This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that under the “influence of Ukrainian gangs” money laundering, trafficking in children, drugs, weapons, etc. are flourishing in Poland. The publications refer to materials from Polish media.

The VoxCheck analysts worked on the case and explained that the material was published in a Polish-language media system that systematically disseminates Kremlin propaganda. Consequently, any theses do not claim to provide objective information.

One of the materials that really reveals the topic of crimes committed by foreigners in Poland is the material in the publication Rzeczpospolita, which analyzes what crimes migrants have committed in Poland in 2022. The National Police Headquarters prepared statistics specifically for the publication on crimes committed by foreigners in Poland. Thus, in total in 2022, 15 thousand crimes were committed by representatives of different nationalities; Ukrainians, as the largest group, as well as Belarusians and Georgians, were most often included in the statistics. Analysts add: there are about 1.5 million people with Ukrainian citizenship in Poland. That is, according to relative indicators, the number of Ukrainian offenders is 0.15% of all Ukrainians in Poland. The most common type of crime among foreigners, notes Rzeczpospolita, is driving while intoxicated. The second most popular crime is drug possession.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own investigation.

Detector Media analysts have refuted a number of fakes and manipulations on the topic of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. For example, we analyzed a manipulation to increase thefts in Polish stores by a third, allegedly due to Ukrainian refugees. But they also explained another manipulation, according to which propagandists claimed that the attitude of many Poles towards Ukrainians had worsened.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the results of a survey from the statistical service of the European Union showed that the majority of German citizens are in favor of Ukrainian refugees being forcibly extradited. However, this is fake.

There are no such statistics on the Eurostat website, which the propagandists refer to. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. That is, information about the Germans’ support for the extradition of Ukrainian refugees is yet another propaganda fake. Another proof of the falsehood of the information is that this “survey” was not mentioned in any of the leading German media.

The goal of propagandists is to create the illusion that the world is tired of Ukrainians and Ukraine as a whole. Thus, Russian propaganda also seeks to demoralize Ukrainian refugees abroad, claiming that no one needs them and only creates problems where they come.

Read also: Ukrainians in Ireland are allegedly extradited to serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the results of a survey from the statistical service of the European Union showed that the majority of German citizens are in favor of Ukrainian refugees being forcibly extradited. However, this is a fake.

There are no such statistics on the Eurostat website, which the propagandists refer to. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. That is, information about the Germans’ support for the extradition of Ukrainian refugees is yet another propaganda fake. Another proof of the falsehood of the information is that this “survey” was not mentioned in any of the leading German media.

The goal of propagandists is to create the illusion that the world is tired of Ukrainians and Ukraine as a whole. Thus, Russian propaganda also seeks to demoralize Ukrainian refugees abroad, claiming that no one needs them and only creates problems where they come.

Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the man who carried out the shooting at Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic) allegedly turned out to be an ethnic Galician, an emigrant from Ukraine. According to propagandists, the Czech media are trying not to voice this fact, since it seems that too many serious crimes have already been committed by Ukrainians in the country. It's fake.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council worked on this case. They found out that the information about the shooter’s connection with Ukraine had already been denied by the head of the Czech Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vit Rakušan, who said at one of his briefings that “the shooter, Davyd Kozak, was a Czech from birth, who grew up in a Czech family... had no relations with Ukraine”.

Russian propagandists are trying to cultivate a biased attitude among foreigners towards Ukrainian refugees abroad by spreading fake information on this topic online. Like, “Ukrainians are to blame for all the world’s ills”. Previously, we refuted information that a shameful monument to Ukrainian refugees in the form of a gnome was allegedly erected in Wroclaw.

Propagandists say a German charity allegedly ran an advertisement comparing the cost of a Leopard tank sent to Ukraine with the cost of operations for 10 sick children. Like, they wrote about it in Reuters. Some people also claim that after the publication of this information, “defenders of Ukrainian refugees” criticized the philanthropists and called them Nazis due to the fact that German children were more important than Ukrainian ones. However, this is a fake video.

