Russian media continue to spread information about Poland's alleged intentions to seize the western regions of Ukraine. This time, Russian propaganda spread a fake about Poland's likely creation of a "new army": "a 70,000-strong group of Ukrainian police officers, soldiers of the Armed Forces and servicemen of the Polish army." Like "for control" over the "occupied Ukrainian territories." The source of the fake was Marat Bashirov, a Russian politician who was once part of the occupation administration in the Russian-occupied part of the Luhansk region and organized the LNR terrorist structure. It is not the first time he has spread fakes about the war in Ukraine, including Poland.

Russia has spread many fakes against Poland in recent months, such as that Polish President Andrzej Duda's visit to Kyiv proved that Poland had allegedly moved from plans "to seize territory in western Ukraine"; or a photo of billboards allegedly placed in Poland, with the image of the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces Jaroslav Miki with the quote "Time to remember history"; or "Poland has an insidious intention to side with Russia and seize the western part of Ukraine"; or "Poland is tired of Ukrainian refugees, so the local police began to support Russia and glue" Z "on their cars" and many others. With these theses, Russian propaganda is trying to undermine relations between Poland and Ukraine. And also to accuse Poland of inciting war against Ukraine, thereby diverting attention from Russia's military aggression against Ukraine and the atrocities of the Russian military.

The thesis of the division between Poland and Russia of Ukraine, and the preservation of the "neutral" third of Ukraine with its center in Kyiv, Russian propaganda has been promoting at least since 2014. It began to be actively dispersed from the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, "reinforcing" it with fake maps, which allegedly demonstrated Poland's intentions to capture the western regions of Ukraine; then forged documents with alleged orders to attack these territories; then scared by the alleged battalions of Poles in Ukraine; then talked about the "legalization of Poles"; then about the alleged plans of Poland "to side with Russia and then capture the western regions of Ukraine" and so on. At first, it was spread by pro-Kremlin telegrams, then picked up by the Russian media. Similar statements began to be heard from Russian politicians, intelligence, and "diplomats," such as the Russian Foreign Ministry and representative of the department Maria Zakharova. Currently, this thesis has been promoted at the level of the Russian Security Council, particularly: Secretary of this Council Nikolai Patrushev. He said on May 31 that Poland had allegedly moved from plans "to seize territories in western Ukraine," as evidenced by Polish President Andrzej Duda's visit to Kyiv and his statement that "the Polish-Ukrainian border will soon cease to exist."

In fact, Duda was talking about a new friendship agreement between Poland and Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine and Poland could soon introduce joint border controls, particularly border and customs controls. Zelensky also stated the possibility of creating a single conditional border when Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union. "We are relatives. And there are no boundaries or barriers between us. They have not mentally divided the Ukrainian and Polish peoples for a long time. Therefore, we agreed to implement this soon in a relevant bilateral agreement. First on the joint border and customs control, and then on a single conditional border when Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union, " said the Ukrainian president.

Reports say that Ukraine allegedly deliberately worsened the regions' economies currently temporarily occupied, while Russia "is engaged in their development." In particular, the propagandists claim Kyiv "worsened the situation of farmers" in the Kherson region. The European Union is also to blame for this, as the purchase of large volumes of agricultural products from EU countries has allegedly led to a drop in demand for Ukrainian goods and a reduction in crops.

According to StopFake, the Russian media attribute the statement about the "oppression" of Kherson farmers by Kyiv to Vladyslav Shybaylov, the so-called head of the agricultural department of the Henichesk district of the region. "After all, he is a protege of the occupying power, a local supporter of the pro-Russian party "Opposition Platform - For Life, " StopFake writes. In fact, according to fact-checkers, before the arrival of the occupiers in the Kherson region, agricultural production increased, farmers could receive subsidies, and exports of goods went to different countries. Instead, due to the ban of the Russian occupiers from taking anything out of the region, farmers of the occupied Kherson region are forced to sell their products at a minimum price because they are allowed to trade only with the occupied Crimea. In addition, the Russian occupiers are massively exporting Ukrainian grain from the region, and with the new harvest, the threat and theft are growing. Read more.

