Propagandists are distributing a photo of an allegedly official document on anonymous Telegram channels, which talks about punishing relatives of those evading mobilization in Ukraine. It is noted that the document was signed by the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal.

The Center for Countering Disinformation writes about this. After checking at the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, it was established that this document is a forgery. Its format does not meet editorial standards, since the Prime Minister does not write such letters, but issues instructions that have a different structure.

The document also contains grammatical errors, and the number indicated in it does not comply with the standards of the Cabinet of Ministers. It was also established that a document with such an original number does not exist at all in 2024.

This fake is aimed at creating panic among the population and discrediting Ukrainian state institutions. Propagandists use such fakes to undermine trust in the government, sow distrust among citizens and increase tension in society. By creating the illusion of helplessness of state structures and unfair persecution, the enemy is trying to break the morale of Ukrainians and weaken their resistance. This is also part of a wider information warfare campaign aimed at undermining unity and harmony in Ukrainian society.

The Ukrainian pro-Russian Telegram channel writes that earlier, when replenishing the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the bet was made mainly on residents of the eastern, southern and parts of the central regions of Ukraine, but now it is the turn of the west of the country. Until recently, the region significantly lagged behind in carrying out mobilization “with the tacit consent of the central government”.

Allegedly, the serious depletion of mobilization reserves in South-Eastern and Central Ukraine forced Kyiv to forget about the “privileged” position of the western regions and resort to a forced expansion of the zone of forced mobilization.

However, back in 2022, the then head of the personnel department of the headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Roman Horbach, claimed that there were more mobilization plans in the western regions, since more citizens lived there.

The propaganda message also says that the western regions are the leaders in the number of evaders. And the innovations have already caused a storm of discontent among the local population, “accustomed to showing patriotism only in words, but not in deeds”.

In fact, no precise data on the distribution of mobilized people by region is published in open sources. There is no corresponding data on those who evade. Such statements are nothing more than a fabrication of propagandists, which aims to divide the Ukrainian people and set people from different regions against each other.

Let us recall that earlier propagandists had already spread disinformation that supposedly in Ukraine men from pro-Russian regions were being massively mobilized, while pro-Western ones were allegedly not being touched.

Russian Telegram channels are distributing a video that allegedly talks about cases of abuse of mobilized soldiers in the 128th separate mountain assault Transcarpathian Brigade. According to the propagandists, this footage was filmed by one of the brigade's combat medics.

However, the Center for Countering Disinformation, having verified the information in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, reported that the disseminated recordings about the alleged cruel treatment of mobilized personnel are another Russian propaganda leak. The Center added that an investigation was conducted, as a result of which no facts were found that confirm the statements of the author of the aforementioned videos.

This fake is aimed at undermining the mobilization process in Ukraine and discrediting the Ukrainian defense forces. Russia shows that the Ukrainian army allegedly treats newly mobilized people badly, thereby trying to reflect the desire of Ukrainians to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Earlier, we analyzed the disinformation that Olena Zelenska called on women to mobilize.

Russian Telegram channels are spreading information about the search for armed prisoners in the “Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovohrad regions” who, after signing a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, voluntarily left the military unit. The propagandists add that these individuals, known as the “Dnipropetrovsk maniacs”, are guilty of numerous murders.

However, the information about the escape of these persons is not true. According to the records of the Information Subsystem of the National Police, they are not wanted - this was reported to the Center for Countering Disinformation by the Head of the Communications Department of the National Police of Ukraine Olena Berezhna. In addition, the “wanted announcement” mentions “Dnipro region”, but such a region does not exist in Ukraine, which further indicates that this news is fake.

Also, the persons in question could not sign a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine due to the current restrictions of the Ministry of Defense, the Center for Countering Disinformation adds (persons convicted of murdering two or more people cannot sign a contract and leave prison).

By spreading such disinformation, propagandists seek to discredit the bill No. 11079-1 adopted in May 2024 on the mobilization of certain categories of convicts. Thus, we have previously documented similar fakes. For example, on mobilized prisoners who allegedly sell drugs in the Sumy region.