The VoxCheck analysts drew attention to it. They found out that the photos and videos distributed by propagandists were edited. The charitable organization Bunter Kreis Rheinland, against which the fake was created, stated that it did not place such advertising. It was also debunked by a reverse search of video frames via Google Images, which showed that the photos were only being distributed by Russian-language resources or users spreading pro-Russian rhetoric. The subtitles on the video also look like they were added during editing, as they contain errors in how words are related, and in some frames there are additional spaces between words.

Deutsche Welle contacted the charity Bunter Kreis Rheinland, which is listed as the author of the ad, and received confirmation from finance director Ralf Orth that the organization had no connection with the ad as their finances are based on donations and they cannot fund such things in Berlin .

The fake posters featured the logos of Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband and Aktion Mensch; both organizations denied any involvement in the advertising and said their logos were used without their permission.

The blue inscription on the billboard belongs to the company Wall GmbH, whose representatives stated that they did not produce such billboards at all.

Propagandists spread such fake news to create skepticism among European audiences about the war in Ukraine. Like, why should Europeans waste their resources on other people’s children when they have problems with their own? However, such comparisons are inappropriate, since the life of every child is priceless.

Ukrainians in Europe began to receive messages inviting them to gather for protests in European cities and take up posters with the inscriptions: “Give people peace”, “We want peace in Europe”, “Important people”, “Ukraine is the most tired of all”, “We demand peace!” and things like that. The senders of such messages claim that the demonstration itself will last only 5-10 minutes, and during this time it will also be necessary to shoot a video. In addition, there is a prepared text for the rally, after reading which presumably on camera the performer will receive as much as 100 euros. All other protesters are promised 50 euros each or “payment for the road and delicious coffee”.

The text, which is supposed to be read by one of the protesters, contains unusual constructions for the Ukrainian language. For example, “in Ukraine” or “the Hungarian branch of a public association of Ukrainians”. In addition, this text mentions the “voice of reason” of Arestovych, who allegedly “suffers attacks” from Zelenskyi. However, it is worth noting that the former adviser to the Office of the President of Ukraine was distinguished by his defense of “good Russians” and destructive statements about Ukraine, its authorities and the Armed Forces of Ukraine, therefore, as a result, the SBU began to deal with him.

Among other messages of planned rallies, the following should be heard: “war for them (ed. – the military-political leadership of Ukraine) is unlimited power, and for the common people it is a deep demographic catastrophe, daily horrors and impoverishment in a foreign land” or “if it’s difficult now to talk about peace, first we will discuss a ceasefire!”.

Unknown people expect to gather 30-35 Ukrainians for such rallies. We urge one not to fall for such messages and to respect the Ukrainian military, who at the cost of their own lives are protecting the citizens of Ukraine from the Russian invasion. Previously, we analyzed disinformation about alleged payments to all Ukrainians in the amount of 6,600 hryvnia.

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are disseminating information that in Poland, in Wroclaw, which is famous for its street gnomes, their collection has been replenished with a new sculpture - a male refugee with a Ukrainian passport and a suitcase. However, this is fake.

The specialists from the BezBrekhni (No Lies) project investigated this case. They found out that there are no official publications on the establishment of such a figurine in Wroclaw. However, in March 2023, gnomes connected with Ukraine were actually installed there - this is a refugee with a child in her arms and a suitcase, as well as a volunteer. Thus, the Poles expressed gratitude to those who help Ukrainian refugees after February 24, 2022.

Propagandists are trying to create the impression that Ukrainians are not welcome abroad and that no one needs them. That is why the Russians resorted to a fake with such a “shameful monument” in Wroclaw. Previously, we denied information that Poland had canceled payments for Ukrainian refugees from January 1, 2024.

Propaganda resources are disseminating information that supposedly Ukrainian refugees in Dresden (Germany) are being given canned cockroaches as humanitarian aid. As proof of their assertion, the Russians provide a video with such canned food in the hands of a “Ukrainian refugee”. However, this is a fake.