The Kremlin's propaganda media spread this information. Reports say that the authorities of the Zaporizhzhia region allegedly announced preparations for the "surrender" of the city of Zaporizhzhia to the Russian army. According to the fact-checkers from StopFake, the Russian media call the proof of the quick surrender of Zaporizhzhia "almost a round-the-clock discussion of the evacuation" in the city. "On behalf of the Zaporizhzhia authorities, the Russian media broadcast a statement by Volodymyr Rohov, a collaborator and mouthpiece of Russian propaganda who has nothing to do with Ukrainian authorities. In 2014, Rohov fled to Russia and appeared in the Zaporizhzhia region only in 2022 after a large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. On March 29, 2022, the National Police opened a criminal investigation into Rohov's collaborative activities.

That is why Rohov's statements have no factual basis and cannot be considered credible. StopFake has already denied the disinformation of the collaborator that the administration of the Zaporizhzhia region "excluded its return to the control of Kyiv.”

Actually, although part of the Zaporizhzhia region is indeed temporarily occupied by Russian troops, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are protecting the region from invaders, and they are not going to "surrender Zaporizhzhia" and continue active measures to strengthen the regional defense's front, where the enemy continues to accumulate additional forces and resources. As Detector Media has already written, to fix in the minds of Russians who use state propaganda that Russia is "forever" present in the occupied territories of Ukraine, the Kremlin media spread the narrative of "Kherson power" or "Zaporizhzhia power." Either they report that the "Kherson Oblast authorities" are asking Putin to deploy a Russian military base in the Kherson region or that the "Zaporizhzhia Region authorities" are announcing Kyiv's plans to "surrender Zaporizhzhia." However, there are no "authorities of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions." Such reports refer only to collaborators appointed by the Russian occupiers.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, such a message is spread by Russian propagandists. The reports say that the information comes from a "reliable source from Bankova" and add that the reason for the shutdown is the "truth" that people in the occupation began to tell their relatives and friends about "good Russian soldiers" who do not kill and rob but help people.

"Disconnecting Ukrainians from mobile operators and Internet providers is part of the occupation's efforts to infiltrate propaganda into the Ukrainian media space. Disconnections are carried out only by Russians. Ukraine is making every effort to ensure that Ukrainian radio and television broadcasting operate in every city, even the occupied ones, ” the Center said. In particular, Ukrainian Radio remains almost the only source of information in those territories of Ukraine that the Russians currently occupy.

According to Andriy Taranov, a public broadcaster's board member, we still have a live broadcast when the mobile network and the Internet are blocked. We used to think that radio in the middle waves was obsolete, and nobody listened to it, but unexpectedly it became part of national security. "We are almost the only ones who informed people in Mariupol when humanitarian corridors were opened in Ukraine," he said.

It was reported by the Russian propaganda agency "Ria Novosti" concerning the appointment by the Russian military "Deputy Chairman of the Region" Kirill Stremousov. "Crossing the border from Mykolayiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions is very dangerous because of the systematic shelling of Ukrainian militants. After the latest shelling, they killed civilians in the buffer zone. Therefore, we do not recommend going to Ukraine under any circumstances, " Stremousov said.

Kherson has been under Russian occupation since early March. Kherson residents are offered to leave the region either to the annexed Crimea or to the part of the Zaporizhzhia region controlled by Russian troops.

After the invasion of Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials said his goal was not to occupy Ukrainian territory. However, Russian-controlled administrations were formed in Russian-occupied areas of southern Ukraine. Russian-controlled administrations were formed, whose leaders argued that the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions should be accepted into Russia. Recently, Putin signed a decree giving the right to simplified acquisition of Russian citizenship to residents of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine. And now, the Russian military has blocked exits to the territory controlled by Ukraine in the Kherson region, patrols in Kherson have been intensified, and the number of Russian block posts has increased, according to the operational command "South."

In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, Mayor Ihor Kolykhayev said that it was currently impossible to leave Kherson safely. Russian shelling prevents Kherson residents from leaving the temporarily occupied city for safer settlements. Many residents still dared to evacuate on their own and came under fire. Among them were both wounded and dead. The Russians continue to fire on civilian infrastructure in settlements along the administrative border of Mykolayiv and Kherson oblasts.

Earlier, the operational command "South" reported that the Russians set a fee for leaving the occupied Kherson region, at checkpoints offered a pass for $ 1,000 or their equivalent. However, then began to open fire on the trail insidiously. Thus, the Russian army is trying to keep the civilian population to "create for its leaders and commanders a picture of the satisfaction of the local population with the" Russian measure. "

To fix in the minds of Russians who use state propaganda that Russia is "forever" present in the occupied territories of Ukraine, the Kremlin media spread a narrative about the "power of Kherson" or "power of Zaporizhzhia" regions. It is reported that the "authorities of the Kherson region" are asking Putin to deploy a Russian military base in the Kherson region. Then the "authorities of the Zaporizhzhia region" announce Kyiv's plans to "surrender Zaporizhzhia."

