Australia's national broadcaster ABC has released a documentary “The Ukrainian War: The Other Side”, in which British journalist Sean Langan covers the war through the eyes of the Russian side.

In particular, the film disseminates the following Russian propaganda narratives:

- in 2014, a coup d’état took place in Ukraine;

- Ukrainians from Donbas wanted to go to Russia;

- Ukrainians are Nazis supported by the West;

- Bucha is a fake;

- The Ukrainian Armed Forces use civilians as “human shields” and fire at civilians;

– Russia did not start the war, it is ending it.

That is, in attempts to show the “other” side, Sean Langan actually provided the Russians with a platform to justify their aggression against Ukraine. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

The dissemination of such materials to an international audience is promoting Russia and humiliating the Ukrainians, who today are fighting with blood for the right to freedom and independence. We previously wrote that the Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko called the film “the equivalent of a bowl of vomit”, contacted the country’s Ministry of Communications and asked for an explanation from the TV channel.

Also, in February 2024, a British journalist filmed a similar documentary with the occupiers near Avdiivka, which also turned into an oasis of Russian narratives.

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reports that the Kremlin has intensified its disinformation campaign against Ukraine in the Middle East.

Russia is intensively using its diplomatic missions and intelligence network, and various means of propaganda.

The task of the Kremlin’s next hybrid special operation:

● justify a war of conquest;

● discredit Ukraine and Western countries;

● impose unacceptable terms of negotiations;

● improve your own position in the region;

● achieve a reduction in the economic and political pressure that Moscow experiences due to aggression and the commission of war crimes.

Employees of the Russian embassy in Egypt, for example, received instructions from the Kremlin to hold a series of meetings under diplomatic cover to spread disinformation about the war and carry out recruitment activities.

Also, as part of this operation, the Russians are sending propaganda materials to the embassies of other states in Cairo, which justify waging war against Ukraine.

It is, in particular, about two “documents” entitled “On the role of the West in the conflict in Ukraine” and “On the situation around Ukraine”. These materials present a pro-Putin version of the history of Ukraine since the collapse of the USSR. And Russia, of course, is presented as a victim.

The key idea that Russia is promoting in the Middle East is that there is no alternative to the scenario it has imposed for ending the war.

Russia is silent about the situation in the Belgorod and Kursk regions - the Putin regime is not able to ensure security in the border areas. Russian authorities are hiding attempts by residents there to evacuate on their own, and are also blocking the evacuation.

That is, propaganda is doing everything possible to hide the truth about the security situation in the country. Russia’s goal is to use the population as a “human shield” and hold “elections” at any cost. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

Propaganda resources are spreading disinformation to prevent the evacuation of children from the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region, which is under massive shelling from Russia.

In such messages, residents of the Kharkiv region are called upon to refuse evacuation, intimidated by the fact that the Ukrainian Armed Forces military will immediately move into their homes, and their children will be taken to the west of Ukraine, where they will be persecuted for speaking Russian.

At the same time, propagandists are spreading stories glorifying Avdiivka women who “buried children from evacuation”. However, of course, Russian propaganda does not mention that in this way parents exposed their children to mortal danger, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council.

Propagandists present their “advice” as trusteeship, but the only goal of this campaign is to use the civilian population as a human shield to deter the actions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Russia systematically uses Ukrainian children for its criminal purposes, in particular by carrying out illegal deportations from the TOT. At least 20 thousand children have already been taken to Russia, for which a court in The Hague issued an arrest warrant for Putin.

The Center for National Resistance and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported that the Russians are trying to force Ukrainians to participate in voting for Putin.

The occupation pseudo-administration announced a flash mob called “The whole family goes to the polls”, in which participants must publish photographs of their families from “polling stations” on social networks. In this way, Russians hope to create the illusion of mass participation in the elections.

The Center for National Resistance adds that the occupiers informed all employees of fake government agencies in the occupied Luhansk region that participation in the flash mob was mandatory. You can also read about how Russian propaganda uses residents of (de)occupied territories and what to do about it in another material of the Detector Media.