Journalists from the StopFake project drew attention to this case. They found that there was no information confirming the fact that Ukrainian refugees in Dresden or any other city received such canned food as humanitarian aid. Moreover, canned goods with the name like in the video are not available for sale in German or Austrian online stores at all. Such canned food can indeed be bought on large marketplaces, but not as a food product, but only as an “entertaining gift for Halloween”. Considering this, it can be argued that the video distributed by the network is fake.

Previously, some Kremlin-controlled media have already used the topic of eating insects as food in some Western countries for their own propaganda purposes, building a narrative about the decline of the West and the harm of anti-Russian sanctions. Detector Media denied the information that the alleged invasion of bedbugs in France is a consequence of anti-Russian sanctions.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels and other social networks are spreading fake information that Poland is allegedly canceling payments to Ukrainian refugees from January 1, 2024. They say that Poland was Ukraine’s lawyer in the European Union, but Zelenskyi quickly managed to turn a friend into an enemy. As proof of this decision, users add a screenshot of the news from November 17, 2023, allegedly from the official website of the Polish government.

After disseminating such information, StopFake decided to check whether the Polish government really made a similar decision and reported it on the official website. As it turned out, the information disseminated is not true.

Project specialists went to the corresponding website of the Polish government, from which they allegedly took a screenshot distributed by propagandists. There is a separate page for citizens of Ukraine, containing official information for refugees in Ukrainian. Among the news published there, there is no information that the Polish government has decided to cancel social payments for refugees from January 1. The remaining publications are still relevant, in which you can familiarize yourself with all existing assistance programs. While researching this site, they also found the same picture with which Russian propaganda created a fake screenshot. The news “Living and working in Poland – 2022” uses the same image as in the false reports spread by propagandists. In addition, in the edited “announcement”, Russian propaganda made a mistake: the word “terminates” in Ukrainian should have been written in another way. This error indicates that the information may be incorrect.

The StopFake analysts note that the Polish government has indeed publicly announced a possible reduction in assistance to Ukrainian refugees. In October 2023, a representative of the Polish government, Piotr Müller, in an interview with the PAP agency, said that the decisions determined by the law on assistance to Ukrainians would probably lose force in the first quarter of next year and expressed the hope that “there is simply no need to continue them”. However, as of now, the Polish government has not announced that from January 1 all payments to Ukrainian refugees will be stopped.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to quarrel between Poles and Ukrainians, as well as to arouse mistrust of Ukrainians not only in the Polish government, but also in the Ukrainian one. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes involving Poland. The large number of Russian propaganda fictions about this country is due, among other things, to the high level of support for Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that, according to the results of a sociological survey by Global Service and European Migration Support Bureau, a third of Ukrainian youth have migrated to Russia. In addition, the majority of Ukrainian refugees there allegedly recognized Russian aggression as “liberation”, and among the reasons for migration they named “better medicine” and “less unemployment” in Russia. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the companies supposedly conducting this survey did not exist, and the information about the survey itself was fictitious. The incorrect information also indicates that the name of the European Migration Support Bureau is misspelled (probably European instead of European). Structures with similar names that deal with refugee issues do exist (for example, the European Union Agency for Asylum and the European Asylum Support Office), but none of them published the data indicated.

In addition, the very fact of conducting such a study is questionable, since Russian media admit that the survey involved Ukrainians who “traveled to the territory of Crimea or former Ukrainian regions that later joined Russia”. This does not reflect the actual situation, since many refugees ended up in Russia due to the lack of alternative evacuation routes.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to justify Russia’s crimes by saying that it is allegedly ready to create a better life for Ukrainians, ignoring the problems of its citizens.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that allegedly Ukrainian female refugees in Germany began to give birth to children from the Turks, without waiting for their men from the front to receive German citizenship. Like, an article about this was published on the Deutsche Welle website. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the Georgian project MythDetector drew attention to it. They found out that the original material for the publication by the author Olena Diuzhyna mentioned the demographic situation in Germany, where the proportion of children has increased significantly. Ukrainian refugees are also mentioned in this article, but in a different context. In particular, Germany has accepted more than a million Ukrainian refugees since February 24, 2022, most of whom are Ukrainian children.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukrainian refugees. Like, none of them wants to return home. However, this is not so - according to the material of the portal Word and Deed, 62% of Ukrainian refugees stated their desire to return to Ukraine in the future. Detector Media has already talked about the ways in which Russia is trying to humiliate Ukrainian refugees abroad.