Anonymous Telegram channels are distributing a photo of order No. 413 allegedly from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine for July 29, 2024, which orders the invalidation of decisions by military medical commissions. It is about decisions by the military medical commissions made after 2022 in the Kyiv, Lviv, Zhytomyr, Vinnytsia and Odesa regions. A screenshot of the “order” is added to the publications.

VoxCheck analysts explained that such an order from the Ministry of Defense simply does not exist; it was forged.

For example, the Ministry of Defense did not publish such orders on the official website. The Ministry of Defense page contains only one order No. 413 for 2020, and it does not concern the decisions of the Military medical commissions.

The so-called document was forged, as indicated by numerous errors. For example, the fakers wrote the wrong date, document number, and added extra punctuation marks in the sentence - “Regulations on the Ministry of Defense (Ukraine, approved by the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated October 19, 2016 ME 730)”.

Or else, in the first paragraph of the order they wrote “regional”  not in Ukrainian, and in the second paragraph they incorrectly used a comma:  “...documentation, issued during the same period”.

Pro-Kremlin media are distributing a screenshot of news allegedly from Ukrainska Pravda about the cancellation of school certificates and higher education diplomas for men who have not updated their data in the Territorial centers of procurement and social support. These changes allegedly occurred in accordance with a Cabinet of Ministers resolution. 

But VoxCheck fact-checkers took up this case and found out that it was a fake photo. The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine did not issue a resolution with such content. The fakers forged a screenshot of the Ukrainska Pravda article, replacing the title and illustration of the original material.

There is no corresponding article on the website or in social networks of Ukrainska Pravda. At the same time, the screenshot indicates the time and date of publication of the “news” - August 14, 15:11. Currently, the publication has published an article by the author Valentyna Romanenko under the title “The General Staff called on Ukrainians and foreigners not to enter combat zones without permission”. It did not talk about the cancellation of certificates.

Propagandists have recently started to fake stories and materials from well-known media outlets, using their design elements to create the effect of recognition and trust in one of the quality media outlets. For example, we recently reported that anonymous people were spreading a fake story from the supposedly French publication Le Figaro, which spoke about a “Ukrainian refugee-murderer”.

Propagandists are distributing a photo of an “order” allegedly issued by the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine on reducing the number of budget places for men of draft age on anonymous Telegram channels with pro-Russian rhetoric. They claim that the reason for this decision is the need to replenish the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. However, this document is fake.

It was brought to the attention of specialists from the BAHMUT.IN.UA page and the Center for Counteracting Disinformation. They found out that on the official website of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine there is not a single order providing for a reduction in the number of budget places for military-liable men aged 18 to 25 years. As of August 19, there is only a regulatory legal act “On the conditions and procedure for holding the all-Ukrainian competition Teacher of the Year - 2025”. In addition, order No. 498 was already issued on May 5, 2021 and concerns issues of holding the External Independent Evaluation in 2022.

The Decree of the President of Ukraine on general mobilization for 2022 cannot be the basis for reducing the number of budget places for men of draft age. When entering any university in Ukraine, budget places are not distributed by gender or age. In 2024, anyone who scored more than 130 points (or 150 points for some specialties) of The national multi-subject test could apply for education at public expense. Also, applicants to art and sports specialties passed a creative competition, which had a greater influence on the competition score than The national multi-subject test - 60%.

Given the high demand among military-liable men for admission to universities, the Ministry of Education and Science has taken a different approach. In particular, for those entering postgraduate studies, the Ministry of Education and Science has increased the number of budget places, canceling the contractual full-time form of study, which previously provided a deferment from mobilization.

By spreading a fake order, Russian propaganda is once again trying to arouse feelings of indignation and injustice among Ukrainians. Studying at public expense is the right of every Ukrainian man and woman who has fulfilled all the conditions for joining and passed the rating list. Propagandists also want to disrupt mobilization in the country and discredit this process.

Propagandists are distributing on anonymous telegram channels an image of a postcard on which First Lady Olena Zelenska allegedly calls on Ukrainian women to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In fact, this postcard is another fiction.

This was brought to the attention of specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation, as well as the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They found out that there were no such materials either on the official websites of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine or on the department’s pages on social networks. Also, this information is not available on the official resources of the Olena Zelenska Foundation.

