Spilnota Detector Media

Fake Disinformation: Ukraine is producing fewer fakes due to lack of funding

Russian propaganda Telegram channels are spreading a video purportedly from the BBC, which claims that Bellingcat investigators have found that “the number of Ukrainian fakes has decreased threefold since mid-November 2024”. In turn, they cite the “lack of funds” for creating and posting content as the most likely reason for this.

However, this is a fake, writes the VoxCheck project. The BBC did not publish such a video either on its official website or on its social media pages. There is also no information about it on Bellingcat's official resources.

The video clip that propagandists are spreading does not contain any original footage. For the fake, they used materials from open sources that are not related to each other. For example, the photo with Volodymyr Zelenskyi was taken from the official website of the Office of the President of Ukraine - the photo was published back in July 2022. And the shot with the President of Ukraine and European leaders was taken during the European Council summit in Brussels on October 17, 2024.

We have previously analyzed fake videos allegedly created by the BBC, in particular, a fake about Zelenskyi's “personal endocrinologist” fleeing abroad.

Disclosure A staged video about an alleged Ukrainian soldier who was “picked up” on the highway by a civilian in a car

A video is circulating online showing a dialogue between an alleged Ukrainian serviceman and a civilian man. This was preceded by the fact that the “soldier” first allegedly walked along the side of the highway for almost 500 kilometers in the direction of Lviv, then stood on the side of the road for four hours, and no one stopped him, but the civilian man-driver in the video stopped in his car and “picked” him up.

In fact, this is a staged video. The dialogue between a civilian driver and a supposed military man is filmed by a person sitting in the back seat of the car and to whom the “military man” for some reason does not pay any attention, even when the video is shot from a very close angle. In turn, the driver reacts suspiciously calmly to the “military man’s” words about the alleged lack of money even for the bus; two years of captivity; that the “military man’s” community has already managed to “bury” him during this time, erecting a monument to him, etc.

In addition, the “military man” made a mistake when he said that he had been fighting since 2013, because the Russian-Ukrainian war began only in 2014. After all, the “military man” could not have walked almost 500 kilometers, as he claims in the video. After all, the average walking speed of a person is 4-5 km/h, and even if one walks continuously for 24 hours a day (which is physically almost impossible due to the need for rest, food, and sleep), it would take more than 100 hours (more than 4 days).

The purpose of this staged video is to widen the gap between the military and civilians, trying to instill guilt and shame in the latter. This is evidenced by the fact that the fake military man constantly alludes to the alleged indifference of Ukrainian society to Ukrainian defenders.

We previously wrote about a staged video that claims that “posters with the late Zelenskyi” have appeared in Kyiv.

Fake Fake video of a Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier talking about the difficult situation at the front

A video is being shared on social media in which a Ukrainian soldier allegedly complains about the arbitrariness of the Territorial recruitment and social support center employees, the difficult situation at the front, the unprofessionalism of commanders, losses among personnel, and urges Ukrainian men not to go to war.

However, in fact, this video was created using artificial intelligence, the VoxCheck project reports. The original source of the video is an anonymous TikTok profile, where the author publishes videos with supposedly Ukrainian soldiers and prisoners of war. A check of the Hive Moderation AI tool showed that the profile contains videos that were generated using a neural network. Accordingly, the tool showed that the appeal of a serviceman talking about the difficult situation at the front was also created using AI.

This fake is intended to misinform Ukrainian society about the real situation on the front and dissuade civilians from mobilizing for the army. Previously, we analyzed a fake about a mutiny in one of the brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Fake Lies that Ukrainians in Europe are illegally connecting to power grids to get cryptocurrency

A fake news story with a link to a Euronews video appeared on a number of pro-Russian platforms, claiming that Ukrainians in Europe are illegally connecting to power grids in order to get (earn) cryptocurrency. According to the claim, these activities were motivated by the rising value of Bitcoin. The report alleges that over 400 Ukrainians were arrested last month alone and that their actions even caused energy shortages across the continent.