A story allegedly from the European media Euronews is being spread on social networks in the Russian segment. It talks about the so-called 34-year-old Ukrainian refugee Petro Bondarenko, who was recently detained in Germany for committing a crime. He, according to the conclusions of the authors of the fake message, added the number 8 to houses with numbers 148. And then he divided the resulting number with the symbol / - thus forming the Nazi slogan 14/88. It is not true.

The VoxCheck project analysts investigated this case and found out that the news story about the Ukrainian refugee was compiled. At the same time, this news was also not found on the official Euronews website or on their pages on social networks. German media also did not come out with similar news.

In addition, the probable plot consists of numerous cuts of various videos that are not related to each other. For example, fakers used fragments of videos from different seasons, and this can be seen in the changes in natural phenomena: in one fragment, the leaves of the trees are green, and people are walking in light clothes while another part of the video depicts a completely different time of year, where people are dressed in warm clothes, and the leaves are no longer there, although, hypothetically, journalists cover events for one period of time, namely the moment of the “detention” of a Ukrainian refugee. The story also showed a law regulating the ban on the display of Nazi symbols in Germany, although in fact the propagandists illustrated the Australian law.

The image of the so-called Ukrainian refugee was used from the website “We face painting”, which published the photo back in 2011. Obviously, this photo has nothing to do with Ukraine.

Finally, propagandists are trying to show that Ukrainian refugees are supposedly a total threat to the sovereignty and security of EU countries. Russian propaganda, first of all, seeks to demoralize Ukrainian refugees in the eyes of Europeans and pass them off as supporters of Nazi ideology who are ready to resort to vandalism and violation of laws for their own purposes. All this contributes to a decrease in assistance to Ukraine from EU countries; and also leads to the victimization of Ukrainian refugees - when they are the only ones to blame for all the troubles.

We recommend reading our previous cases on this topic as the Kremlin systematically speculates on this:

- the Poles allegedly declared that they “don’t want to see” Ukrainian refugees in their country; 

- how a Ukrainian refugee barista “showed off his Nazi inclinations” by seeming to paint Nazi symbols on his coffee. 

And in our weekly review of disinformation, we talked on how propagandists lied about the mobilization of Ukrainian refugees in Europe.

In the Ukrainian segment of Instagram, a video is being circulated with information that the Estonian Council allegedly provides financial assistance to children for winter clothes in the amount of $250. “Today, the Estonian Council provides assistance for winter clothes to all children in Ukraine who are under 10 years old (...) Or one can choose a box with clothes”. To receive it, you need to follow the link and fill out the form. It is not true.

The case was examined by the fact-checkers from the Brekhunets (The Liar) project. The page that distributed the video on Instagram has more than 20 thousand subscribers, and the link, where one can supposedly find a form to fill out, leads to the “Kyi City” telegram channel, which one needs to subscribe to.

Moreover, the fact-checkers checked the official information resources of the Estonian Refugee Council and determined that there was no such message. So, information about cash benefits from international organizations should be found on the organization’s official pages on social networks or on the official website.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media claim that the Poles allegedly no longer want to see Ukrainians in their country and therefore began to massively support anti-Ukrainian parties. Like, CNN even writes about this, talking about large-scale demonstrations in Polish cities such as Lublin. However, this is manipulation.