The purpose of this fake is to discredit the mobilization campaign in Ukraine and Olena Zelenska personally in order to undermine trust in the Ukrainian authorities and cause negative sentiment in society. Propagandists are trying to create the idea that mobilization is so critical that even the First Lady is allegedly involved in calls to join the army. In addition, this is an attempt by Russian propaganda to manipulate Olena Zelenska’s interview with the British media platforms Daily Mail and The Mail on Sunday, where she commented on proposals to cede territories for the sake of peace and spoke about new war crimes by the Russians. Propagandists use such manipulations to further distort her words and influence public sentiment both in Ukraine and abroad.

A photo of the poster is being circulated online and claims that it belongs to the advertising campaigns of the Ministry of Defense. The poster depicts a motorcyclist and a call to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine to help the country win.

“In Ukraine, motorcyclists are offered to immediately be sent to the front. Well thought out”, the propagandists write.

VoxCheck specialists were able to analyze the case and establish that such a poster does not bear any signs of information campaigns of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense or military brigades. And a reverse photo search on Google showed that for the fake ad, the propagandists used photos of the Ukrainian military and the motorcyclist, which are in open sources.

Also, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine does not conduct an information campaign with such slogans. There are no similar calls on the official website of the Ministry of Defense, as well as on its social networks on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine have a specific brand book: guidelines for the use of graphic style in visual communication of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At a minimum, the fake poster does not even meet the design requirements of the Ukrainian Defense Forces.

Anonymous telegram channels are spreading information that in Ukraine they seem to be preparing to mobilize students. They will undergo practical training in active military units, where they will be involved in the construction of defense positions, work in command posts and security.

VoxCheck project specialists have established that, according to Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 734, during basic military training, students will undergo practical training in training centers, regional centers for preparing the population for national resistance, police training centers, etc. Until the age of 25, they will have a deferment even after completing basic military training.

On June 21, 2024, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine adopted Resolution No. 734. It talks about the approval of the procedure for conducting basic combined arms training of Ukrainian citizens receiving higher education and police officers. This military training will consist of theoretical and practical parts. Preparation will become a separate academic discipline, mandatory for boys and voluntary for girls. For students who entered the university on the basis of complete secondary education, it will begin from the 2nd year.

Pro-Kremlin resources continue to promote the topic of mobilization, hinting at the decline of the military, the lack of personnel, that Ukraine needs to “resort” to radical decisions and mobilize women. Anonymous telegrams accuse Ukraine of being a “military meat grinder”, explaining that now it will be impossible to escape “grave”: neither children, nor elderly people, nor women.

Network users are distributing a video in which a Ukrainian citizen allegedly tries to illegally cross the border using a light boat. The description of the video indicates that the man, in an attempt to avoid mobilization, decided to flee to Hungary by swimming across the Tysa near the Lonja-Zvenkova checkpoint. But the “Ukrainian’s” boat flew into the cable at high speed and capsized, causing the man’s death.

However, this video has nothing to do with the mobilization process in Ukraine. This was reported by the StopFake team. The events in the video took place on the morning of August 3, 2024 in the Szabolcs-Szatmar-Bereg county in Hungary. Hungarian media reported that day that a patrol boat crashed into a rope at high speed. At the time of the accident, there was only one local policeman on the boat - he survived and swam to shore on his own.

The Hungarian publication Szon reports that the incident occurred due to inattention while driving, as the policeman should have waited for the cable to lower. The ferry operator who witnessed the incident told reporters that he tried to signal to the police officer to slow down, but he did not notice or ignored him.

Playing on emotions and spreading fake news about such incidents is part of Russia’s traditional disinformation campaign aimed at undermining the mobilization processes in Ukraine and discrediting its army, political and military leadership. Also, the purpose of the fake is to create an atmosphere of tension among Ukrainian society. Previously,  Detector Media recorded a fake that Budanov allegedly proposed to mobilize Ukrainians from the age of 18.

