Propagandists, through pro-Russian telegram channels and accounts on the social network X (formerly Twitter), are distributing a video in which Catherine Himmler, the granddaughter of the brother of one of the most influential leaders of Nazi Germany, Heinrich Himmler, allegedly calls on Ukrainian young people not to return to Ukraine. Like, she advises “not to hand over Ukrainians to the bloody dictator Zelenskyi”. But this is not true.

In fact, Himmler made no such statement. The video was edited using archival chronicles from the time of the Third Reich, echoing footage of a meeting with the participation of the foreign ministers of Ukraine and Germany Dmytro Kuleba and Annalena Berbock, as well as other German politicians. Katherine Himmler responded to the Agency's editor by email, confirming that she had not said what propagandists had attributed to her.

On April 16, the President of Ukraine signed the law on mobilization and military service, which talks about strengthening sanctions against military service evaders, as well as some changes in military registration. On April 23, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba announced a decision to limit the provision of consular services abroad to Ukrainians of military age. Commenting on this decision on the social network X, he noted that “soon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will provide updated explanations on the procedure for obtaining consular services within the framework of the law for men of mobilization age in foreign diplomatic institutions”. Taking advantage of this situation, Russian propaganda is trying to spread panic and discredit the government. Detector Media also refuted other Russian stories on the topic of mobilization in Ukraine.

Propagandists began disseminating information in the media and social networks that a Ukrainian military man was allegedly injured during a training session to drop ammunition from a UAV. As “evidence”, they add a video of a man in military uniform dropping a grenade from a drone, which allegedly explodes near him. However, this is fake.

Analyzing the distributed video, StopFake specialists noticed that the “explosion” looked unnatural. The moment of detonation is not visible on the recording. The image of an explosion suddenly appears and immediately blocks out what is happening on the screen. In the video editing program Adobe Premiere Pro, one can see that the “explosion” overlaps the original video in one hundredth of a second.

Such a sudden change in frames suggests that the video has been edited. StopFake analysts began looking for similar “explosions” on the Internet. It turned out that this is a very popular effect that can be applied to any video. For example, on Instagram it is called Explosion. Fact-checkers created a similar video of the explosion and also divided it into frames in Adobe Premiere Pro. The frozen footage taken overnight from this effect and the fake video indicates that this is one and the same “explosion”.

It seems that propagandists added an “explosion” to the video of the military man or passed off someone’s joke as reality to discredit the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This video fake began to spread not only in the Russian segment of the Internet, but also in different languages of the world. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other fakes of Russian propaganda against the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Propagandists spread information on social networks and Russian public pages that Ukrainians are ready to live even in the Chornobyl zone just to save their lives. “Enterprising Ukrainians began to make minimal repairs and sell “safe houses near Prypiat”. Among the main advantages is the absence of a shopping center. The price of pleasure is $6,500”, social network users report, distributing in their publications a video announcing the “sale of a house near Prypiat”. A male voice in the video talks about the plot and the house for sale, and on the video itself there are the inscriptions “Safe house near Prypiat”, “No shopping center”, “Renovated, clean, comfortable, stove heating”. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that in fact this announcement concerns the sale of a house in the village of Krasnianka, Vinnytsia region and has nothing to do with either the Chornobyl exclusion zone or attempts by potential buyers to avoid mobilization in Ukraine.

They found the real video, distributed on social networks and Russian media, on the Ukrainian YouTube channel “It’s easy to move to a village”. The channel was created in December 2022 and is dedicated to reviews of private houses for sale located in rural areas. The mentioned video is located in the YouTube Shorts section of the channel and has received more than 19 thousand views to date.

It is interesting that both the voice-over of the presenter, the background music, the detailed information about the property, and the photographs of the house and yard completely coincide with the fake advertisement about “selling a house near Chornobyl”. This makes it obvious that we are talking about the same ad. However, at the beginning of the original video, the presenter states that the house is located in the village of Krasnianka, Tyvrovskyi district, Vinnytsia region. In the fake publications, this information was cut out using video editing programs and, for greater reliability, text was added to the video itself, confirming that the house is located near Prypiat. There is no text in the actual ad in the video. In addition, the price of the house was changed in the fake ad. According to the authors of the fake, a plot of land near Prypiat costs $6,500, but in the original video the price is listed as $2,500. This was done, obviously, in order to show: Ukrainians are ready to give up considerable sums of money just to get away from Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

The Chornobyl exclusion zone is located in the north of the Kyiv region. It was formed as a result of radioactive contamination of the territory after the accident at the 4th power unit of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986. Its area is 36545 hectares. Consequently, the sale of houses near Prypiat is prohibited in Ukraine, and information about this is another fake of Russian propaganda with the aim of discrediting the mobilization campaign in Ukraine. The original video was deliberately altered to create a false narrative that Ukrainians are willing to live even in the exclusion zone just to avoid Territorial centers of recruitment and social support.