This case was brought to the attention of specialists from the StopFake project and the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They analyzed the publication’s original article, which is called “Poland’s goodwill towards Ukraine is weakening. The far right party is seizing the opportunity”. In fact, it only covers one of the pre-election rallies of the anti-Ukrainian and Eurosceptic Confederation party in Lublin. This explains the rhetoric against Ukrainian refugees among the event participants. At the same time, CNN journalists' interlocutors are confident in Ukraine's victory and the need to continue to support it despite all problems. There are indeed no statements in the article that the Poles “no longer want to see Ukrainians in their country”.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to create a quarrel between Ukrainians and Poles, as well as influence their internal politics, causing a hostile attitude towards Ukrainian refugees. Detector Media has already written about how Russian propaganda manipulated the topics of internal Polish politics before and after the recent parliamentary elections.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social networks claim that a rally of Ukrainian refugees took place in Spain, allegedly holding signs saying “Hands off military aid to Ukraine” and “F*ck Israel”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They checked the photo distributed by the propagandists through an online image search tool and found out that the real photo was taken at the Israeli Friends of Ukraine rally in support of Ukraine, which took place in the summer of 2022. In the original version, the protest participant holds a poster with the inscription “Russia is a terrorist country”, but there is no poster with the inscription about Israel at all.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to discredit Ukrainian refugees abroad and create artificial competition for receiving military assistance from the West. Detector Media wrote how Russian propaganda is also manipulating the topic of Israel’s war against Hamas.

This thesis was spread in pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that Poles are increasingly hostile towards Ukrainians, whom they do not want to see on Polish territory. The authors argue that anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland has increased and even political parties with such rhetoric are becoming increasingly popular among citizens. To support this position, publications refer to CNN material. This is manipulation.

The StopFake analysts investigated this case and determined that the journalistic material covered the events of the election campaign in Poland, namely the rally of the Confederation party in Lublin on the eve of the elections. It is a far-right political force that proclaims nationalist views, anti-migrant sentiments and radical Euroscepticism. Accordingly, the events and characters covered in the CNN report naturally express their attitude to a particular issue. These are sympathizers of the ultra-right party.

For example, a fifteen-year-old boy told media workers from an American television and radio company that he was helping organize the event because he was against LGBT people, against the European Union and against abortion. Or another hero of a mass event argued that “some Ukrainians feel too much at home”. It is not surprising that supporters of a party that expresses right-wing rhetoric relay it. That is, this is what CNN journalists showed. However, they did not incline or create their own judgments that the Poles “do not want to see” Ukrainian refugees. Media people clearly indicated whose rhetoric this was and whether it generally coincided with the position of the state. At the same time, propagandists did not provide complete information and background of the event. Using the rally of the far-right party, the manipulators legitimized their theses and extended their conclusions to the entire Polish population.

As for the thesis about the ubiquitous popularity of parties with anti-Ukrainian rhetoric, it is untrue. The same “Confederation” received the lowest result among parliamentary elections - 18 seats in the Seimas and 7.16% of the votes.

The Polish Center for Public Opinion Research recently conducted a study of support for Ukrainians. Thus, 65% of Poles are in favor of accepting Ukrainian refugees in Poland. In addition, 64% believe that Russian aggression poses a direct threat to the security of Poland. Consequently, the thesis about the lack of support for Ukrainian refugees among Poles is also untrue.

Russian propaganda is once again trying to show a “decline in support for Ukrainians” in EU countries and others that have accepted Ukrainian refugees. In particular, they often turn to the Poles, one of Ukraine’s closest neighbors and strategic partners. Thus, the authors want to sow discord among Ukrainians and Poles.

Read our latest cases on this topic: allegedly, in Poland they accuse Ukrainians of “manifestations of Nazism”; or an anti-Ukrainian flash mob allegedly took place, initiated by the Poles.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels claim that German cities are in debt because of “too much” aid for Ukrainian refugees. They say that local politicians emphasize that refugees “don’t want to go to work” because they receive a large amount of funds as part of social assistance. Propagandists cite statements by officials such as the Lord Mayor of Schwäbisch Gmünd Richard Arnold, the Minister for Migration of Baden-Württemberg Marion Gentjes and the President of the Baden-Württemberg District Council Joachim Walter. At various times they actually made similar statements, which were refuted by journalists from the regional public broadcaster SWR.

