Attackers are speculating on the topic of supporting the Ukrainian military. Pronin urged everyone who receives such letters to contact law enforcement officers.

Russian propagandists are distributing a video about the everyday life of two young Ukrainians: one is relaxing, having fun with girls, drinking alcohol and drugs, while the other is fighting.

Russian propaganda is trying to undermine the authority of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as sow discord in Ukrainian society. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

The authors of the video staged “two realities” of Ukrainians, deliberately manipulating sensitive topics for the Ukrainian people in order to attract attention and provoke conflict. However, Russian propagandists ignore the fact that Ukrainians enlist in the military not for popularity and “luxury conditions”, but to protect their country and future.

This manipulative video appeared against the backdrop of public discussions of the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization”. More materials on this topic can be found here.