In addition to Soros, the Freemasons, and Bill Geist, conspiracy theorists and misinformers have another favorite character, the American banker David Rockefeller (and any Rockefeller in the Rockefeller family). And now, on social networks, in particular in the Georgian segment of Facebook, a fictional quote by David Rockefeller is being spread: "World processes must be organized in such a way that Arabs kill Arabs and Slavs kill Slavs. We must prevent third world countries from reaching the level of the United States because then America will be covered by the crisis " (quoted in an approximate and abbreviated version). This quote seems to explain that the war in Ukraine is a conspiracy of the "world government", and Russia is not an invader and aggressor, but a victim of Western manipulation. The posts also indicate precisely where Rockefeller allegedly said this - at a luncheon for UN ambassadors in 1994. But according to Myth detector, Rockefeller did not say these words or other words about the "organization of the world order" at the event.

It will be recalled that Rockefeller was indeed a supporter of the idea of ​​globalization and world economic unification. But this is not proof of his involvement in the "secret world government" - he publicly voiced his views as many other influential financiers, politicians, and businessmen for many years. He died in 2017, donating nearly a billion to charity during his lifetime.

Telegram channels related to the Kremlin's foreign intelligence («Lehitymnyy,» «Spletnytsa,» «ZeRada,» etc.) are taking part in a planned disinformation campaign aimed at convincing readers that Poland intends to seize part of Ukraine. As proof of this, they are distributing photos of billboards, allegedly placed in Poland, with the image of the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Armed Forces Jaroslaw Miki with the quote - "Time to remember history." This phrase calls for the annexation of Ukrainian regions, part of Poland before the Second World War. DFRLab researchers believe these images are fake; these posters do not exist as there is no BBC material, which allegedly showed the order of Mika with a plan to capture the Ukrainian regions. Fact-checkers have previously refuted this fake from Reuters and the BBC itself: such a plot did not exist, graphics, captions, and even advertising the BBC application was used to create a fake, which was distributed by many telegram channels in European languages.

Russian media reported that Lithuania allegedly intended to annex the Kaliningrad region; Lithuania is provoking Russia into a military conflict with NATO to achieve this goal. The Lithuanian newspaper Delfi noted that, in fact, Lithuania did not claim and did not claim the territory of Kaliningrad and the region. And the purpose of this fake story is to "cause a sense of threat and fear, to create a false picture of what is happening."

The publication emphasized that Lithuania, unlike Russia, firmly adheres to the 1975 Helsinki Final Act provisions and does not take any aggressive action against its neighbors. In particular, the country's Foreign Ministry reminded me of this. It stated the absence of territorial claims in 2017 when Russia once again began to talk about the alleged "encroachment on its territory." "The thoughts of both Russian media and pro-Russian bloggers that the Lithuanian government may decide to block transit through its territory to Kaliningrad. Therefore, the Lithuanian issue must be resolved: misinformation and an attempt to find a reason to pressure Lithuania. The transit from Russia through the territory of Lithuania to Kaliningrad is the subject of an agreement (signed on November 11, 2002) between Russia and the European Community, so Lithuania cannot unilaterally terminate it. The decision to block transit to Kaliningrad or not can be made only by the European Union, which, unlike Russia, adheres to the norms of international law and therefore continues to refrain from such a radical decision, " Delfi writes.

Russian propaganda often uses the message that Western countries are allegedly "encroaching on the territorial integrity" of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc. In fact, despite the Kremlin's spread of such messages and conspiracy theories, Russia occupied parts of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Japan, and Chechnya. Read more about the Russian-occupied territories in Transparency International Ukraine. You can also read more about the armed conflicts and wars Russia has participated in during the last 30 years in the Ukraїner article.

Russian propaganda is spreading information that the administration of the Zaporizhzhia region has allegedly announced that the region will not return to Kyiv's control, saying that it is "historically Russian territory." The StopFake project drew attention to this.

In fact, Russian media do not cite the position of the Ukrainian government or the position of local residents of the region, but the words of the protege of the occupying power in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region Vladimir Rohov, who is not the first year a mouthpiece of Russian propaganda. Back in March 2022, the National Police of Ukraine opened a criminal case against him for collaborating. "Zaporizhzhia region is the territory of Ukraine both legally (enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine) and historically. On these lands, the Zaporozhian Cossacks were formed, and the Zaporozhian Sich was created. Even after the region became part of the Russian Empire, the largest number of Ukrainians lived in the region, ” StopFake reminded, adding that part of the Zaporizhzhia region is currently under temporary occupation.