1. Ukrainian refugees receive 3,000 euros of net income per family from Germany

This is not true. According to SWR calculations, single parents or family members receive €502 per month, partners in the same family €451 each, children aged 14 to 17 €420, children aged 6–13 €348 and children under 6 – € 318. Therefore, a family of four with two children aged 12 and 14 will have a total benefit of 1,691 euros. But a single mother with two children under 6 years old will receive only 1,138 euros per month. The broadcaster's journalists note that this is not very good for German prices, given inflation. Moreover, of the 177,000 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in Baden-Württemberg between March 2022 and September 2023, only 98,347 received assistance from the state. This refutes the fact that the poor economic situation in the region is caused solely by Ukrainian refugees.

Analyzing the statements of President Walter, journalists came to the conclusion that in order to overstate the amount of assistance to Ukrainian refugees in his statements, he is using an initiative that will come into force on January 1, 2024, according to which the amount of assistance will be increased by 50 euros per person, that is, by approximately 200 Euro more for one average family. But even after this, the increase in the benefit will not reach the mentioned 3,000–3,500 euros. In addition, Walter refers to the fact that refugees still have a lot of benefits, for example, for school children - school supplies or payment for housing. However, not everything is so simple with them either.

2. Employment centers pay for the accommodation of Ukrainian refugees in Germany

This is true, but this solution does not have unanimous support in German society due to its economic feasibility. For example, the industrial union Bauen-Agrar-Umwelt criticized the idea due to the fact that job centers spent too much money on renting apartments. According to a calculation made for the trade union by the Pestel Institute, employment centers will spend more than 20 billion euros on accommodation in 2023. Because of this, the overall rental price in Baden-Württemberg increased from 5.43 euros to 7.75 euros per square meter. Trade unions say the state should provide and build social housing, for example in the Austrian capital, so as not to destabilize the property market.

3. Ukrainians in Germany don’t want to work

This is a standard message of Russian propaganda, which is being picked up by German politicians this time. However, SWR journalists refuted these claims. In particular, they note that the majority of Ukrainian refugees in the region are women with children, who must often care for them independently. Accordingly, due to lack of time and the need to care for their families, they are unable to go to work.

In addition, in Germany there are still problems with the recognition of qualifications and professional training received in Ukraine. For example, SWR told the story of Ukrainian doctor Olha Soloviova, who was forced to work as a cleaner in Germany because her qualifications were not recognized. She currently works in an Austrian clinic. These restrictions are another obstacle for those refugees who have high qualifications and years of work experience and want to work in the EU, but cannot due to lack of recognition of all this during employment.

By spreading such messages, Russian propagandists want to once again discredit Ukrainian refugees and demotivate Europeans to support Ukraine. Detector Media has previously published a great investigation on what other harmful narratives about Ukrainian refugees are being spread by Russians.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on social media claim that Ukrainian soldiers sent abroad for treatment and refugees contracted infections in Ukrainian hospitals and then spread these diseases to the EU. They say that these infections are resistant to most antibiotics, and this supposedly proves that the United States is testing bioweapons in Ukraine. In doing so, they refer to an article by the Financial Times.

The message was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project. They found out that this was not true. An October 2 Financial Times article titled “Ukrainian infections show rising threat of antibiotic resistance” stated that Russia's invasion of Ukraine back in 2014 contributed to the rise in drug-resistant infections in Western Europe. As the authors point out, this could be due to the toxicity of heavy metals in the balls, which caused injuries and wounds that could lead to infections, as well as the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. The situation was also complicated by the fact that medical facilities in combat regions were often damaged, tests to determine the necessary antibiotic were largely lacking, and local residents forced to leave the region could carry these diseases. The article also pointed out that after the start of the full-scale invasion, due to the arrival of Ukrainian military and refugees in EU countries, there was indeed an increase in the number of drug-resistant infections. In particular, they explain this by the fact that in some regions the healthcare system was overloaded.