In some schools in Mariupol, which is temporarily under occupation, brochures with anti-Ukrainian content are being distributed. This was reported by the Mariupol City Council and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

The postcards feature Russian propaganda clichés, namely Ukraine's “gay troops” and false comparisons. They say that Russia and its supporters are good, but Ukraine is a “wrong choice” and fascism.

The main goal of these materials is to justify and glorify the Russian occupiers and discredit the Ukrainian military. The main target audience of such postcards are children, which means that with their help they want to shape their civic position.

You can also read about how Russian propaganda uses residents of (de)occupied territories and what to do about it in another material of the Detector Media.

A team of propagandists from Kyrienko, the first deputy head of Putin’s administration, was involved in the Russian special operation Maidan-3 (M3). This is stated by the head of the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Lieutenant Andrii Kovalenko.

Also involved in the implementation of the special operation are the Russian special services - the Foreign Intelligence Service and the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, which are responsible for creating profiles on TikTok, Russian channels on Telegram, as well as bot farms from which disinformation is spread.

Moreover, Medvedchuk and his project “The Other Ukraine” have been added to this special operation, which “uses individual odious pro-Russian characters with Ukrainian passports working for Russia”, notes Andrii Kovalenko.

Let us recall that the Intelligence Committee under the President of Ukraine previously revealed the plan of the Russian special operation “M3”, the budget of which was $1.5 billion and the goal of which was to destabilize the situation inside Ukraine.

• Read also: During the spring of 2024, the Russian information special operation Maidan-3 will reach its climax - The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine

The Internet advertises sites that are allegedly associated with the ex-commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Resources are located on different domains and created by anonymous users.

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council reports that these sites are not associated with Zaluzhnyi, and Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have already been informed of their existence. Probably, behind the creation of these online platforms are Russians who are striving to split Ukrainian society, which is why they use different means to achieve this.

The sites lead to anonymous telegrams that collect information about users, which in the future can be used against citizens of Ukraine. The Center warns against registering on these resources and asks you to trust only verified sources.

In such messages, the authors, on behalf of the “prayer department”, offer to pray for the Ukrainian military who find themselves surrounded. For example, one of the messages talked about two Ukrainian brigades that were allegedly surrounded by 40 thousand Russian soldiers near Avdiivka.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reports that the vast majority of such messages are the work of Russian intelligence services.

This is evidenced by the following:

- sometimes messages are written in Russian, which may already be the first sign of it;

- in the structure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine there is no “prayer department” responsible for prayers;

- lack of specifics about the brigades and the time of the location of hostilities;

- the desire to evoke an emotional reaction in the reader in order to obtain maximum coverage;

- in the comments there may be calls for Ukrainians to give up.

Russians can manipulate even such intimate areas as religion, so you should not trust overly emotional messages and calls on this topic.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing a video in which an unknown person in a Ukrainian Armed Forces uniform allegedly shoots a serviceman for allegedly refusing to participate in assault operations. As propagandists write, the victim of the “execution” seems to be a soldier of the 425th Special Operations Brigade “Skala” of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

However, after verifying the information together with the StratCom of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other relevant structures of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Center for Countering Disinformation reported that this video was fake. It is impossible to identify the characters and the area, as well as determine the nationality of the participants in the video. In addition, 425th Special Operations Brigade “Skala” is part of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and not the Main Intelligence Directorate, as propagandists are trying to imagine.

Considering all the above-described signs of a fake and the fact that the video is being distributed by Russian resources, the Center reports that the video was probably shot by the Russians as part of the IPSO in order to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is not the first time that fake videos have been created to demonize the Ukrainian army. Here, for example, is an analysis of a video in which the Russian military allegedly captured a pregnant Ukrainian female soldier.

This was recorded by the fact-checker of the Brekhunets (Liar) project. They explain that Ukrainians began to receive messages seemingly from Ukrposhta that their parcel was “detained because it does not have a number”. In order for it to be sent, one needs to update their address by clicking on the link.