However, this is fake news: the video with such content was not published on the official Euronews website or its social media platforms. Many other details betray the falsity of this story: in particular, it is suspicious that this report did not even name the country where these attackers allegedly operated, but used the abstract wording “Europe”. Moreover, an online search for news about similar incidents did not yield any results either.

This fake news is part of a broader propaganda effort aimed at portraying Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, both a cultural and economic threat to European society, attempting to reduce support for Ukraine. As noted in our prior findings, Russian propaganda has consistently sought to discredit Ukrainian refugees since the start of the large-scale war in Ukraine.

Propagandists regularly spread fakes about them—they call refugees dependents, claim that these Ukrainians went abroad not for safety, but for profit, that they spread various diseases, and so on. Propagandists find these means necessary to perpetuate the idea that Ukrainians are bad people who do not appreciate the help that residents of other countries provide them and that they take advantage of the kindness of people from other countries.

For example, we recently reported that people online spread a fake story allegedly from the French publication Le Figaro, which talked about a Ukrainian refugee accused of murder.

Fake Fake news about 40 doctors detained in Ukraine for breaking men’s limbs to help them evade mobilisation

A video with the logo of the Ukrainian media outlet United24 is being distributed online. It claims that 40 doctors in Ukraine were arrested for allegedly breaking men’s limbs for money. According to this video, the injuries were intentionally severe enough to require over a year of rehabilitation, allowing these men to evade mobilization. Now the Verkhovna Rada is supposedly considering the issue of criminal liability for such doctors and for Ukrainian individuals buying this service.

However, United24 Media has not published any such report. Propagandists falsely attribute the video to United24, but no such content exists on the official website or the media outlet’s social media platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), or YouTube.

The claim also states that police have already arrested 40 doctors involved in this activity. Yet, the National Police of Ukraine has made no such announcements, and there’s no information of this sort in Ukrainian media. This story seems to have first appeared in the Russian Telegram channel Voiennyi Obozrevatel (Military Observer).

Furthermore, the Verkhovna Rada has not registered any draft law proposing criminal liability for doctors allegedly breaking limbs for money or for clients attempting to evade military service through such means.

Fake Fake instructions for Danish citizens in case of coming across representatives of the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support

Russian sources are distributing a video about an alleged “instruction” for Danes on how to behave during a run-in with the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support representatives. According to the plot of the video, the man allegedly received a corresponding memo at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Ukraine. In the video, he was surprised when he read about “the possible use of physical force by the police and the Territorial Center of Recruitment”. At the same time, the main character of the plot tries to communicate in English, but does not use Danish at all.

In fact, this is a fake video, the VoxCheck project writes. The Embassy of the Kingdom of Denmark in Ukraine clarified to the VoxCheck team that the employees of the department did not provide such “recommendations” and have no relation to this video. Also, the text of the fake booklet is written in poor-quality Danish, and the “instruction” itself does not correspond to the official style of communication of the embassy.

The Danish embassy website mentions martial law and the temporary suspension of air traffic in its “Travel and Stay” section. However, there is no mention of the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support or the police either there, or on the Visit Ukraine service portal.

Earlier, we recorded a similar fake by Russians about an alleged leaflet from the British Embassy in Ukraine, in which they recommend their citizens to flee from the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support.

Fake Lies about the BBC being the 2024 record holder for the number of fakes

Russian propaganda sources are spreading a video allegedly created by Bellingcat. It says that in 2024 the BBC became the record holder for the number of fakes published among all the world media outlets — 2,000 fakes. In second and third place were CNN and Der Spiegel, respectively. As a result, Eliot Higgins, journalist and founder of Bellingcat, allegedly applied to the Guinness World Records, and the “record” is to be published in 2025.