Read more.

Russian media are spreading the statement of one of the pro-Russian officials that the Sea of ​​Azov has allegedly changed its status, and now the water area allegedly "belongs" to Russia and the occupation administration of Donetsk. This statement is part of Russia's narrative of "inland seas." "This is how propaganda began to call the Black and Azov Seas after the beginning of the armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and the Kremlin's temporary occupation of Ukrainian Crimea by the Kremlin. The narratives that Ukraine allegedly "lost" its rights to the peninsula and the adjacent Black and Azov Seas in 2014 are disinformation, " StopFake explained.

In fact, according to all international norms, in particular, the central UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ukraine has the full right to use the Black and Azov Seas. This right is not affected by the status of Ukrainian Crimea as "temporarily occupied" or by the Russian armed blockade of the Azov Sea coast and local ports.

Along with the fake about "changing in the status of the Sea of ​​Azov," Russian propaganda is spreading information that it has "succeeded in ruining NATO's plans to consolidate and build military bases in the region." Russia is constantly exploiting the topic of "NATO aggression" to justify its illegal actions, such as the occupation of Crimea or a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Fake of NATO's intention to dominate the Black Sea has been circulating for at least 20 years and was actively used in early 2014. StopFake noted that Russian propaganda has now shifted the message from the Black Sea to the Azov coast. However, the North Atlantic Alliance forces did not declare their intention to "build military bases" on the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov.

Read more.

Russian propagandists spread such information. In particular, a message appears on social networks that Kharkiv is planned to be handed over to the occupiers because the city is allegedly firing the Kharkiv Heat Networks utility company. Employees "Kharkiv authorities, by all indications, are confident that the city will come under Russian control. Otherwise, why should they destroy the entire structure of Kharkiv heating networks? The municipal enterprise Kharkiv Heat Networks dismisses all employees without compensation for unpaid salaries for three months. Operators are being fired, without whom it is impossible to start the heating season. So, do they understand that they will not have to start it? ” - it is written in a fake, widely spread the message. However, this is not true. According to the fact-checkers of the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center, from the first days of the war, boiler operators, locksmiths, welders, and other employees of Kharkiv Heat Networks, risking their lives, saved the city's heating system. Currently, repair works are carried out every day. There are reports about the work almost daily on the city council's website. Also, work on preparing for the new heating season has already begun and is not ending. However, the number of residential buildings in Kharkiv decreases every day, which could not be connected to heat due to shelling. That is, not all communal workers are fired from the enterprise.

Such information was spread by Belarusian propagandists, particularly Ksenia Lebedeva, on Belarus 1 TV channel. The plot said that the "Bandera" planned to capture Belarus's Brest and Gomel regions. According to the propagandist, the Bandera dream of adding to Ukraine part of the Brest and Gomel regions and from Russia such lands that passed into “their” composition in the XVIII century. "Why is the south of Belarus so important for Ukrainian nationalists? Because back in 2018, almost five years ago, they planned that this territory could become a strategical base for the introduction of Russian troops into Ukraine just in case, ” Lebedeva said. According to the fact-checkers of the project Brekhunets, the propagandist Lebedeva added that under such conditions she expressed the opinion of "the same nationalists" who allegedly believed that Ukraine would be in the circle of unfriendly states, including the West. However, this is not true. Ukraine is a peaceful country that has not carried out any attacks on any sovereign states and does not seek and did not seek to seize new territory. Instead, Russia seeks to seize Ukrainian territory, which in 2014 annexed Ukrainian Crimea and attacked Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and in 2022 started a full-scale war.

Russian media widely spread the opinion of the Permanent Representative of Crimea to the President of Russia, Deputy Prime Minister of the Crimean Government Georgiy Muradov. According to him, gross violations of the rights of the Russian-speaking population have made the Ukrainian state "unviable" and "this is former Ukraine."

"It was primarily related to the rights of the state-building Russian people, whose language rights are enshrined in the tenth article of the Ukrainian constitution. However, these principles were grossly violated," he said.