The Ukrposhta main office previously warned that messages with similar content could be sent on their behalf. Ukrposhta specialists are convinced that in this way scammers are ready to obtain users’ personal data in order to take possession including, for example, of their funds. Therefore, one should not click on unclear links.

Attackers in the Signal messenger send messages to Ukrainian Armed Forces military personnel on the topic of recruiting for the Third Separate Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), containing malicious software.

The hackers’ messages contain archived files, the launch of which will lead to infection of the computer with REMCOSRAT and REVERSESSH malware. At the same time, the attackers try to make the names and contents of the archives interesting for the military: “interrogation of a prisoner”, “geolocation”, “encoding commands”, “claims”, etc. Specialists from the American-Japanese company Trendmicro showed suspicious activity back at the end of December 2023.

Afterwards, the Ukrainian government computer emergency response team CERT-UA, operating under the State Special Communications Agency, took action on a series of cyber attacks. The team also noted that if suspicious activity is detected on computers and in information and communication systems of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the ITS Cyber Security Center (military unit A0334; email: csoc@post.mil.gov.ua ) should be immediately informed.

An information attack in the form of mass SMS messaging is aimed at Ukrainians located in different countries of the world. The messages were created in the style of Lubianka linguists: next to the cliché about the need to work together “to revive Kyiv  Rus to harm our enemies” there are phrases like “take care of yourself and your loved ones” or “save the lives of people” - Russian propaganda and threat in one sentence.

The Main Intelligence Directorate notes that in addition to the provocative content with a call to help Moscow expel “American Satanists” from the “original Russian land”,  Kremlin intelligence officers add the cynical one: “from Russia with love”.

The purpose of this information attack is to intimidate, demoralize and disorganize Ukrainian citizens. If you receive such messages, we urge you to ignore them and think critically.

On December 12, 2023, Kyivstar subscribers began to complain about communication failures, while at the same time the company’s website was unavailable for reasons unknown at the time. It turned out that the company was subject to a hacker attack. The Security Service of Ukraine has opened criminal proceedings into a cyber attack against a mobile operator. According to one version, Russian special services may be behind this.

Meanwhile, VoxCheck analysts recorded fraudulent messages that the operator was charging each subscriber a compensation of 200 hryvnia to their mobile account.

Kyivstar specialists wrote on their Facebook page that scammers have become more active on various platforms and are spreading false information about compensation. Because the company has not announced any such initiatives. Experts emphasized that users should not distribute personal data that could end up among scammers.

According to such reports, the next evacuation from Zaporizhzhia to “Odesa, Poland and Germany” was supposed to take place on December 11, 2023. However, after processing this information, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council found out that in fact no evacuation is planned. Such messages are part of the Russian IPSO. By resorting to such cynicism, propagandists pursue the goal of sowing panic among the population of Ukraine. If such a notification is received, the Center calls on citizens not to click on the links and block the number from which the SMS came. More enemy speculation on the topic of evacuation of Ukrainians can be found here.

This information was recorded by specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They explained that pro-Kremlin telegram channels are disseminating information about the defeat of the Grim-2 OTRK launcher. Video evidence is added to the messages.

However, in fact, the primary source of such “news” was a satirical telegram channel, the description of which clearly states that all messages are only humorous in nature. But in fact, the video depicts the defeat of Russian equipment. On December 6, 2023, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Ihor Klymenko published a video of the defeat of the Russian operational-tactical missile system on his telegram channel. It is most likely that the authors of the satirical channel used this particular video to create the news. And then the Kremlin resources replicated this.

Still, it is impossible to say that the Russians did not destroy Ukrainian equipment on the battlefield, because this is more than possible during the war. But propagandists deliberately exaggerate the significance of “destroyed” equipment on the battlefield, hinting at the supposedly low combat capability of the Ukrainian army. And they use supposedly reliable information to support such a thesis.

The head of the Main Directorate of Missile Forces and Artillery and Unmanned Systems of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Serhii Baranov, in an interview with the military radio station Army FM, when asked whether the Grim-2 installation was at the development stage, replied that the installation was “being improved so let the Russians experience its effects on themselves”.