This is fake news, writes VoxCheck. Bellingcat did not publish such a video on its official website or on any of its social media accounts. In addition, checking the audio fragment from the video using the artificial intelligence tool Hive Moderation showed that the voice acting had been created using a neural network.

According to Media Bias/Fact Check, the three mentioned publications (BBC, CNN, and Der Spiegel) have either a high or a mostly high level of accuracy of their materials. Also, foreign fact checkers did not report that these media outlets spread these alleged hundreds or even thousands of fakes.

The Reuters Institute Digital News Report states that according to the results of a survey of citizens of the UK, the US and Germany, the BBC has the most trust among the British — 62%, CNN — 48% among Americans, and Der Spiegel — 54% among Germans.

Earlier, we refuted claims that a Bellingcat investigation had proven Andrii Yermak paid Time Magazine for a spot in its list of The Most Influential People of the year.

Fake Fake video showing Ukrainian fighters allegedly burning Trump's books

Russian propaganda sources are distributing a video online, where allegedly Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov Brigade are demonstratively burning several books by Donald Trump and Tony Schwartz, The Art of the Deal. In the video, the Ukrainian fighters allegedly call Trump a “traitor” and a “coward” and say that they do not need his peace plan. The propagandists comment on this video, saying that the Ukrainian army has recognized Trump as a “fairy president” and has started smoking his books in protest.

In fact, the video being distributed online is staged. Several facts indicate this. Firstly, the voiceover is in broken Ukrainian and the man has a noticeable accent. Secondly, it was possible to find out that this video is being distributed primarily in the pro-Russian segment of the network.

Also, Ukrainian volunteer Mykhailo Lavrovskyi on his page on the social network X, pointing out the absurdity of this video statement, rightly notes that the man in the video in Ukrainian military uniform is wearing an old chevron of the Azov Brigade that has not been used for a long time. That is, it is probably a trophy uniform that Russian soldiers once acquired in battle and wore to create this video fake.

After all, we have already recorded a number of similar Russian decrees in which Ukrainian military personnel allegedly protested against Trump.

Fake The Simpsons allegedly predicted that Zaluzhnyi would become the president of Ukraine

Russian propagandists on anonymous Telegram channels are actively spreading information that in one of the episodes of the animated series “The Simpsons” they predicted that “the Ukrainian ambassador to Great Britain will become president”, hinting at Valerii Zaluzhnyi. They say that this is evidenced by a screenshot from the cartoon. However, this is a fake.

In fact, the propagandists superimposed this caption on the original footage. We are talking about the second episode of the sixteenth season of the animated series, according to which Marge Simpson, the main character, receives an invitation to a cooking competition. At this moment, she reads a newspaper, which actually says “Father of eight children has disappeared”, and not the phrase that the propagandists are talking about.

By replacing real facts with absurd statements, they are trying to ridicule Ukraine and its leadership, in particular, Valerii Zaluzhnyi. The use of a popular cartoon series creates a false information background aimed at distracting from current problems. The fake reinforces absurd conspiracy theories about external control of Ukraine and a “new world order” in order to justify Russian aggression.

Fake Fake footage of the alleged Russian missile Oreshnik during the attack on Dnipro

A video has been widely distributed online, which allegedly shows the flight of a Russian Oreshnik ballistic missile during an attack on the city of Dnipro on November 21, 2024.

However, as the StopFake project writes, the video distributed by propagandists does indeed show the Soyuz-2.1a space rocket flying overhead. It was launched on November 21 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the Progress MS-29 cargo ship.

Another proof that the video shows a space rocket, not a ballistic one, is the “space jellyfish” - a characteristic trace in the sky. This atmospheric phenomenon is explained by the reflection of light from the rocket's exhaust gases, partially dispersed in the atmosphere in the period before dawn or after sunset. Observation is possible when the Sun is not yet or no longer illuminating the Earth's surface, but its rays fall on the inversion trail from the rocket at a high altitude.