“Ukrainian women are actively preparing to evade mobilization”, with this title, propagandists are massively distributing a video on social networks in which a woman puts on an artificial belly to simulate pregnancy. “These life hacks are already very popular. Everything was done properly - men in wigs, and women with artificial bellies”, write users distributing this video. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that, despite the inscriptions in Ukrainian “pov: heard about the mobilization of women” and “Register, girls!”, this video is distributed exclusively by pro-Russian groups and Z-channels on Telegram. There is no evidence that this video is popular among Ukrainian women.

StopFake journalists were able to investigate that this video first appeared online even before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in June 2021 on the YouTube channel “Nadiia Korobeinykova”. There are obviously no inscriptions “pov: I heard about the mobilization of women!” and “Register, girls!”. The description of the original video notes that this video is a brief instruction on how to “make your own” artificial belly to simulate pregnancy. Using the phone number indicated in the description, StopFake journalists were able to find more detailed information about this profile on YouTube.

This phone number is also listed in the contacts of the Facebook page used for promotional orders of artificial bellies to simulate pregnancy. Having looked through their publications, journalists were unable to find a single one advertising artificial bellies as a means of evading mobilization. The website indicated in the page description states that artificial bellies for simulating pregnancy are suitable for clothing stores, themed photo and video shoots, for couples who seek help from surrogacy or decide to adopt a child.

Reports that Ukrainian women are learning to make artificial bellies to “evade mobilization” are not realistic. The fact is that in Ukraine women can only mobilize voluntarily. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said at the final press conference in December 2023 that there would be no mobilization of women in the country during martial law. Now military registration applies only to those women who have received education in medical and pharmaceutical specialties, but they can serve only of their own free will.

Propagandists spread such fake news to discredit the mobilization in Ukraine and cause panic among the local population. Detector Media has repeatedly refuted other Russian fabrications about mobilization in Ukraine.

Propagandists are circulating a short video on social media showing several men laying out what they claim are corpses in black bags in a square in central Warsaw. Many Polish flags and commemorative wreaths are visible in the background. In the description of the video they write: “Polish mercenaries are returning from the war in Ukraine!”, “Why are they being thrown away like sacks of potatoes?”, “Is this somehow disrespectful to the corpses?”, “Yes, that’s right, let’s eat and go home”, “I hope they realized that it’s better not to fight with the Russians!”, - readers of pro-Russian public pages comment on the video.

StopFake journalists managed to discover the original video. On March 23, it was published on the YouTube channel “ToNieNaszaWojna!” (It’s Not Our War!) under the title “Najgorszy dzień pokoju jest lepszy niż najpiękniejszy dzień wojny. Demo Warszawa, Polska 03.23.2024” (“The worst day of peace is better than the best day of war. Demonstration Warsaw, Poland, 03.23.2024”).

In fact, what is happening in the video is a performance that took place as part of the rally on March 23, 2024 in Warsaw. The description of the video says that this is an “anti-globalist, anti-American demonstration in Warsaw against the war in Ukraine”.

Propagandists want to intimidate foreigners with this video. They say they will be forcibly hired to die for Ukraine. However, participation in the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces is voluntary.

Propagandists, citing the Australian edition of the Daily Telegraph, are disseminating information that German police allegedly announced the neutralization of “the largest network of shoplifters in the last 10 years”. According to these reports, a group of fraudsters who stole goods from shops in 12 cities in Germany included Ukrainian refugees and stole €2.7 million in six months. To confirm this information, propagandists are distributing corresponding screenshots and a video report from the Daily Telegraph. However, this is fake.

