Russian propaganda sources are distributing a video in which a woman says that recently “a certain percentage of Ukrainian citizens” have been buying real estate in Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region in order to “legally end up on Russian territory” in the coming years.

However, this information is not true, Ukrinform journalists write. In the video, the woman expresses only her own opinion, hinting that Ukrainians are supposedly hoping for Russia to occupy this region. She does not provide any evidence for her words, does not refer to verified and objective sources that could confirm this information.

The woman in the video is Maryna Onishchenko, a Ukrainian from Kharkiv who moved to Russia after the full-scale invasion. She is a collaborator and Russian propagandist, and runs a blog on the Russian video portal Rutube. In her videos, Onishchenko shows life in Russia and talks about how “Ukrainians live well in Russia, unlike life in Europe”. In particular, the propagandist’s “creative legacy” includes a video about how “Ukrainians fled Britain for Russia”. The woman also interviews foreigners who moved to Russia and spread various fakes about Ukraine on their social networks.

This is her latest disinformation campaign aimed at causing discord in Ukrainian society. Earlier, we analyzed the fake news that residents of the Kharkiv region allegedly supported the “referendum on joining Russia” for “approval of local authorities”.

Propaganda resources are spreading information that the military of the 5th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine began to collect “duties” from schools. Thus, the military allegedly demanded that the heads of Kharkiv Gymnasium No. 110 and Kharkiv Lyceum No. 170 collect humanitarian aid in exchange for evacuation from Kharkiv in case of danger. In the corresponding messages, the Russians refer to a publication on the Facebook page of the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade of the NGU dated October 5, 2024, which stated that Kharkiv Gymnasium No. 110 and Kharkiv Lyceum No. 170 collected humanitarian aid for the military.

In fact, the information about the “demand for humanitarian aid” is unfounded, the VoxCheck project reports.

Both educational institutions have regularly reported on the provision of aid to the military since at least December 2023. The educational institutions did not indicate the specific unit for whom the aid was intended, but in one of the posts they noted that it was for fighters in the Kharkiv and Donetsk directions. In particular, the 5th NGU brigade is fighting in these directions.

Kharkiv Gymnasium No. 110 often implemented various projects, within the framework of which children made trench candles, collected parcels for the military, drew leaflets that they handed over to the military. Lyceum No. 170 also prepared delicious treats for the soldiers. In turn, the 5th Slobozhanska Brigade indicated in its Facebook post that Kharkiv Gymnasium No.110 had been providing them with assistance since the fall of 2022. In addition, back in April 2024, Kharkiv Gymnasium No.110 and Kharkiv Lyceum No. 170 organized a joint meeting for the 5th NSU Brigade. There is no evidence that they did this under duress from the military.

Earlier, we published a refutation of the fact that in Ukrainian schools teachers “force” students to donate money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In social networks and on Russian websites, propagandists are spreading information that residents of the Kharkiv region allegedly “support the referendum on joining the Russian Federation” and that “Kharkiv authorities approved” the holding of such a vote. They claim that the head of the military-civil administration of the Kharkiv region, Vitalii  Hanchev, allegedly made a corresponding statement on this topic. The authors of such messages note that residents of the Kharkiv region allegedly “regularly make such requests” to the local administration.

In fact, this information is false. This was written by experts from the StopFake project. They found out that Vitalii Hanchev is a self-proclaimed and unverified “chairman” of the so-called Russian administration of the Kharkiv region. This “administration” is an occupation one and was created on the territory of Ukraine contrary to the norms of international law, and therefore has no legitimate power and the right to represent the interests of the residents of the Kharkiv region. According to articles in Russian media, the request for “holding a referendum” allegedly arose during a meeting with residents of the village of Hrakovo in the Kharkiv region, which is now located in a small occupied part of the Kharkiv region. Fact-checkers remind that residents under Russian occupation cannot freely express their opinions if they contradict Russian propaganda, due to the threat of repression.