The VoxCheck experts once again note that there are no US biological laboratories in Ukraine, and no country is engaged in the production or testing of biological weapons here. They also found that antibiotic resistance is an international trend that occurs due to the limited number of effective drugs available and the low number of new drug developments. According to the publication, even states that spend a lot of money on financing the healthcare system cannot cope with this problem.

Propagandists spread this message to discredit Ukrainians and create artificial panic about their presence in Europe. They say that helping Ukrainians is dangerous. Detector Media also wrote about other messages and fakes with which Russia is trying to discredit both the Ukrainian military and refugees.

Such information is disseminated in anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The authors of the messages refer to a story from the French TV channel CNews and write that in France, Ukrainian refugees are already being thrown out onto the streets to shelter illegal immigrants from Africa. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the Center for Countering Disinformation investigated that the story of the French TV channel was about a shelter in a school for migrants from Africa and was not about the eviction of Ukrainians. Previously, Ukrainian refugees actually lived in the school building, but by the time the migrants moved in, they had already left the shelter.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to create the illusion that Ukraine’s allies are tired of the war and no longer want to help Ukrainians. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake news that Ukrainian refugees are giving birth to children for sale.

Russian media, broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, are disseminating information that Ukrainian refugees are allegedly engaged in giving birth to children for sale in special bunkers in Switzerland. “Children are bought as goods by foreigners, and a Swiss company earns billions from this”, Russian propaganda writes and refers to the American podcast Redacted. It's fake.

The case was noticed by the checkers of the StopFake project. The American podcast Redacted, which Russian propagandists refer to, was created by the spouses Clayton and Natalie Morris, who are engaged in spreading conspiracy theories, myths about vaccination and Kremlin narratives regarding Ukraine. Applications about the birth of children in special bunkers are accompanied by a video where one can see bomb shelters with children, cots and medical personnel.

The fact-checker, using an image search, established that the footage used by the propaganda was filmed by the Ukrainian company BioTexCom, which deals with surrogacy. During the full-scale invasion, the company equipped a bomb shelter. However, there was no talk of “Swiss bunkers”. Moreover, surrogacy is prohibited in Switzerland.

In this way, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Switzerland, show that the event is profiting from Ukrainian refugees, and deal a reputational blow to the companies supporting them. Previously, Detector Media refuted the fake news that Ukrainian refugees in Germany are being urged to learn the vocabulary of cleaners in order to find work.

Such information is disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports describe how a Ukrainian refugee allegedly set fire to a DNA research center in California. The reason for this crime, as telegram anonymous people say, was dissatisfaction with the genetic test conducted the day before. It turned out that the man is supposedly only 7.9% ethnic Ukrainian. Video evidence is added to the publications - a story from the international television company Al Jazeera. It is not true.

Analysts of the StopFake project analyzed the case and found that the news story was compiled, but there was no such news on the official pages on social networks or on the official website. At the same time, the compiled story is distributed only in the Russian segment of social networks.

According to Russian propagandists, the Ukrainian approached the well-known 23andMe laboratory in the United States. And fact-checkers are confident that if such an incident really occurred, the American media would cover such information. But no such mentions were found in the English-language segment of social networks or Google. Experts also recorded several signs of video compilation. Among these, the video fragments used in the video actually reflect other events. So the footage actually shows the arson of a prison lobby in the United States, which occurred in June 2023. And just this story was published on the official pages of one of the American media.

By spreading this fake news, the authors seek to demonize Ukrainian refugees and allegedly show how Ukrainians despise everyone and commit crimes outside their state. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research.

But at the same time, the Kremlin is promoting the thesis of “nationalist refugees” who are ready to commit any crime for “Ukrainian blood”. After all, the very reason for the probable crime was the fact that the Ukrainian refugee was dissatisfied with the DNA test and, moreover, questioned the results. This is not the first time Moscow has turned to this interpretation of Ukrainians—aggressive, ultra-nationalist and valuing only “Ukrainian blood”. That is, they once again called Ukrainians “Nazis”.