StopFake specialists drew attention to it. They found that the Daily Telegraph never posted the video on its social media and there is no corresponding news on their website. The latest mentions of Ukraine and Ukrainians, which can be found on the Daily Telegraph website, concern regular shelling by Russian civilian forces in Ukraine.

Although the attackers used the Daily Telegraph logo in the video, the media company's actual videos look different: they do not have the publication's logo, the inscriptions are made on a white or black background, and the entire video is accompanied by the voice of a journalist, while the video distributed online only has musical accompaniment. The attackers tried to imitate the Daily Telegraph's corporate style, using the publication's collage style, which they publish on their social networks. However, this attempt was unsuccessful as the font in the fake video was significantly different from the one used by the Daily Telegraph.

The news about the neutralization of a group of Ukrainian refugees who allegedly committed shoplifting in Germany is also fiction. None of the important German media reported such an incident. Fake messages are distributed exclusively on Russian news sites and anonymous telegram channels.

Propagandists spread such messages to discredit Ukrainian refugees abroad and make foreigners dislike them. Detector Media has already repeatedly refuted other Russian fabrications against Ukrainian refugees in Europe.

Russian propagandists are distributing a video about the everyday life of two young Ukrainians: one is relaxing, having fun with girls, drinking alcohol and drugs, while the other is fighting.

Russian propaganda is trying to undermine the authority of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as sow discord in Ukrainian society. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this.

The authors of the video staged “two realities” of Ukrainians, deliberately manipulating sensitive topics for the Ukrainian people in order to attract attention and provoke conflict. However, Russian propagandists ignore the fact that Ukrainians enlist in the military not for popularity and “luxury conditions”, but to protect their country and future.

This manipulative video appeared against the backdrop of public discussions of the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization preparation and mobilization”. More materials on this topic can be found here.

On social networks, a video is being shared where Ukrainians are “asking for asylum” in the member states of the European Union and NATO, while all three participants are represented as pigs. According to the plot, the USA turns out to be a butcher who profited from the plight of piglets. “What cool cartoons are in the EU!”, propagandists comment. It is not true.

The VoxCheck analysts investigated the case and established that the so-called cartoon is a fake video. After all, in fact, this is an animation of a fairy tale, on which propagandists imposed a textual accompaniment.

A keyword search on YouTube revealed that the animation was created back in 2020 by a user with the nickname Frame Order. The author creates entertaining animations based on famous films and fairy tales using dark humor.

In the original video, there are no inscriptions about Ukraine, NATO, the EU, unlike the propaganda “cartoon”.

Propagandists spread the word that the French are “mocking their Macron-Napoleon” and this seems to be confirmed by the cover of the French magazine L'Hémicycle, where Macron is depicted as a ragged angry rooster. They even claim that this cover was “hotly discussed” on the France 24 TV channel, and cite a fragment from the TV show where it was allegedly shown.

However, the authenticity of these claims is questionable, as the French magazine L'Hémicycle never ran a cover with Macron as a ragged rooster, and France 24 never aired a “ragged rooster with Macron's head” on air. Specialists of the StopFake project drew attention to this.

They found out that L'Hémicycle is a French independent magazine published quarterly with analysis, interviews, stories and narratives. The cover of L'Hémicycle is shown on social media, with the words Winter 2023 at the top and the issue number - 514. On the official website of L'Hémicycle, one can see the latest issue of the magazine, which was published on December 20, 2023. It also has the inscription Winter 2023 on the top right and the number 514 on the left. This confirms that it is about this particular issue of the magazine. However, the actual cover of the issue features a rooster's head as the symbol of the French Republic, not Emmanuel Macron. And even before that, the magazine had never been published with the cover distributed by the propagandists.

The program on France 24 did show the winter issue of L'Hémicycle, but the real one, with a rooster's head. So, Russian propaganda also changed the video of the French TV channel, inserting a fake cover with Macron in it.

Propagandists again created a fake with the aim of discrediting the political leaders of the European Union - this time Emmanuel Macron. Detector Media wrote how Russian propaganda reacted to the recent statements of the French president.

A video recording of the moment of the explosion of a trench candle, which was allegedly handed over to the Ukrainian military by volunteers from Mykolaiv, is being distributed online on behalf of the Ukrainian volunteer telegram channel. In the text to the video they write that the soldiers almost died. Therefore, the volunteers are suspected of a “planned action” that was intended to harm Ukrainian fighters.

The Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council analyzed the video and found out the source of distribution. As a result, the Center stated that this is an “orchestrated Russian IPSO”, the purpose of which is to discredit Ukrainian volunteers in the eyes of the people of Ukraine, including military personnel, and undermine confidence in them.

The volunteer movement in Ukraine is a powerful component of the fight against the occupiers, so Russia is trying to disgrace it in various ways, in particular through the dissemination of edited videos, fake articles and news. Previously, we refuted the information that the Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, and at the same time a draft notice as an invitation to “serve” in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Propagandists began to spread false information in Russian media and social networks, allegedly during a social experiment in Kazakhstan, local residents ignored the Ukrainian flag, while the Russian flag, according to them, was actively raised. A corresponding video is attached as “confirmation” of this. “Once a Kazakh blogger conducted an experiment with the Ukrainian flag. No one picked it up, and people even walked on it. He did a new experiment in this place today. With the Russian flag! Bravo, Kazakhstan! Ordinary people understand that the truth is with Russia”, users wrote.

StopFake decided to check this information and found that it was not true.

Since neither Russian media nor social network users reported when and which blogger conducted such an experiment, the fact-checkers tried to find the original video on their own. In a Google search for the keywords “social experiment, Kazakhstan, flag”, they received many similar videos. Among them, on the baurzhan_89 TikTok account there are a large number of videos with a blogger who could also be seen in a propaganda video distributed.

On the page of the mentioned account there are also two videos with a social experiment of the blogger, where the Ukrainian and Russian flags lie on the floor, but with a longer timing than the propaganda showed. It turned out that in the video with the Ukrainian flag, propagandists cut out the part where people can be seen raising it. Also in the video with the Russian flag, footage of people passing by the tricolor was cut out. In general, in the original videos, people reacted about the same to the flags of both countries.

According to StopFake experts, Russian propaganda deliberately cut out the video in order to create another fake about the negative attitude towards Ukraine and Ukrainians in other countries of the world. StopFake also contacted the mentioned TikTok blogger. They asked him if he had seen the cropped videos with captions about “ignoring” the Ukrainian flag. To which the Tiktoker replied that he was outraged and added that “the video carries only patriotic and social content, and Kazakhstan people are for peace and a clear sky above their heads”. Upon request to give his first and last name, the blogger asked to simply indicate his nickname Baurzhan. S.

Propagandists are distributing on social networks a photo of a young woman wearing a vest worn by social workers and volunteers, laughing against the backdrop of a large fire that occurred in Berlin on March 12 in the Tegel refugee camp, where Ukrainian refugees are also staying. “The strange reaction of a volunteer of a Berlin camp for Ukrainian refugees after a large fire started on the territory”, write Russian anonymous telegram channels. However, this photo is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the fakeness of the photo is primarily indicated by the fact that it began to be disseminated by Russian anonymous telegram channels, which were repeatedly seen publishing disinformation. The picture is being circulated everywhere along with the video as “proof” that it was taken from it, but upon detailed analysis of the video of the fire, StopFake discovered that this particular frame was not in it.

Fact-checkers also examined many videos on social networks that appeared after the fire in the refugee camp set up on the territory of the former Tegel Airport in Berlin, but did not find this footage of a volunteer. In addition, if one carefully analyzes the image, they can see traces of the photo editor’s intervention. Thus, there is a stripe between the girl’s head and the smoke, and the structure of the image against the background of the hands is also blurred, which indicates poor-quality insertion of other elements into the photograph.

Analyzing a photo using tools that detect the use of a photo editor is quite difficult, since it has been stored and watermarked multiple times, but even then, the photo shows different layers indicating tampering.

Such a fake is spreading in the context of a popular Russian disinformation narrative that the West is supposedly tired of Ukrainian refugees and is no longer ready to help them. However, in reality, countries continue to provide asylum to Ukrainian refugees, social protection and education to Ukrainian children. Detector Media refuted a number of Russian fakes about refugees from Ukraine in the West.

In mid-March 2024, Russian propagandists spread information that Ukraine was allegedly not releasing citizens of African countries and was “forcibly” mobilizing them for military operations. Like, this was reported by the American television channel ABC News, where a Congolese citizen allegedly claimed that he was offered to fight for Ukraine. However, this is manipulation.