He added that Russia would no longer restrict the rights of Russian-speaking citizens and that "the lands of these territories have historically been Russian, and their population mostly speaks Russian." It is not the first year that Russian historical propaganda has spread this narrative, saying that Crimea and Donbas have always been Russian and that southeastern Ukraine is, in fact, Novorossiya. Instead, Ukrainian historians claim that only 5.6% of the written history of Crimea belonged to Russia (11.4% to the Crimean Khanate). Russians made up a relative majority, but only 4% throughout the written history of Crimea, and an absolute majority of only 2.5%. Donbas has traditionally had a regional identity, although the majority of the population, at least in rural areas, was and is Ukrainian, according to the study book Revision of History: Russian Historical Propaganda and Ukraine.

We remind you that Article 10 of the Constitution of Ukraine states that “the state language in Ukraine is the Ukrainian language. The state ensures the comprehensive development and functioning of the Ukrainian language in all spheres of public life throughout Ukraine. Ukraine guarantees the free development, use, and protection of Russian and other languages ​​of national minorities of Ukraine."

This article aims not to ban Russian but to promote the development of the Ukrainian language. However, during Viktor Yanukovych's presidency, there were attempts to amend Article 10 by introducing Russian as the second state language.

In Ukraine, the eastern and southern regions are mostly Russian-speaking, or instead, they were. According to a study by the Rating Sociological Group, Russia's war against Ukraine has dramatically changed the situation. According to the survey, the number of those considering Ukrainian their mother tongue has been growing steadily over the last decade: from 57% in 2012 to 76% in 2022. There is also a steady decline in the Russian-speaking part of Ukrainians: in 2012, there were about 40% of such respondents, and at the beginning of the war - 18%.

"The unprecedented unity of society against the background of the war had a substantial impact on the attitude to the status of the Ukrainian language: today, the absolute majority (83%) for the Ukrainian language to be the only state language in Ukraine. This opinion dominates in all macro-regions, age, and language groups. On the other hand, in a poll, almost a quarter of citizens supported granting state status to the Russian language before the war, and today - only 7%, " the sociological group said.

This is the lie spread by Russian propagandists. This was reported on Facebook by the deputy mayor of Izyum, Kharkiv region Volodymyr Matzokin.

"Advice to Russian propagandists: if you are already molding fakes, at least try not to use the recipe of g...na. According to the official data of the General Staff of the AFU, Izyum was occupied on April 1, 2022. Occupied by Rashist troops. So what's April 9? Let me give you a hint, the destruction of multi-story buildings on Khlebozavodskaya and Pervomaiskaya Streets took place on March 8-9, 2022. It was done by the barbarians of the Russian army during the capture of the city. About 60 people died and 44 were found. Attempts by such fake reports to destroy the truth will lead to nothing but punishment," Matzokin wrote.

In the story of Russian propagandists on camera speaks a resident of Izyum Serhiy Shtanko, born in 1989. The gray-haired 33-year-old man notes that windows and doors in the house flew out first after the shelling, and that on April 9 at 9 a.m. a tank seemed to have fired and hit the slab. When asked from behind the frame: "Whose side was the beating? From the side of the AFU or Russia?" Shtanko answers: "They were beating from the side of the hunting store, which is 200 meters away. I do not know who was beating them. Both of them could have done it. But ... it was our guys who were beating.

According to him, a total of seven people escaped from the house.

Izyum mayor's office believes that Shtanko was forced to give such an interview under the threat of death.

Beginning March 6, the Russians began intensive shelling and airstrikes on Izyum, destroying the entrances of multi-story buildings and destroying all infrastructure. Izyum has been under Russian occupation for a second month. On May 10, in the temporarily occupied city of Izyum, the bodies of 44 civilians were found dead in the rubble of a five-story building. Among the dead, there are two families of five and two others of three.

Olena Kalaitan, editor-in-chief of the Priazovsky Rabochiy newspaper, reported, that the publication had temporarily stopped coming out due to the Russian occupation. However, it recently became known that along with the "humanitarian aid" in Mariupol a fresh issue of the newspaper was distributed. "Well, our editorial board predicted in advance that the occupiers would use the trust of our readers gained over the years and the authority of the "Priazovsky Rabochiy" newspaper, which we have been carefully developing, cherishing and preserving. Dear readers - I ask you not to take everything that the collaborationist authorities are now passing off as our position - the Ukrainian editorial board of "Priazovsky Rabochiy" has no line of this new-found newspaper," Kalaitan said.