So, read the cases where Russian propaganda instrumentalized the following issues:

Russian propagandists on anonymous telegram channels claim that Ukrainian refugee Oleksii Shynkarenko allegedly burned down a laboratory in the United States after learning that he was not 100% Ukrainian. Al Jazeera allegedly reported this in a separate video. It's fake.

In particular, this is indicated by the fact that there is no news about this story in either American or Ukrainian sources. Despite the visual aesthetic similar to Al Jazeera, there is no mention of such a story on the agency's official accounts of the video distributed or any mention of such a story. Moreover, at the request of “Oleksii Shynkarenko” there are no accounts of Ukrainian refugees in the United States. Major Russian media have not even written about this situation yet. All this indicates that, most likely, the story is fake.

With its help, Russia wants to discredit Ukrainian refugees and show them as ungrateful and uncivilized people. They say that if necessary, they are ready to destroy and break America and do not know how to behave in it, which means they do not show due respect.  Detector Media has repeatedly debunked other Russian fakes aimed at humiliating Ukrainian refugees.

In the chats of Ukrainians in Ireland, a “letter” from the Irish Ministry of Justice was distributed, which alleged requests for the extradition of Ukrainians to serve in the Armed Forces. According to the “letter”, its recipients were scheduled to appear in court for an “extradition hearing” in October. Failure to comply with the “instructions” “may result in an arrest warrant being issued”. These letters are fake.

It was reported by Facebook users and The Irish Times. They note that although the form resembles the real one in appearance, the address in the image of the “letter” is rather random, since no Ukrainians live behind it. In addition, the Irish Ministry of Justice stated that it had not received any extradition requests and had not sent any such letters. It also urged recipients to apply for a special phone number to detect the fake.

With its help, Russia wants to cause panic among Ukrainian refugees and support the narrative of the “failure of the counteroffensive”. They say that everything is so bad in Ukraine that it is forced to mobilize its refugees from abroad. Detector Media has already refuted the fake news about the “extradition” of Ukrainians from Poland.

Anonymous telegram channels disseminating pro-Russian rhetoric published a photo showing a brochure calling for Ukrainian refugees in Germany. In it, one can see certain vocabulary for searching for work before coming to the country. The “vocabulary” consists mostly of words related to cleaning. Under the publications, “Ukrainians” complain that the Germans allegedly do not even think about highly paid and skilled labor for refugees. However, this is fake.

Analysts from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that there was no such advice on the website of the online platform Handbook Germany, whose logo was used by propagandists to create the fake news. In addition, on its Facebook page it is noted that all of their materials are available only in digital format: on their website or official social media accounts.

With the help of this fake, Russia wants to humiliate Ukrainian refugees and deal a reputational blow to the organizations that support them.  Detector Media has already written about how Russian propaganda is weaponizing refugees and their problems for its own purposes.

This information was disseminated by anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports note that Poland has decided to “get rid” of Ukrainian refugees, so they will be mobilized. They say that Ukraine is suffering huge losses in the counteroffensive, so it needs to somehow return people to the country.

This case was analyzed by specialists from the StopFake project, who determined that in fact, the “deportation of men liable for military service” is generally impossible, since there is no legal basis for it. Ukrainian diplomatic institutions cannot deport Ukrainians for mobilization, just as the EU authorities are not authorized to form any units from Ukrainians on their territories. That is, there is no legal mechanism or precedent for the mobilization of Ukrainians by EU members.

Ukrainian law enforcement officers can investigate and prove in court the facts of illegal border crossings under martial law. And for extradition from abroad, it will be necessary to prove the guilt of each person liable for military service according to the laws of the country of his stay in a local court.

The European Union is consolidated in its position that they will not deport anyone against their will. According to EU law, all Ukrainians who arrived in the region after the start of a full-scale invasion are protected by the Temporary Protection Directive.