After disseminating this information, StopFake decided to check whether a Congolese citizen really complained to an American TV channel that he was not being allowed out of Ukraine and was being “forced” to mobilize for military action. They found out that the news was false.

In the video distributed by Russian propaganda, the foreigner cannot be heard complaining that he is not allowed to leave Ukraine. At the beginning of the video, the voice of a TV presenter talks about a person from the Congo who claims that he was the target of discrimination when trying to board an evacuation train. What follows is the direct language of a foreigner who says that he was offered to fight for Ukraine. After his comment, the video ends. It is impossible to draw conclusions about why he was not released from the country and whether they really tried to “forcibly” mobilize him.

In this regard, StopFake tried to find this news on the American ABC News channel and reconsider whether there was perhaps additional context that could help understand this situation better. The video shows that the Congolese citizen's name is Pira Diantuadi. We managed to find an article about this man on the ABC News website. It turned out that it was published in the spring of 2022 and was dedicated to foreign refugees trying to leave Ukraine after the full-scale Russian invasion. The authors of the material tried to figure out whether there was discrimination on racial grounds during the evacuation from the country. In particular, Diantuadi complained that, despite promising to put only “women and children” on the evacuation train, he saw Ukrainian men being put on the evacuation train. The material is accompanied by an insert where Diantuadi talks about the proposal to fight for Ukraine, which the propagandists took advantage of. However, the material does not contain any conclusions that Ukraine tried to deliberately not let foreigners out of the country and “forcibly” mobilize them.

The ABC News article also noted that the interview with the Congolese citizen was conducted in Poland. The inscriptions in Polish in the background of the video confirm this. That is, the foreigner still managed to leave Ukraine at the beginning of the Russian invasion. Therefore, Russian propaganda tried to use the story of the “travel ban” and “forced” mobilization of foreign citizens in a new way, publishing an old video of a person in order to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of citizens of the countries of the South.

It should be added that according to Ukrainian legislation, foreigners cannot be mobilized. As the head of the personnel department of the headquarters of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Colonel Roman Horbach, explained in a comment to ArmyInform, a foreigner can only want this himself.

“According to the law, foreigners can be drafted into the Defense Forces. But they are not called up for mobilization, but are accepted for military service voluntarily under a contract in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”, said Roman Horbach.

In the Ukrainian segment of social networks, information is being spread that the former leader and founder of the Right Sector organization Dmytro  Yarosh, in an interview with Espresso, allegedly called for an uprising against the power of Zelenskyi and his team. But this is not true.

VoxCheck analysts investigated this case and found out that the video to which the propagandists refer was published back in 2020. There were no calls to “overthrow” the government.

Propagandists cut out an excerpt from a long interview, where Yarosh emphasized that the opposition must come to power in a legal way and “restore order in the state”. “But for this, statist forces need to take power and restore order in the state. Take power - I mean, legally, only through democratic elections”, he said. That is, Yarosh did not call for a coup d'etat.

An alleged CNN advertisement in Times Square is being circulated on social networks with the text: “Kyiv is over. Will the Russians stop there or go further? Find out this and more at Political Briefing”. However, this is a lie.

VoxCheck analysts analyzed the case and determined that such advertising had never been shown in Times Square. At the request of fact-checkers of the Reuters news agency, Emily Kuhn, vice president of communications for CNN, responded that “the video was edited and is not an advertisement for CNN”.

We have repeatedly documented hoaxes involving fake graffiti or covers on foreign magazines, newspaper columns or advertisements. Thus, propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. So it may seem to readers that the public is really dissatisfied with Ukraine.

Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric on anonymous telegram channels are distributing a video shown by Lviv residents who allegedly went to a rally against the head of the Office of the President Andrii Yermak in March 2024. However, this is a fake video.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. Using keywords on the Internet, they were able to find the original video. It was published on YouTube on November 28, 2014 under the title “Maidan in Lviv - December 1, 2013”. On this day, more than 50 thousand Lviv residents actually protested in the city center, demanding the resignation of Yanukovych, the government and parliament.

They found an audio track with shouts against Yermak on another recording that was distributed on March 13, 2020. Then representatives and supporters of the “Voice” party gathered near the President’s Office, outraged by the signing of new agreements in Minsk.