Propagandists are actively spreading disinformation, claiming that the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, allegedly supported the idea of lowering the mobilization age in Ukraine to 18 years. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Security drew attention to it. They found that Russian propagandists had taken Budanov’s words out of context, which he said during a meeting with students and teachers of the Kyiv School of Economics. At this meeting, he did not support the idea of lowering the mobilization age, but only voiced the calculations of the Russian side: if Ukraine starts mobilizing citizens from 18 years old instead of 25, it will be able to resist Russia until 2033. However, he immediately criticized this idea, noting that Ukraine values the lives of its citizens, and prolonging the war for such a long period is unlikely, since “no economy can withstand so much time in a state of war”.

This fake is part of an information campaign, the purpose of which is to demoralize Ukrainian society, create panic and attempt to disrupt mobilization processes in the country. Russian propaganda is trying to push Ukrainians to believe that their leadership is ready to sacrifice young lives, while the reality is completely different. Russia seeks to split the unity of Ukrainians and raise doubts about the advisability of defending their country, thereby simplifying its tasks at the front.

Russian propagandists are distributing photos of an announcement in one of the Ukrainian grocery stores. It warns that the store imposes a 20% tax on Territorial center of procurement and social support employees. However, this is a fake photo.

The “announcement” distributed online contains signs of editing, and stores do not have the right to independently introduce taxes, especially discriminatory ones. This was reported in the VoxCheck project.

Checking the photo “ad” in the FotoForensics tool using ELA analysis (Error Level Analysis), which highlights areas of the image with different levels of compression, indicates obvious signs of editing.

Also, the Tax Code of Ukraine provides for the equality of all payers before the law and the prevention of any manifestations of tax discrimination, such as social, racial, national, religious, etc. Place of employment also cannot be a cause of discrimination. Such discrimination contradicts Article 24 of the Constitution of Ukraine, which enshrines the equality of citizens. According to Article 17 of the Law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”, the needs of all consumers must be satisfied equally. That is, for the independent establishment of such taxes by the store, administrative, and in some cases, criminal liability is provided.

There are no taxes at all in Ukraine; the store can set it for the buyer independently. There are only national and local taxes and fees. National taxes are established by the Verkhovna Rada, which also determines the list of local taxes established by local councils.

With such fakes, Russian propagandists are trying to disrupt mobilization in Ukraine and sow discord in Ukrainian society.

Propaganda sources disseminate information that representatives of the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support kidnapped and brutally beat 20-year-old Lviv student Oleksandr Hashevskyi, who came on vacation to the Carpathians. According to propagandists, after the beating the guy was not provided with the necessary medical care; they began to drive him around the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support in the Ivano-Frankivsk region in order to “register the case”. Subsequently, the body of allegedly Oleksandr Hashevskyi was found in the Tysa River. Thus, the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support workers allegedly decided to cover up the murder and make it out of the fugitive.

In fact, information about the disappearance of 20-year-oldOleksandr Hashevskyi while on vacation in the Carpathians was manipulated. On July 17, 2024, on the banks of the Tysa River, Hungarian border guards discovered the body of a man, in whose pocket they found a student card named Oleksandr Hashevskyi. However, identification of the body is still ongoing. Already on July 18, law enforcement officers opened corresponding criminal proceedings in Lviv.

Oleksandr’s father, Mykola Hashevskyi, suggests that his son could have been detained by Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support representatives. However, there is no evidence of this. Representative of the Transcarpathian Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support Serhii Hudak, in a comment to the Suspilne (Public), said that information about Oleksandr Hashevskyi was checked in the databases and there was no such person in the territorial recruitment centers of the region.

The Public also asked for comment from the press officer of the Ivano-Frankivsk Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support, Dmytro Boikaniuk. He replied: “The representatives of the Verkhovyna Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support did not stop, disembark or check this person (Oleksandr Hashevskyi - Ed.). No one saw him there and no one knew him. He was not a member of the Verkhovyna Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support”. Representative of the Mukachevo border detachment Lesia Fedorova added that the border guards also did not detain Oleksandr Hashevskyi.

Official investigative actions and the search for Oleksandr Hashevskyi are still ongoing, and his parents are awaiting the results of a DNA examination. The 20-year-old's parents also went to Hungary for an identification procedure, but they were unable to identify the body.

So, the information about the brutal beating and murder of Oleksandr Hashevskyi by representatives of the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support has no real evidence. Propagandists have manipulated an individual incident and are trying to present it as a trend by distorting the circumstances of what happened.