In addition, Hanchev is a former police officer in the Kharkiv region and a collaborator. He is suspected of treason. According to investigators, the suspect went over to the side of the occupiers and agitated for loyalty to Russia. While in the village of Kozacha Lopan, he voluntarily took up the post of “head of administration” in the territory captured by Russian troops. Also in 2013, Hanchev worked as deputy head of the Derhachivskyi district police department with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Later, he moved to Luhansk, where he worked in the police structures of the so-called LPR. In Ukraine, Vitalii Hanchev faces life imprisonment for treason and collaboration.

As of today, the legitimate head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration is Oleh Syniehubov, and the overwhelming majority of the population of the Kharkiv region does not demand that the administration hold a referendum on joining Russia. As the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security notes, Hanchev's statements about the “referendum” are an attempt to use the media to drown out the effect of the successful operation. The Charter Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine cleared 400 hectares of forest, destroyed and captured a significant number of enemy personnel. In addition, even in 2022, when the Russian army controlled more than 20% of the Kharkiv region, the occupiers were not preparing for a “vote” like the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions. Then they limited themselves to Hanchev's statements that “it is not time for a referendum”.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that there is an energy collapse in Kharkiv “due to the Kursk adventure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. They add that all thermal power plants have been destroyed, “the city is completely left without electricity and heat”, and local residents “will not survive the winter and will freeze”. That is, propagandists assure that the destruction of power generation facilities in the Kharkiv region is allegedly a consequence of the Kursk breakthrough of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for which Russia is “taking revenge”.

In fact, this is disinformation, writes the StopFake project. Indeed, according to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, the Russians have actually completely destroyed all thermal power plants in the Kharkiv region. At the same time, Shmyhal assured that the government focused on the problems of the region and sent mobile units to the Kharkiv region. Also, as the Prime Minister reported, Ukraine has created a reserve of sustainability for the generation of electricity and heat. International partners, within the framework of the Energy Support Fund, financed the purchase of distribution generation equipment with a capacity of 170 MW. In addition, Ukraine is waiting for the delivery of another 291 units and 101 block-modular boiler houses.

To get through the autumn-winter period, the Kharkiv region received 35 cogeneration units. Of these, 21 have been put into operation, and another 13 will be put into operation by the end of this year. In the end, the region managed to decentralize heat and power generation, as well as reconstruct some of the facilities - that is why the city has almost uninterrupted electricity and water, despite constant Russian attacks.

Boiler houses, central heating points and heating networks of the Kharkiv region as of September 2024 are more than 90% ready for the heating season. Social facilities are more than 98% ready. Also, most institutions have generators and full autonomy in the field of water and heat supply.

StopFake journalists add that the 2023-2024 heating season in the Kharkiv region was as successful as it was possible under the conditions of constant Russian shelling. There were 518 boiler houses in the region and the city, heat was supplied to 7.6 thousand apartment buildings out of 8.2 thousand - that is, more than 90% of subscribers had heating in their apartments.

This fake news is part of the Russian disinformation campaign about a “hungry and cold” Ukraine, which Russia has once again started promoting ahead of the new heating season. Read more about what messages the Kremlin propaganda is spreading about the coming winter in the article by the Detector Media Research Center: Ukrainians are in for a terrible winter. What propagandists are writing on Telegram about the Ukrainian winter of 2024-2025

Russian media, citing a statement by the so-called “representative of the military administration of the Kharkiv region”, are disseminating information that the Ukrainian authorities are allegedly cutting off water and electricity to those residents of the Kharkiv region who refuse “forced evacuation”.

“The Ukrainian authorities have resumed the forced evacuation of the population in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region; local residents who do not want to go are being disconnected from water, electricity and gas”, the propagandists write.

However, the Ukrainian authorities allegedly intend to cut off electricity, gas and water to those who refuse to evacuate, as stated by the representative of the Russian occupation administration in the Kharkiv region, Yevhenii Lisniak, who is accused of collaboration. In the Russian media, he is called “deputy head of the military-civil administration of the Kharkiv region for defense and security”.