Previously, Ukrainian intelligence reported on the special operation Maidan-3, which was aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian authorities, spreading panic among the population and increasing hostility with foreign allies. These actions were accompanied by fake messages, the main peak of which occurs in March-April 2024. Thus, these messages probably also refer to the Maidan-3 special operation.

A video is being circulated online showing Poles transporting black soil from the Kherson region in trucks. It consists of three parts: the first part shows the earthworks; the second is how a forklift fills a truck with soil; the third is filming the road by a car driver. The video contains the caption: “How was my week. Kherson region”. According to the authors of numerous publications with him, the land is being taken to the Polish city of Myslowice. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that this video first began to be distributed online by predominantly pro-Russian telegram channels and anonymous accounts back in early March 2023. They note that there is no indication in the video that the footage of the earth being loaded was actually filmed in Ukraine. A reverse image search also did not yield positive results due to the low quality of the recording. Only the last part of the video indicates that its author is probably Polish - Polish music and the Polish language can be heard in the background.

And yet, in the first part of the video, a truck is clearly visible, into which earth is being loaded, and in the second, the logo on the steering wheel of the car from which the road is being filmed is clearly visible. AFP Polska journalists, who also drew attention to this fake back in 2023, were able to identify these two vehicles: in the first part of the video a Shacman truck appears (Shacman F2000 or Shacman F3000), in the second - a Scania. This fact indicates that these two video fragments are not related to each other and were presumably combined into one video for the purpose of falsification.

The export of Ukrainian black soil is also unlikely because it is contrary to Polish and EU legislation. In accordance with Commission Regulation (EU) 2019/2072 of 28 November 2019, the import of soil and fertilizers is prohibited. Consequently, trucks with land simply could not cross the border between Ukraine and Poland. In addition, the refutation from StopFake contains a professional commentary on the deterioration of the quality of Ukrainian black soil, which is why its transportation to other countries also seems unlikely.

Propagandists spread such fakes in order to deepen tension in bilateral relations between Poland and Ukraine against the backdrop of recent events, in particular, protests by Polish farmers against the import of Ukrainian products. Detector Media also wrote how Russia is trying to use and support these protests not only in Poland, but also in other EU countries.

On behalf of Ukrainian TV channels, videos containing information are being distributed in TikTok, allegedly the government adopted Law No. 3386 regarding a one-time payment of 14 thousand hryvnia to those Ukrainians who have never left the country since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

In fact, these videos are fake. They are generated by artificial intelligence. The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about this. Law No. 3386 itself simply does not exist. Such content applies, in particular, to increasing the reach of anonymous telegram channels, which are linked in the description under the video.

By spreading this disinformation, Russian propaganda aims to split Ukrainian society. Like, “those Ukrainians who remained in Ukraine during the war are “more Ukrainians” than those who left, therefore the state in this way seeks to show the privilege of the former”. It is on this basis that the fake Russian propaganda is based.

• Read also: More money is spent on one prisoner in Ukraine every month than on pensions for Ukrainians

A video is being circulated on social networks in the Russian segment in which a so-called Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received gratitude from the Ministry of Defense for his “active civic position and assistance to the army” - and in addition, he was “handed” a draft notice to the nearest Territorial center of recruitment and social support. In the messages, the authors of the fake conclude that in Ukraine you “shouldn’t” trust anyone, because they still want to mobilize a volunteer who decided to help of his own free will. However, just like the gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, the draft notice is fake.

The case was analyzed by VoxCheck specialists, who explained that the gratitude and the agenda do not comply with state design standards and contain various errors. For example, with regard to gratitude from the Ministry of Defense, in the special order “On departmental incentive awards” they give an example of a sketch of a “certificate”. It is different from the one in the fake video.

Moreover, in the text of gratitude itself there are many errors: in words “Vasylenko”, “heating means”, etc.

The situation with the draft notice is the same: instead of the current name of Kropyvnytskyi, the fake document used the old one - Kirovohrad. They also wrote a military commissariat, although there should be a territorial center for recruitment and social support.

That is, Russian propagandists wanted to show that in Ukraine they “use” people for their own purposes, for example, for widespread mobilization. In the message, the Kremlin’s minions convinced that the volunteer was doing something useful, helping the army, but the “evil Ukrainian authorities” decided to mobilize him anyway.