In the Polish segment of social networks, they are distributing photos of Ukrainian fighters and adding that “Zelenskyi lied when he said that women would not be at the front, they would be mobilized en masse and even mocked at them”. Actually, in support of this thesis they add photos of women practicing certain exercises while lying down.

It turned out that these were photos from training, created by photographer and correspondent Andrii Dubchak. That is, the photographs are real and there are fighters in them, although no one is “bullying” at them; they are training to perform further combat missions.

Previously, we explained the message that they were supposedly recruiting women “massively” from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine because the men were “already tired”. And now Moscow is trying to work on this topic by demonstrating the negative attitude of the Ukrainian leadership towards its citizens. Allegedly, both women and men are already being recruited to the front. But there is nothing wrong with women expressing their own desire to serve. Kremlin propaganda presents such a situation as forced and irreversible: as if the Ukrainian leadership is ready to “recruit” everyone so that there is someone to fight. Although this is all the absolute will of the citizens.

Women can be drafted into the army only with voluntary consent, that is, forced mobilization is prohibited. Cases of forced mobilization of women were not recorded even before the adoption of the relevant law. Moreover, the situation of a child being left without guardianship, since both parents have been mobilized, is simply impossible. Indeed, according to the law, persons who have a minor child/children and a spouse who is already serving in military service are not subject to mobilization.

Russian telegram channels are distributing a video of a “telephone conversation” between a woman and an alleged Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee. In the video, during a conversation, a Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee threatens a woman to take her away along with her “evader -  husband”.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed the case and found out that this video was staged. The author of the video did not provide any information about the Territorial center of recruitment and social support employee who called, his phone number or a Territorial center of recruitment and social support address.

Previously, we explained the message that they were allegedly recruiting women “massively” from the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine because the men were “already tired”. And now Moscow is trying to work on this topic by demonstrating the negative attitude of the Ukrainian leadership towards its citizens. Allegedly, both women and men are already being recruited to the front. But there is nothing wrong with women expressing their own desire to serve. Kremlin propaganda presents such a situation as forced and irrevocable: as if the Ukrainian leadership is ready to “recruit” everyone so that there is someone to fight. Although this is all the absolute will of the citizens.

Pro-Russian telegram channels cited the publication of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine and Facebook about the adoption of a law on the mobilization of convicts. In fact, the adopted law provides that prisoners can enter into a contract with the armed forces of Ukraine and subsequently serve in specific units of the defense forces.

“The men are running out: female prisoners are being massively recruited into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, the propagandists summed up.

In fact, according to the law, the opportunity to join the army is given not only to convicted men, but also to women. According to the publication, as of July 24, 2024, seven convicted women expressed a desire to join the fighters and soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Among other things, out of 6,101 convicts who expressed a desire to fight, 3,832 people have already left penal institutions for special training. The publication does not indicate how many of the 6,101 are women and whether there are any at all; it was about seven convicts, which means that the propagandists simply invented a massive “tendency to hire women”. In addition, the post of the Ministry of Justice clearly states that the signing of a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine occurs directly by expression of will and otherwise.

However, there is nothing wrong with women expressing their own desire to serve. Kremlin propaganda presents such a situation as forced and irreversible: as if the Ukrainian leadership is ready to “recruit” everyone so that there is someone to fight. Moreover, they demonstrate this in such a way that Ukrainian women are taken to the front because there seem to be “no more men left” - thus demonstrating misogyny about the possible fights, which become only a “replacement” and only “weaken” the situation at the front.

The Russian information field is disseminating information that Moldova seems to be ready to cooperate with Ukraine on the issue of “surrendering evaders”. Thus, propagandists refer to the “statement” of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Mihai Popsoi: “We have carried out all stages of negotiations with Ukraine and will begin to extradite wanted Ukrainians. Since August, our Ministry of Internal Affairs has begun to closely interact with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine”.

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In fact, this information has already been denied by the Moldavian Foreign Ministry. In particular, they noted: “Mihai Popsoi never made this statement public. When Minister Mihai Popsoi makes a public statement, it is transparently broadcast every time on the communication platforms of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the minister. The erroneous reference to fictitious statements is part of a deliberate disinformation campaign targeting the Republic of Moldova”.