It is known that Yevgenii Lisniak lived in Kharkiv until 2014 and worked in the police with the rank of junior lieutenant. From 2015 to 2022, he lived in occupied Luhansk, where he worked in the so-called “Ministry of Internal Affairs of the LPR”. In April 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine reported in absentia that Lisniak was suspected of voluntarily taking a position in an illegal law enforcement agency created in the temporarily occupied territory.

On May 10, 2024, the Russian army launched an offensive in the north of the Kharkiv region. Due to the threat to the lives and health of local residents, the evacuation of the population from the city was accelerated on the same day.

Propagandists are spreading information that during Russia's missile strike on Kharkiv, facilities of the nationalist Azov battalion were hit, including a shopping center where the military allegedly set up their base. However, this is a fake.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes about this. They found out that this is a typical technique of Russian propaganda. Russia deliberately attacks civilian objects in Ukraine, committing acts of terror. Every time a Russian missile hits a hospital, school, shopping center or post office, propagandists claim that it was a “military object” or “Azov base”.

In this way, the occupiers are trying to shift responsibility to Ukraine, claiming that “the Ukrainian Armed Forces are using civilian objects and the population as a “human shield”.”

In fact, on September 1, Russian terrorists deliberately launched a missile attack on a shopping mall, the Sports Palace, and one of the Nova Poshta branches in Kharkiv. According to the city's mayor, Ihor Terekhov, 44 people were injured as a result of the shelling of these facilities, including seven children, the youngest child being only three months old.

A photo is being circulated on social networks, which is allegedly part of an advertising campaign for KharkivPride, calling on people to join the future Pride coming up in September.

The ad supposedly writes: “It’s better for the AFU to be a gay than a straight draft dodger. Take part in Pride! The country is proud of you”.

At the same time, propagandists ridicule representatives of the LGBTQIA community, saying that “homosexual soldiers” simply do not exist.

Firstly, there is no such announcement from KharkivPride. It is impossible to see such an image on their social media pages. And with the help of a reverse search on Google, it was possible to establish that this photo was published only on anonymous telegram channels.

Homophobia is one of the signs of Russian society, which it militantly defends. In particular, according to Putin, a full-scale invasion should supposedly become a means of protecting traditional values from Western norms that directly lead to degradation and degeneration, since they “contradict human nature”. The Russian government has fueled hatred of the LGBTQIA community, notably by passing a law in 2013 banning so-called homosexual propaganda. Later, at the end of 2022, Putin signed a package of laws prohibiting “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relationships” and “propaganda of gender reassignment and pedophilia”. Thus, a legislative initiative banned “LGBT propaganda” in any goods sold in Russia.

Read also: How Russian propaganda is trying to use LGBTQIA issues in the context of the war against Ukraine

In fact, Moscow shows that belonging to the LGBTQIA community is considered something unacceptable. Discrediting a person; or why a person is considered “wrong”. With the help of such messages, propagandists ridicule and humiliate the inhabitants of Europe. For example, Russian propaganda systematically discredits European officials, all of whom are “gays and lesbians”. Allegedly, homosexual orientation is a disadvantage and such a person cannot occupy high positions, be popular, etc.

Consumers of propaganda may be under the false impression that everything related to LGBT people is negative although homosexuality is as natural as heterosexuality.

Propagandists disseminate information in pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels that the slogan of Kharkiv Pride is supposedly the phrase “Better is an AFU gay than a straight draft dodger” (the original spelling has been preserved). However, this is fake.

The official accounts of Kharkiv Pride on social networks do not have this slogan. Moreover, the fakeness is indicated by the fact that the propagandists made a number of grammatical errors. In Ukrainian, the correct spelling of “evader” is not a copy of Russian and is not used by Ukrainians. In addition, the slogan itself is provocative in nature and was created with the aim of manipulating public opinion.

This fake is part of an information war aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian military and further dividing society. The use of such slogans aims to sow discord among citizens, cause negative attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community and discredit the Ukrainian army. Russians are trying in every possible way to increase homophobia through various manipulations and fakes. Thus, they want to justify their aggression against Ukraine. They say that Russia is fighting for real values that do not exist in the West.