However, according to the law “On mobilization preparation and mobilization” and Article 23 of the legislative initiative, the status of a volunteer does not fall under the category of persons who may be exempt from mobilization. First of all, volunteer activity is a voluntary, socially oriented, non-profit activity that is performed by volunteers by providing volunteer assistance. In theory, a Ukrainian volunteer can be mobilized or served with a draft notice if there are specific grounds for this.

Russian propagandists are disseminating information in anonymous telegram channels that a mass death of birds was allegedly recorded in Poland after they allegedly ate Ukrainian grain that spilled from freight cars. “The Poles are afraid that they are next, because they are bringing poisoned grain from Ukraine”, they write in their public posts. Some propagandists also say that we are talking about grain that was allegedly grown in the radiative zone around Chornobyl, and that it is now being sold to Europe.

However, there is no factual evidence that somewhere in Poland a mass death of birds was recorded specifically through Ukrainian grain. Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found that the first video being circulated by propagandists as evidence of these claims showed several dead birds, mostly crows, lying next to railway tracks in the Polish city of Zamość. No research has been conducted into the causes of death of these birds. There is no information about what happened even in the local media. There was only a message about this on social networks, where this video was published. Polish fact-checkers from the Demagog project also drew attention to the spread of fake news among Poles and took a comment from an ornithologist who confirmed that without toxicological and veterinary studies it is impossible to say that the birds died due to poisoned grain.

Local bloggers also commented on the situation, noting that there are no freight trains running in the place where the video was filmed. In addition, the birds in the video lie in amazing poses, some with broken wings. It is also surprising that in the video there are only crows, and not pigeons, sparrows or other “urban” birds.

Regarding the quality of Ukrainian grain exported to Europe, it is very carefully checked by buyers. They not only control the quality indicators of the grain, but also make sure that the products have the necessary international certification.

“Each batch is accompanied by an analysis by an independent surveyor nominated by GAFTA”, said Serhii Orlovskyi, founder of the Agrooiltrade trading company, in an interview with Latifundist.com. According to him, any discrepancy in quality could become the basis for lawsuits.

This fake is spreading against the backdrop of protests by Polish farmers against European agricultural policy and the blockade of checkpoints from Ukraine, as well as blockades of roads and highways in some provinces demanding a ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. The protests are accompanied by disinformation campaigns and inciting hostility between allies, which obviously benefits the Kremlin. Detector Media has already written about how Russia is fueling and exploiting farmer protests across Europe.

Russian resources are disseminating information that allegedly during his last visit to Russia, the current commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, “confessed to his mother, that he is with the Ukrainians in the same headquarters and cannot stand them, because they are cunning and unpleasant”. As proof, Russian propaganda is distributing a video in which a neighbor of Syrskyi’s parents allegedly recalls how the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine told his relatives about hatred of Ukrainians.

This information is fake, and the video is staged. This is reported by VoxCheck. Statements from Russian media contradict each other. Syrskyi said that he hated Ukrainians during his last visit to his relatives, but now he continues to communicate with them. At the same time, the “neighbor” in the video does not remember when the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that he hates Ukrainians and, accordingly, it was the last time he visited his relatives. One Russian resource reports that this happened between 2008 and 2010. Another propaganda resource, citing the words of his brother, the head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, claims that Syrskyi does not keep in touch with his relatives. Independent media do not indicate when the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces last saw or communicated with relatives. This information cannot be verified on the basis of open data, so the allegations about Syrskyi’s “Ukrainophobia” are unfounded.

A significant part of his life and military career is connected with Ukraine and the confrontation with Russia. After the start of a full-scale invasion, the current commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine became one of the key persons in the country's defense. In addition, he considers Kharkiv to be his hometown, where he graduated from school.

This fake appeared as part of a large-scale campaign aimed at discrediting the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In addition, the purpose of such lies is to sow discord among Ukrainians, undermine confidence in the country’s top leadership and make them despair of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Previously, in the Newspeak section, we wrote about how and why the word “virus” was again remembered in Russia after the appointment of Oleksandr Syrskyi to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The social network TikTok is distributing a video in which a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly died during hostilities received a draft notice from the Territorial center of recruitment and social support. The video with the relevant documents was allegedly recorded by the close family of the deceased woman.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security claims that the video is fake and created by the Russians. This is evidenced by several factors.