The department added that the purpose of this fake is to split Moldovan society or simply misinform it.

Previously, we analyzed such fakes and manipulations. For example, they recorded lies that Ukrainian refugees would allegedly be “squeezed out” from the EU and sent to war.

Propagandists are disseminating information in the foreign segment of telegram channels that the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine has allegedly stated that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are massively mobilizing female prisoners. They claim that this indicates that the Ukrainian army does not have enough men due to too high losses. However, this is fake.

The Justice Department has made no such statements. Propagandists made this fake based on a message on the department’s Facebook page, which talks about seven imprisoned women who signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russian propaganda uses exaggerated and distorted data to create the illusion of a crisis in the Ukrainian army. In fact, Ukrainian military units are recruited on the basis of voluntary recruitment and mobilization in accordance with the law.

The spread of such fakes aims to demoralize both Ukrainian society and military personnel, creating the impression that the army is in a state of crisis and is forced to take extreme measures. Russian propaganda uses such messages to create information noise, making it difficult to distinguish true news from fake news. The goal is to divert attention from real events and crimes committed by Russian troops.

On July 26, 2024, the online publication Odessaonline received an email, allegedly from the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with a request to publish an article entitled “It’s time to return what’s yours!”. However, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security confirmed that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the GUR did not send any letters to local media.

The article contained obvious signs of Russian stuffing, describing the unfavorable situation at the front and groundlessly accusing the country's leadership of disrupting mobilization. In particular, it was argued that:

the military command assumed mobilization powers;

informing law enforcement agencies about people evading their constitutional duty is encouraged;

representatives of the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support have permission to use weapons to detain persons liable for military service without reason.

However, this is not true. Such disinformation is aimed at creating resistance among citizens regarding joining the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as fueling panic and the desire to leave Ukraine.

The purpose of this information operation was to sow distrust in the Ukrainian government and military command, reduce morale among military personnel and civilians, and create an atmosphere of fear and panic. Propagandists sought to arouse resistance among citizens to mobilization and military service, as well as to provoke internal conflicts and divisions in society.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are distributing a video in which allegedly Territorial center of recruitment and social support employees are fighting with a teenager on the street. Propagandists label this video as “a failed violent mobilization” because a passerby stood up for the guy.

In fact, this video has nothing to do with the mobilization process in Ukraine, the StopFake project reports. It shows two men in olive-colored jackets advancing on a teenager before another man wearing a white hoodie attacks them from behind. However, not a single person in this video was dressed in military uniform or had any identification marks or other elements that would indicate that they were military personnel, and Ukrainians at that.

Thanks to Google's reverse search function, StopFake journalists were able to establish that this video has been circulating online since at least May 2020. And it was filmed not in Ukraine at all, but in Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Then the Belarusian websites that published it wrote that the incident filmed took place in Minsk in the Malynivka microdistrict, where two drunk men came into conflict with a 15-year-old teenager.

With this fake, propagandists aim to once again discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine and assert that everything is so bad at the front that they are already starting to mobilize even minors.

Previously, we denied information that the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers beat up an ethnic Hungarian in western Ukraine.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are spreading information that Ukrainians will be forced out of the countries of the European Union and sent to fight. In reporting this, propagandists refer to an allegedly corresponding statement by Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski on the air of the Polish radio RMF24.

In fact, Sikorsky's words were manipulated. He stated that conversations about the extradition to Ukraine of those evading their duty to serve are being conducted at the level of the European Union. Thus, it is not about all Ukrainian refugees, but about men of military age who are evading military service. In addition, no decision has been made on them, at least not yet, because this issue is still debatable.

The Polish Foreign Minister also stated that “it is possible to set such conditions for the stay of Ukrainians in the EU that will encourage them to fulfill their responsibilities to protect the Motherland”. However, it was not said here that all Ukrainian refugees would be sent to war as Sikorski spoke exclusively about men liable for military service.