This fake was spread by the Russian media, in particular, the May 9 edition of Izvestia made a story about an allegedly burnt-out train that was in the building of a sports complex in Luhansk Oblast. Although the propagandists did not specify which sports complex they were talking about, StopFake managed to identify the building in the video. It turned out that this was the Luhansk regional sports center Olimp, which burned down back on March 18 as a result of artillery shelling of the city by the Russian military. Before the temporary occupation of Kreminna by the Russian military, humanitarian aid had indeed been stored in the building. However, it had been organized by local authorities, not by Russia and its controlled fighters, as early as March 22.

More details

The Russian Orthodox Church spread a fake about the alleged "forced transfer" of the church in Dubyshche to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. According to the Liar Project, "Russian church propaganda calls the PCU a schismatic structure, and the legal will of the religious community is a forced transfer. In fact, the PCU is canonical and is recognized by the Orthodox Church. And the parish of the village Dubyshche decided to join the PCU on May 30 - 284 people voted "for" and 59 "against." "In addition, the text manipulates that the decision was made by the residents of the village, not the church community. Thus, Russian church propaganda denies the right to the will of the church founders - the people who through their donations have joined in the construction of the church and its functioning, who have the right to use the services of the church," writes "Liar".

Read more about the role of the Russian church on the occupation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine here. Recall, the head of the Moscow Patriarchate Kirill supports the war against Ukraine. Previously, he had already spread a fake that Russia "never attacked anyone." By the way, for such statements Instagram marked the fake post of a supporter of Russian aggression against Ukraine, singer Nikolai Baskov.

Pro-Kremlin media actively spread the opinion that the temporarily occupied cities of Ukraine are preparing to celebrate Victory Day openly for the first time in many years and that the St. George Ribbon is becoming increasingly popular among the local population, especially among children. A video circulated on social networks shows a Victory volunteer in Mariupol tying a St. George's ribbon to children's clothes and asking what it means. The girl replies: "It's beautiful" and says that she has never worn such ribbons before.

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Liudmila Denisova reported that in Melitopol, temporarily occupied by Russian troops in Zaporizhzhia, children are forced to wear St. George ribbons and learn poems about the war. "From the media it became known that in the occupied Melitopol of Zaporozhye region forced children to wear St. George ribbons and learn poems about the war. Such actions are committed by school principals cooperating with the occupation troops," she stressed. According to Denisova, teachers distribute children's thematic drawings and videos of schoolchildren reciting poems about the war with St. George ribbons on their chests online. There is information that this is happening without parental consent. The ombudsman stressed that school is one of the means of educating a child, the formation of the worldview, which is continuously connected with the upbringing in the family. According to her, "this imposition of the racist ideology in educational institutions is aimed at destroying the Ukrainian identity in the minds of children". Denisova stressed that these actions of the Russian invaders are a violation of Article 29 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This document stipulates that the education of a child should be aimed at fostering respect for the child's parents, cultural identity, language and national values of the country in which the child resides, his country of origin. The above is direct evidence of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

According to the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory, the "St. George's Ribbon" is an element of Russian propaganda. The formation of the symbol "St. George's Ribbon" has a long and complicated history. It first appeared on the Order of St. George, founded in 1769 by Empress Ekaterina II. The Order became the highest military award of the Russian Empire and was given to officers for special courage in battle. Later, a whole set of awards associated with St. George was formed: the Order, the medal, the cross and the flag. They were accompanied by the St. George ribbon, which, according to official statutes, consisted of three black and two yellow stripes. It was also allowed to use orange instead of yellow.

The most likely version is that the gamma of the ribbon was taken from the black-yellow-white flag of the Russian Empire. Another version is that the color symbolizes the fire and smoke, which emphasizes its military nature. Read more here.

In 2015, instead of the "St. George's Ribbon" as a symbol of remembrance of victory and honoring the victims of World War II, Ukrainians were suggested to use the red poppy flower. Striped black and yellow ribbon in the perception of Ukrainians became a negative symbol, which is associated with danger and terrorism. Since 2015. On May 8 and 9, Ukraine celebrates Memorial and Reconciliation Day and Victory Day over Nazism in World War II. The traditional slogan of these commemorative days "We Remember - We Win!" this year is somewhat modified at the state level and sounds like "We defeated the Nazis - let's defeat the Rashists too!.