Information is being spread in Russian telegram channels that Ukraine is going to surrender the Kharkiv region to Russian troops. Propagandists claim that this is evidenced by the “decision” of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to fire 10 thousand teachers in the eastern regions, in particular in the Kharkiv region, where it seems that only 40-50 schools will remain. Also, the number of children studying remotely is supposed to increase significantly.

After verifying this information in the Kharkiv Military Regional Administration, the Center for Countering Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council reported that it was untrue. Order No. 850 provides for a reduction in the school network, but with the transfer of teachers to the personnel reserve while maintaining their salaries. Contrary to the words of propagandists, the Ministry of Education and Science, on the contrary, plans to gradually move away from distance learning and move to offline or mixed format learning. It is planned to increase the number of distance classes in Ukrainian specifically for children abroad.

In fact, these days the discussion of draft order No. 850 on obtaining general secondary education under martial law continues. The order has not yet been approved by the Ministry of Education and Science and, accordingly, has not entered into force. The Ministry of Education and Science writes that after joint discussions and developments, they will make changes to the draft order and submit it for approval.

The Center for Countering Disinformation adds that with such stuffing, the Russians are trying to cause a negative attitude towards government bodies on the part of Ukrainian society. Previously, we analyzed the fake order of the Kharkiv Public Educational Institution on the evacuation of heads of local administrations along with their families.

Russian propagandists spread the news, allegedly the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov wrote a letter to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi with a request to investigate the corrupt activities of the chairman of the Kharkiv city council Ihor Terekhov.

VoxCheck analysts explained that such a document is fake. In fact, a number of errors indicate a falsification of the document. The press service of the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration confirmed that the document is not real.

For example, some errors are recorded in the “document”:

The correct spelling would be in such words: “Supreme Commander-in-Chief”,  “heads”, “criminal proceedings”, “during” etc.

Propagandists are distributing a video of the attack on Kharkiv on June 22, 2024 in anonymous telegram channels, claiming that the footage allegedly shows a French AASM HAMMER bomb, and not a Russian aerial bomb. However, this is not true.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to this. They recalled that on June 22, 2024, Russian troops carried out four air strikes on Kharkiv. One of the hits was in a residential building near the Levada railway station. According to preliminary data, the shelling was carried out from the village of Stroitel, Belgorod Region, using Su-34 and UMPB D-30 aerial bombs.

The video shows a building with a partially spherical shape, where the projectile arrives from behind the car. Maps show that the projectile arrived from the north, where the border with the Russian Federation lies.

When comparing the AASM HAMMER and the projectile in the video, it is clear that they have a different tail and nose, as well as a different shape. The AASM HAMMER has four small wings at the front and rear, placed symmetrically, while the video only shows wings at the tail.

The head of the Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office, Oleksandr Filchakov, claims that Kharkiv was shelled by a UMPB D-30 bomb. This is confirmed by the head of the investigation department of the Kharkiv region police, Serhii Bolvinov, and the head of the Kharkiv LLC, Oleh Syniehubov. UMPB D-30 is also different from the bomb in the video, which could be one of the modifications of the FAB-500, but definitely not the French AASM HAMMER.

Propagandists disseminate such information to deflect responsibility from Russia for its crimes and onto Ukraine's allies.

Russian telegram channels are distributing a photo of a “non-public” order of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, which allegedly states that the heads of local administrations of settlements were supposed to evacuate along with their families by June 3, and the mayor of Kharkiv was supposed to provide them with housing.

VoxCheck analysts explained that the document is fake.

After all, the contents of the order do not comply with the rules for drawing up official documentation:

- in the original orders, the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration spells out the word year in full, and does not abbreviate it, as they did in the fake document;

- the word “order” is used in the plural, although it is correct to write in the singular;

— the phrase “universal list” regarding heads of administrations is incorrect. In Ukrainian the correct word is “universal”.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are spreading information that mercenaries from Colombia have been transferred from the Ukrainian side to the Kharkiv direction. As “proof” of this, propagandists add the corresponding first-person video recording, allegedly of a Colombian firing from a dugout.

However, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council reports that this video is an orchestrated fake of Russian propaganda. First of all, there is no direct evidence or symbols in the video that indicate the person is a “Colombian mercenary”. There are also no documents, symbols, or evidence that could confirm this information. And the location of the shooting does not give any reason to claim that this is the Kharkiv direction. After all, the video doesn't show the face of the person filming, nor does his accent sound Colombian.

This fake video was created as part of a Russian disinformation campaign against “foreign mercenaries” in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Previously, we denied information that the Ukrainian Embassy in the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire allegedly recruits mercenaries to participate in the war against Russia.

Russian telegram channels are distributing photos of the alleged order of the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleh Syniehubov on the evacuation of administration representatives and members of their families from certain settlements of the Kharkiv region.

After verifying this information in the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council reported that the order was fake. The administration also noted that under number 121 B, indicated in the fake document, the Regional Military Administration already has another order. It is dated March 1, 2024 and concerns the re-issuance of a license to carry out educational activities in the field of complete general secondary education.

One should also pay attention to the design of the so-called order and the use in the text of the document of the expressions we order and general list, which does not meet the requirements of business speech.

The Russians are spreading this and other similar fakes with the aim of sowing panic among the population and destabilizing the already difficult situation in the region, the cause of which is primarily the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region and frequent terrorist attacks on Kharkiv and the region. Previously, we refuted the information that the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration allegedly fled the city.

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.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleg Syniehubov, allegedly fled the city and is hiding in Poltava.

VoxCheck analysts explained: no evidence of escape was found, and photographs and photos from social networks of the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration prove that Syniehubov remained in the city.

For example, the day after the “news” about the escape was published, the head of the Regional State Administration recorded a video message. In it, he said that he had instructed his relevant deputy to gather all participants in the process of constructing fortifications so that each contractor would report on the work done.

Another example: on May 16, Volodymyr Zelenskyi held a meeting of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief in Kharkiv. The head of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration was present at it.

Pro-Russian resources are spreading messages that say, “against the backdrop of the successful advance of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are seizing kindergartens and hospitals, and they plan to put Kharkiv itself under water”.

However, this is fake. The Defense Forces do not use objects protected by international law for military purposes. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

Typically, Russian propaganda broadcasts such fakes in anticipation of planning the next massive attack by Russians against civilian targets on the territory of Ukraine, the Center adds.

In addition, with the help of collaborators, this is not the first time that Russians have spread lies about the blowing up of a dam by the Ukrainian military and the flooding of Kharkiv. This stuffing can be launched as informational preparation for the next crime of the Russians.

Previously, we denied information that the State Emergency Service was calling on residents of Kharkiv to evacuate.

Information is being spread online that the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) allegedly predicts an early offensive by the Russian army in the Kharkiv direction. ISW believes that after the capture of the village of Lyptsi, the Russians will pull up their reserves and, with the support of artillery and aviation, will begin a full-fledged assault on Kharkiv.

In fact, this information is not true. This was reported by specialists from the VoxCheck project. On the Institute’s website one can find a summary, the map from which the fake news was published. However, the report does not provide forecasts for the rate of advance of the Russian army. Also, ISW does not believe that the Russians will try to storm Kharkiv.

The summary provides an assessment of the Russian offensive as of May 10, 2024 and an analysis of its goals. However, the Institute does not put forward hypotheses about how quickly the Russian army will advance in the Kharkiv direction.

The Institute’s experts indeed suggest that the Russian army has reserves that it is ready to later bring into battle in this direction. In its first attacks, the Russian Federation used a relatively limited number of personnel and equipment. However, the Institute does not believe that the enemy intends to carry out a large-scale operation to capture or encircle Kharkiv. ISW analysts suggest that the goal of this campaign is to push Ukrainian forces back from the border with the Belgorod region and advance into Kharkiv within range of cannon artillery, that is, closer than 25 km from the city. The institute estimates that it will most likely be difficult for the Russians to capture Kharkiv if the Kremlin makes such a decision. In addition, ISW claims that by their actions the Russians are trying to divert the maximum number of Ukrainian Defense Forces from other sectors of the front to the Kharkiv direction in order to intensify their own efforts in the Donbas: there they are trying to break through to the northwest of Avdiivka and in the direction of Chasiv Yar.