With this stuffing, propagandists seek to fuel the narrative about the alleged “war until the last Ukrainian”. Previously, we analyzed such fakes and manipulations. For example, they recorded lies about the alleged mobilization of all childless Ukrainian women and about the alleged call for entire families to mobilize into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russian resources are disseminating information that a billboard was allegedly placed in Ukraine depicting the 14th SS Volunteer Division Galicia with the caption “Yesterday it was them, and today it is you”. The billboard allegedly encourages Ukrainians to update their data in the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support. Propagandists add video of the poster's location as evidence.

However, this information is not true, according to the StopFake project. Journalists geolocated the place where the video being distributed was filmed - it turned out to be near Lviv - and asked for comment from the company that places billboards at this address. The Bravo advertising agency responded that they were indeed approached by customers who identified themselves as “employees of the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support” of the Ground Forces. However, as soon as it became known that this information was false, the billboard was backgrounded, and all information about the orders was transferred to the SBU. In addition, at the request of StopFake, the Lviv Regional Military Administration responded that no one ordered such an information campaign.

In the end, the official information campaign “Update your data in the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support”, which was presented by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, looks completely different, and in it, military personnel from different combat units honestly admit that they are also afraid, but overcome their fear. At the same time, no references to historical events are used in this campaign.

This is not the first time that Russian propaganda uses the theme of the SS division Galicia in its information war, manipulating historical facts. We have already refuted the information that the Ukrainian post office issued stamps dedicated to the SS division Galicia, and also that in the video message of Volodymyr Zelenskyi we noticed the chevron of the SS division Galicia.

Propagandists claim that several hundred dual Israeli and Ukrainian citizens are unable to cross the border because their passports have been seized by border guards. They say that in order to return the documents, they need to update the data at the territorial acquisition center, after which they can be mobilized. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found the original photo, edited by propagandists. The photo was published back in 2017 by the Svyatoshynskyi department of the Kyiv State Migration Service of Ukraine and indeed contains handwritten information about the state of readiness of the ordered passports.

Moreover, such actions by border guards would not make sense, since Ukraine does not recognize dual citizenship. Accordingly, citizens with dual citizenship of Israel and Ukraine in the legal field are considered only citizens of Ukraine and are subject to the corresponding rights and obligations. That is, men liable for military service with dual citizenship do not have the right to leave Ukraine. This was explained by the representative of the State Border Service Andrii Demchenko.

Propagandists are spreading such fakes in order to once again disrupt the mobilization campaign in the country.

Propagandists are distributing on telegram channels, where they spread pro-Russian rhetoric, a video in which men in military uniforms are leading an actively resisting woman somewhere. Publications are signed with the words “The Territorial center of recruitment and social support has taken on women”, hinting at the allegedly forced mobilization of women in Ukraine.

In this case, propagandists simply used a video with a different context to create a fake. In fact, the distributed video shows a conflict between a woman and employees of the State Border Service of Ukraine, which occurred in Transcarpathia, as experts from the StopFake project found out.

Press secretary of the Mukachevo border detachment Lesia Fedorova, in a comment to the Suspilne, clarified that the incident occurred on June 30, 2024 on the outskirts of the village of Nyzhnia Apsha, Tiachevskyi district. The driver of a Mercedes-Benz Vito minibus, while in a queue of cars at the checkpoint, drove into the oncoming lane and tried to evade the check.

“The woman ignored the legal demands of the border guards, arguing her refusal by not wanting to stand in line because she was in a hurry to go on vacation. During communication with the 19-year-old border guard, the woman behaved rudely and dismissively, using obscene language and offensive sayings. Then, having made a maneuver dangerous to the life and health of the serviceman, she fled the scene at high speed”, said the press secretary of the Mukachevo border detachment. Border guards pursued the car that violated the rules, and, despite the woman’s resistance, detained her and took her to the border unit, where they drew up a report on an administrative offense under Art. 185-10 of the Code of Ukraine on administrative offenses.

Mobilization in Ukraine is one of the main themes that Russian propaganda actively uses to spread disinformation and destabilize the situation in the country. In particular, Russian propaganda not only disseminates information about abuses during mobilization, presenting them as a “common occurrence”, but also creates outright fakes and staged videos to demoralize Ukrainians. The narrative that there are already not enough men in Ukraine and therefore women are being mobilized is also one of the common ones.