Pro-Kremlin media and Telegram channels spread information that "the Kiev government is once again engaged in a 'culture of cancellation,'" as the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture allegedly plans to withdraw Russian literature from Ukraine's library collections. In particular, the propaganda publication RIA Novosti reported that "works of Russian literature, which is considered propaganda," will be withdrawn. In fact, these statements are manipulation, reports StopFake.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information Policy said that Ukraine will launch a process of removing Russian books from libraries, but it is not talking about all works of Russian literature, but only those that promote war and the elimination of Ukrainian statehood. The Council for the Development of Librarianship under the Ministry developed criteria, according to which books will be withdrawn. First of all, the works that meet one of these criteria will be withdrawn:

• whose content is aimed at eliminating the independence of Ukraine, propaganda of violence, inciting interethnic, racial, religious enmity, committing terrorist acts, encroaching on human rights and freedoms;

• propaganda of war, national and religious discord, changing the constitutional system or the territorial integrity of Ukraine by violence; contain justification, recognition as legitimate, denial of armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, including by presenting the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine as an internal conflict, civil conflict, civil war, denial of temporary occupation of part of the territory of Ukraine; glorify persons committing armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, present;

• publishers, as well as authors to whom restrictive measures (sanctions) have been applied in accordance with the Law of Ukraine "On Sanctions";

• authors who publicly supported the aggression against Ukraine, information about which is publicly available on the Internet.

Apparently, the Russian language of the work is not a criterion according to which the Ministry of Culture will withdraw literature from library collections.The Council for Library Development, founded in April 2022, is engaged in the process of developing the criteria according to which literature will be withdrawn. They regularly publish information about their meetings on the official Facebook page of the Ukrainian Library Association. According to the press service of the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, libraries can create advisory bodies, which will give recommendations on how to update the library collection in the conditions of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Library Association says that the issue of removing propaganda literature from the libraries of Ukraine will be approached carefully and in a balanced way. Deputy Minister of Culture and Information Policy Larysa Petasyuk confirms this: "Propaganda is a dangerous weapon. Today Russian lies poison everything around us. We have all the means to fight this phenomenon. The Ministry has defined clear criteria according to which Russian literature will be withdrawn from Ukrainian library collections. We approach this question carefully and in a balanced way. We hope that all this will have a positive effect on the development of Ukrainian book publishing.The Ministry of Culture reports that the withdrawn books will be replaced by Ukrainian works and books of Ukrainian publishers.

On May 4, the pro-Kremlin media reported that "black clouds of smoke" could be seen over Stariy Saltov in Kharkiv Oblast, which appeared after "Ukrainian units staged a showy assault on an unoccupied peaceful settlement. According to the Russian media, the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly "staged" an attack on Stary Saltov and "a battalion of amnestied criminals, Kraken, entered the village and carried out terror in the village," StopFake wrote. The Russian military occupied the village of Stariy Salty immediately after the invasion on February 24, 2022.

Reports that Ukrainian troops were conducting an offensive operation near Stariy Saltov near Kharkiv appeared in early May. On May 4, the head of the Kharkiv regional state administration, Oleg Sinegubov, reported that fighting continued around the settlements in the direction of Stariy Saltiv. Two ambulance workers came under fire. "To dismiss the settlement is 30%. 70% - our guys are trying to hold it and consolidate their positions there. We can't say right now whether it's our settlement or not," Sinegubov said.

In the evening summary for May 5, the General Staff of the AFU reported that Russian troops in the Slobozhansky direction "tried to regain lost positions near the city of Kharkiv, conducted an unsuccessful offensive attempt near the settlement of Stary Saltov." After losing Stariy Saltiv, the Russians began to actively terrorize the civilian population of the settlement and nearby settlements. Due to the huge losses of manpower, Russia has massively used indiscriminate shelling of liberated Kharkov villages from multiple rocket launchers and artillery. The information was confirmed by fighters of the Kraken special unit, a separate reconnaissance and sabotage unit within one of the military units of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. Kraken had nothing in common with the "criminals": one of the main requirements for recruiting to the unit is the absence of a criminal record of the candidate. The Russian media assert that the assault by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Stariy Saltiv was a "demonstration," since the village was supposedly "a peaceful settlement that no one had occupied. It is noteworthy that as early as May 3, the Russian media themselves actively distributed a video with the hashtag "we do not abandon our own," which showed the distribution of humanitarian aid in the temporarily occupied Stary Salty.