Previously, we refuted information that Russian paratroopers could supposedly land near Kharkiv in the rear of Ukrainian troops.

Russian telegram channels are spreading information that the State Emergency Service of Ukraine is sending out messages calling for people to evacuate from Kharkiv to a safer place.

However, the National Police of Ukraine reports that this is another Russian fake. There is no need to evacuate Kharkiv residents yet, the department adds.

The purpose of this fake is to sow fear and panic among Kharkiv residents. Even before the offensive of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region, Detector Media wrote about the increase in disinformation regarding the region. Yes, we have already refuted information about the “flight of local authorities”, “announcement of deportation of Kharkiv residents”, “panic mass exodus of Kharkiv residents from the city”, etc.

Russian propagandists claim that the Kharkiv Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center allegedly published an advertisement on its website in which local authorities allegedly require graduates of the National Pharmaceutical Academy and the National Medical University to register for military service. It's fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that in fact the Kharkiv Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center only has a Facebook page. Moreover, the propagandists do not provide any photographic evidence of the existence of these advertisements. They even stated the name of the institution incorrectly in their messages: the National Pharmaceutical University is not an academy.

After contacting the Kharkiv Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center, it became known that on their page there are no announcements about military registration of graduates. And such resolutions have not been published in other city institutions.

In addition, the new mobilization law allows the conscription of women into the army only with consent, and forced conscription of women is prohibited.

Propagandists spread such fakes to disrupt the mobilization process in Ukraine and intimidate the local population. Detector Media has repeatedly written about other fakes on this topic.

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.

Propagandists are spreading information online that Russian troops have allegedly entered Vovchansk, Kharkiv region, and that heavy fighting continues in the city.

In fact, there is no officially confirmed information about the presence of Russian occupiers in Vovchansk. The head of the Vovchansk police department, Maksym Stetsyna, said that on the night of May 13, 2024, the Russians continued to fire at the border Vovchansk from different types of weapons. And he added that the situation in the city is difficult, evacuation is underway, but there are no street battles and no Russians there.

The purpose of this information dump is to sow panic among residents of the region, as well as to exaggerate the successes of the Russian army at the moment. We previously wrote about how the Russians are waging a disinformation campaign in Kharkiv.

Russian telegram channels are spreading information that the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other Ukrainian military units have blocked the evacuation of civilians from Vovchansk, Kharkiv region. The purpose of such actions is to use city residents as “human shields”.

In fact, this information is not true. As of May 12, 2024, about 6 thousand residents were removed from the Vovchansk community and settlements in the Kharkiv region. At the same time, the evacuation of the civilian population continues. On May 13, it is planned to evacuate about 1,600 more local residents. According to the Kharkiv military regional administration, 200-300 people remain in Vovchansk. And they continue to communicate with them about leaving for safer places.

Due to the aggravation of the situation in the Kharkiv region, Russian propaganda has increased the number of information attacks related to this region, of a destabilizing and discrediting nature. At the same time, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council notes that the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to repel the Russian occupiers in the Kharkiv direction.

Even before the offensive of Russian troops in the Kharkiv region, we recorded an increase in disinformation regarding the region. Thus, we refuted information about the “flight of local authorities”, “announcement of deportation of Kharkiv residents”, “panic mass exodus of Kharkiv residents from the city”, etc.

Social networks in the Russian segment claim that the Kharkiv Territorial center of recruitment and social support published an announcement on its website. It notes that local authorities require female graduates of the National Pharmaceutical Academy and the National Medical University to register for military service.

Propagandists say that there is already panic among graduates, because they are probably planning to be sent to the medical units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the backdrop of “catastrophic” losses.

VoxCheck specialists found out that the fake robs did not even provide a photo of the so-called advertisement about which they wrote in their publications. And the Kharkiv Territorial center of recruitment and social support replied that there are no such announcements on their official page, that is, the information from the Russians is absolutely fake.

And on the pages of the National Pharmaceutical University on social networks there is no mention of the announcement of the military registration of graduates.

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.