Read here on how Russian propaganda devalues the weapons that serve Ukraine.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes that unknown people created an anonymous feedback bot on Telegram, allegedly on behalf of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, for complaints and suggestions from Ukrainians and other persons. Its name is @rustem_umerov_bot. However, Umierov does not have an account on Telegram, and the created bot is not official and has no relation to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the ministry said.

It is likely that the information collected can be used for Russian IPSO directed against Ukraine. Nothing prevents the enemy from resorting to innovative methods of conducting hybrid warfare, so collecting information for his own purposes is possible in this way. The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine asked “not to provide any information at the request of the individuals running this account, and also to file a complaint against it”.

Social networks began to spread messages in Ukrainian with the information that “our army liberated 270-300 km², losing 71 thousand soldiers killed”. The publications also say: in order to de-occupy all territories, it will be necessary to “kill” almost 29 million Ukrainians.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security analyzed such messages. They found out that such publications are Russian IPSO. As for the deoccupied territories, this is the case – as of September 10, 2023, the Armed Forces of Ukraine actually liberated about 270 km². However, the data on the number of Ukrainian military deaths during hostilities is invented, since this information is a state secret and will be made public by Ukraine only after the end of the war. It turns out that the “calculation” of future losses was made on the basis of imaginary data, so it cannot be considered reliable.

Propagandists manipulate information and create facts because they see this as effective and potentially influential on Ukrainian society. Such disinformation is spread with the aim of demoralizing Ukrainians and making them think about giving up. When reading similar cases that can evoke strong emotions, we encourage you to think critically. We also worked on the Russian information campaign, when on behalf of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy, recipes for dishes from pigeons and dogs were sent to Ukrainians in connection with the alleged crisis in the agricultural sector in Ukraine.

According to such reports, the shortage of medicines allegedly arose against the backdrop of Ukraine’s refusal to use medicines produced in Russia or Belarus, as well as due to complicated logistics. In addition, the letters contain advice on how traditional medicine can help in this case. This is the Russian IPSO.

The case was worked on by the Center for Countering Disinformation and noted that the Ministry of Health of Ukraine itself had already managed to refute this information. They reported that in fact there is no shortage of medicine, and added: Ukrainians have access to original and high-quality medicines both in pharmacies and in medical institutions.

The purpose of this pseudo-mailing is to discredit the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and sow panic among Ukrainians. Previously, we analyzed the message of Russian propaganda that expired medicines are allegedly being imported into Ukraine, which is why people are allegedly  dying.

The agricultural sector suffered significant losses, therefore, in order for ordinary citizens of Ukraine to at least somehow diversify their diet, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine allegedly sent out a mailing to Ukrainians with recipes for preparing dishes from pigeons, dogs, and Colorado beetles. This is the Russian IPSO.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Security investigated this case. They noted that the Ministry of Agrarian Policy itself had already denied the information. They stated that they did not do such a mailing and called it another attempt by the Russians to convince everyone around that there is famine in Ukraine.

Previously, we analyzed the message of Russian propaganda that Ukrainians are supposedly starving and must stand in line for free lunches.

Pro-Russian resources began distributing a video in which supposedly Ukrainian military personnel, introducing themselves as fighters of the 3rd battalion of the 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, complain to the President of Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief about poor command and heavy losses in Avdiivka.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project processed this case. They found out that the 110th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces responded to this video and refuted it. On the brigade’s official Facebook page they write that the video is not of their Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers, but of occupiers dressed in Ukrainian uniforms. In addition, suspicion was also aroused by the fact that the “military man” who complained on behalf of the battalion did not name his company, unit, position, surname or call sign in this “appeal”, although the video was recorded with open faces.

Propagandists are trying to demoralize Ukrainian society by spreading fake news like this video. They do this cynically, insidiously and resort to peculiar methods. Previously, we refuted the information that allegedly Hamas representatives recorded a video in which they thanked Zelenskyi for providing the weapons.