The Russian thesis that Stariy Saltiv is "occupied by no one" is also refuted by the daily updated online maps of the war zones. Moreover, both Ukrainian and Russian propaganda maps. If we compare data from the Ukrainian Liveuamap resource, which allows real-time monitoring of the war in Ukraine, the map perfectly shows that Stariy Saltiv was still under Russian occupation on May 1 (red color). This can also be seen on the Russian map of the invasion of Ukraine from the Readovka resource.

However, as early as May 5, according to the Ukrainian online map Liveuamap, the Ukrainian Armed Forces drove the Russian invaders from the territory of Staryi Saltiv - the settlement was sacked. A "fighting" sign appeared on the Russian map on the same day in the area of Stariy Saltivka.

Anonymous telegram channels spread information that in the temporarily occupied territories the Russian authorities allegedly write off debts for public utilities. The authors of such reports also claim that with the spread of rumors that the western regions of Ukraine may be ceded to Poland, Romania, Slovakia or Hungary, people living in these regions are also allegedly not allowed to pay utility bills, because then the debts will be written off, as Russia does.

First of all, there is no question of the annexation of the western regions to any other country. It is only Russia that has attacked Ukraine with a war and seeks to seize our territory. Second, Russia may be writing off debts in the temporarily occupied territories, but in cities where Russian troops were already present, there are significant problems with communications, because Russia is purposefully destroying Ukrainian infrastructure. In particular, it blows up water and sewage pipelines, etc., and electricity and gas disappear in cities due to rocket and other shelling. In addition, such a message is dangerous because it seems to tell Ukrainians that it is advantageous to surrender to Russia because they will not have to pay for utilities and will be able to save money.

On April 30, pro-Kremlin media circulated materials stating that Crimean Tatars declared "full support for Russia's foreign policy course" and "unanimously" supported Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. How Crimean Tatars are "ready to participate in the special operation in Ukraine."

According to Stopfake, the Kremlin-controlled occupation "authorities" of seized Crimea held an ostensible "congress" on the peninsula on April 30, at which Crimean Tatars allegedly "supported" Russian aggression against Ukraine.

According to the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, to create a "beautiful picture" and mythical "mass" Russia forcibly summoned students of the Crimean Engineering and Pedagogical University, as well as employees of budgetary organizations, including teachers, to the meeting. Chubarov notes that this measure has no political weight and does not reflect the real pro-Ukrainian position of the indigenous people of Ukraine, the Crimean Tatars.

"The only purpose for which the FSB of the Russian Federation organizes such a "congress" is to imitate the support of the Crimean Tatars for "Putin's policy and a special military operation" against Ukraine. In fact, by holding a "congress" today, the Russian special services will once again, but completely unsuccessfully, try to deceive the world that, they say, the Crimean Tatars demonstrate loyalty to the policy of the occupying country and its president Putin," Chubarov said on his Facebook page.

The Crimean Tatars are an indigenous people of Ukraine who support the territorial integrity of the country and strongly oppose the war that Russia started. Read more.

This is the thesis spread by Russian propagandists, claiming that Carpathian Ukraine was "a small pro-Nazi state" and no one had heard of the Ukrainians of Transcarpathia before 1939. In Russia, the opinion "the Carpathian Sich was a Nazi Ukrainian organization" had spread before. In her study "Revision of History: Russian Historical Propaganda and Ukraine," Olena Sorotsynska analyzed this narrative of Russian historical propaganda: "Secrets" of Carpathian Ukraine: how the Nazi murtads built their 'state'", "In Ukraine another invented Ukrainian 'holiday of independence' is widely celebrated - the 80th anniversary of the proclamation of independence of Carpathian Ukraine" - these are some of the headlines of Russian media about Carpathian Ukraine. Some Russian media identify the OUN with Carpathian Ukraine and claim that this state is a product of the Abwehr. "On September 4, 1938, a meeting was held in Uzhgorod on the initiative of members of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists at which the Ukrainian National Defense (UNO) was created. This was the Nazi center that later created the so-called Carpathian Ukraine," writes Novorossiya Information Agency. The occupation of Carpathian Ukraine by Hungarians is explained by the fact that Hungarians were more valuable allies for Hitler than the UUN, so he gave permission for Hungary to seize these territories. "The country of the victorious Euromaidan," which is known to have "no fascism," continues to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the pro-German Carpathian Ukraine declaration of independence," according to the Rus' Unity resource. This is meant to demonstrate "the gravitas of the Ukrainian fascist idea," which, they say, is flourishing today."

The electronic version of the publication is available at the link.

The Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance has prepared information materials about Carpathian Ukraine. Read more about Carpathian Ukraine.