Firstly, from the pronunciation one can hear that the Ukrainian language is foreign to a person, he makes a huge number of mistakes and has a specific accent.

Secondly, one senses inept acting – the woman is clearly overacting with negative emotions.

Thirdly, the draft notice states that the military man is an “ordinary” one, but there is no such rank in the Armed Forces of Ukraine; in Ukraine it is a “soldier”.

Fourth, the “documents” date back to May and June 2022, but the video appeared online on February 23, 2024—on the eve of the anniversary of the full-scale invasion.

It should be noted that in Ukraine there were indeed cases when people who had already died received draft notices. However, they are not associated with the “arbitrariness of the Territorial centers of recruitment and social support”, as propagandists claim, but with a certain confusion in the databases. For example, the district administration may not have informed the Territorial center of recruitment and social support about the death of a person, which is why it was on the agenda list.

This fake appeared as part of a large-scale propaganda campaign to discredit mobilization in Ukraine. Propagandists speculate on a sensitive topic for many Ukrainians and resort to such fabrications that are intended to demoralize, mislead and intimidate society. Previously, we refuted the information that Silpo’s receipts allegedly issued draft notices.

Propagandists are distributing a video on anonymous telegram channels where a Ukrainian volunteer allegedly received a gratitude letter and a draft notice to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Ministry of Defense. However, this is fake.

Fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that the sample of a gratitude letter is clearly regulated, but the gratitude letter on the video has a completely different design and does not contain the necessary information about the order of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. In addition, the text of the gratitude letter  contains grammatical, spelling, punctuation and lexical errors, and there is no official seal on it.

Also, the draft notice in the video is drawn up with errors: it has an incorrect template and application number, the photo also lacks a draft notice number, the outdated name of the city is used, and also it contains grammatical errors and does not have a seal.

Propagandists spread such fakes to discredit the mobilization process in Ukraine.  Detector Media has previously refuted other Russian fakes regarding mobilization in Ukraine.

Russian telegram channels are distributing a video in which allegedly soldiers of the Third Separate Assault Brigade (3rd Separate Assault Brigade) shot Russians in a trench who were trying to surrender.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine stated that this video recording was obviously staged. Firstly, in the video one can trace the artificial Ukrainian actors - “fighters”. Secondly, the “killed man” suddenly began to move. In fact, Ukraine adheres to the Geneva Conventions and treats prisoners humanely. The Russian army has repeatedly shot Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered.

Thus, propagandists encourage the Russian military to kill every Ukrainian, even unarmed ones, without hesitation, they say, “look, they do this!” In addition, in this case, Russian propaganda uses tactics of reflection, that is, they bring forward the same accusations against Ukraine as it does against Russia. Only the Ukrainian side has real grounds for this, unlike Russia, because, for example, only on February 18-20, 2024, cases of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian occupiers near Avdiivka, Vesele and Robotyne were recorded.

Read also: While studying in Germany, Ukrainian soldiers allegedly boast about the atrocities they commit against Russians

Propagandists on anonymous telegram channels that spread pro-Russian rhetoric are publishing a video that in the United States a student was allegedly expelled from the University of Florida because he publicly sang a song about Volodymyr Putin in Russian. A deduction letter is included with the video. However, this is fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. Based on the phrase “Did a brave thing at Campus Square today”, which is shown in the video, they found the original video on Tiktok. In it, the man sings a different song, not in Russian, and the video does not contain any mention of expulsion from the university.

In the tags for the video, the singer indicated that there is a South African singer, University of Johannesburg and UJ student, which indicates that he is likely a student at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.

In addition, in the video, the man noted that he performed the song near Campus Square. A Google Maps search revealed that there is a shopping center with the same name in the city of Johannesburg. The image of the location on Google Maps matches the location in the video - this is indicated by blue and black signs and inscriptions on them, a black iron fence and the presence of sand on the street.

Therefore, there is no talk at all about the University of Florida or expulsion from it because of the performance of the song. To forge the expulsion letter, Russian propagandists used a real university admission letter, which can be found in open sources. This is confirmed by identical signatures on both documents.

Propagandists spread such fake news to discredit Ukraine’s Western partners and create a false impression of a better situation in Russia. They say America is a hypocrite because it censors its students.