This information was recorded by specialists of the Brekhunets (The Liar) project. In the message, they said that private entrepreneurs in Volyn receive phone calls on behalf of tax officials, demanding money. During a telephone conversation, the attackers claim that the head of the state tax inspectorate of the local department of the State Tax Service in the Volyn region, Serhii Samchuk, is talking to private entrepreneurs.

However, this is a lie. Actually, Serhii Samchuk denied information about telephone calls from the tax service. He also warned entrepreneurs against fraud and urged them to contact the police if anyone receives such calls.

Anonymous Telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing a screenshot of an alleged article by the media Ukrainska Pravda with the headline “Officers of the 128th Brigade, suspected of selling weapons to Hamas, have died”. Also, Russian propaganda reports about 50 dead servicemen and hints that it was not an accident. It is not true.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation. In fact, such an article does not exist in the publication Ukrainska Pravda. As a result of the Russian attack, 19 soldiers of the 128 separate mountain assault brigade died, not 50, as the propagandists wrote.

In this way, the Russians are trying to discredit the Ukrainian military and continue to spread fakes that Ukraine is selling Western weapons to Hamas. Earlier, we refuted the fake that Hamas representatives recorded a video in which they thanked Zelenskyi for the weapons provided.

In the Ukrainian segment of the Facebook social network, an alleged poem by Taras Shevchenko is being spread, where he seems to predict the events of modern Ukraine: “The poor man cries, the rich man rejoices, and the government robs. Poor people bury sons killed in the war. A rich man who is full and proud makes a wedding”. However, there is no such poem in the works of the Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation. Taras Shevchenko does not have such a poem, and it is not written in his style. This was pointed out by the Ukrainian writer Oksana Zabuzhko: “Style, damn, style: no matter how the Chekist rabble disguises itself, no matter how it forges a voice for itself, as in the fairy tale about the wolf and the kid, the style will definitely betray them”. In her opinion, “Shevchenko's fakes” are “concocted in the style of an illiterate graphomaniac and thrown into the network as if they belonged to the pen of Taras Shevchenko, with a postscript, to encourage the spreaders, in the spirit of “oh how relevant, indeed a prophet! [...]”.

The original source of the fake poem is the Solomia Ukrainets Facebook page, which is not the first time that it promotes disinformation, anti-Semitism and pro-Russian narratives. In 2018, the publication Chitomo wrote about this with reference to the research Opora.

In this way, Russian propaganda tries to destabilize Ukrainian society, discredit the Ukrainian government and incite a rebellion against it. This “fake poem” appears in posts accusing the authorities of devaluing the lives of Ukrainians almost at the same time as Russian fakes that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is calling for a military coup.

On November 7, 2023, the US State Department issued a press release titled “The Kremlin’s Efforts to Covertly Spread Disinformation in Latin America”, which revealed that the Russian government is funding a disinformation campaign using local media throughout Latin America. They are doing this in order to undermine support for Ukraine and at the same time spread sentiments against the USA and NATO among the Latin American audience. The main goal of Russian propagandists, according to the message, is to create an organic space for spreading propaganda in the Latin American space.

Media representatives of the online edition Espresso informed about the publication. In particular, the press release also noted that Moscow uses an extensive system of spreading false information: from websites to state media, in order to increasingly infiltrate Western discourse.

At the same time, the message of the State Department explained how such a disinformation campaign will work in general: first of all, they plan to organize a trained group of specialists of the editorial team, and the editorial board will be formed, for example,  by journalists and leaders of public opinion from the Latin American region. Subsequently, the team in Russia will create and send materials to the Latin American media for review, editing and appropriate final publication in local media. In addition, the Russian team anticipates that their materials will be “personalized” for the Latin American consumer — adding a local context and thus creating a specific plane for unobtrusively spreading pro-Kremlin narratives.

Among other things, translation technology from Russian to Spanish will be involved. Moreover, the translation will be carried out by a Russian specialist who is proficient in the Spanish language. Presumably, in order to prevent the loss of the main context in the messages, the Russian translator will maintain the mood required by the Kremlin.