So, the propagandists used this video to maximize the deterrence effect of the Oreshnik ballistic missile launch. Earlier, we analyzed the Russian message that Zelenskyi should supposedly “thank Putin and God” for avoiding a ballistic missile strike.

Fake Fake news that Azov soldiers used battle footage from a video game in their video

Russian sources are distributing a news release from the German Welt TV channel, which showed a video of soldiers from the 12th Azov Brigade storming Russian combat positions. The fake news claims that Azov used footage from the Call of Duty video game, and the video is supposedly from the Pokrovsk direction. They also accused German media of failing to comply with journalistic standards.

But the information about using video game footage is false. VoxCheck reports that there is no computer graphics in the video, the fighting is real. On July 15, 2024, the unit's official YouTube channel published a first-person video consisting of three parts: advancing through positions, clearing and consolidating after the assault. In addition, the assault took place in the Serebrianskyi forestry of the Luhansk region, and not in the Pokrovsk direction.

Russian propagandists impose the opinion that the Azov fighters support ideas that the modern world sharply rejects: anti-Semitism, Nazism, and other types of xenophobia. The Azov fighters are shown as those who devalue people based on their origins. In Moscow’s vision, Azov is ready to kill for “Ukrainian blood”. This is not the first time that the Kremlin has presented Ukrainians in this way — as aggressive, ultra-nationalistic, and valuing only “Ukrainian blood”. For example, Russian propaganda has already spread fakes about Ukrainian fighters’ wives complaining that their men transfuse them with “Muscovite blood”; or that Ukrainians prohibit foreign citizens from donating blood.

Despite the fact that in Ukraine (as in any other country) there is a share of people who are supporters of far-right ideas, it is the Kremlin that deliberately exaggerates their weight in Ukrainian society. In addition, it attributes to them a common ideology with Nazi Germany and the attitude towards sympathizers of Russia as a lower caste. At the same time, in the last parliamentary elections of 2019, for example, nationalists did not enter the Verkhovna Rada, not to mention far-right movements.

Fake Deepfake allegedly shows Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights criticizing “language patrols” in Ukraine

Russian sources are spreading information that the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty allegedly criticized the “language patrols” in Ukraine. As “proof” of this, propagandists publish a video in which O'Flaherty allegedly says that such patrols violate the rights of national minorities in Ukraine. 

However, the video distributed by the propagandists is fabricated - it was created using deepfake technology based on artificial intelligence. This is reported in the Stopfake project. At the 46th second of the distributed video, one can see how the man's “double chin” appears for a second and then immediately disappears. Also, the man in the video hardly blinks, and his speech does not match his facial expressions. In addition to this, the real Michael O'Flaherty has more active facial expressions when he speaks. One  can see this by watching any speech of the commissioner.

StopFake journalists also analyzed the propagandists’ videos using Attestiv, a tool for identifying fake videos created by artificial intelligence. The analysis showed that the video was “highly likely” to be fake.

This is not the first time that Russian propaganda has spread disinformation about “language patrols” in Ukraine, responding to the initiative of the mayor of Ivano-Frankivsk to create such patrols in the city to popularize the Ukrainian language. At the same time, the “language inspectors” do not have any special powers; this is a volunteer initiative.

Earlier, we recorded disinformation that the Ivan Franko National University of Lviv opened recruitment for a team of “language inspectors”.

Fake Disinformation that Ukrainian military began to surrender more often after Trump's victory in the US elections

Pro-Russian Telegram channels are distributing a video report allegedly created by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The report claims that after Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, Ukrainian soldiers began surrendering eight times more often than before. In turn, Euronews editor-in-chief Klaus Strunz allegedly called this a “completely natural” development. They say that now it has become clear to everyone that Ukraine is doomed, so the military is thinking about how to save their own lives.

However, this video is fabricated, writes the StopFake project. ISW did not publish such a video or similar statistics on its website or on its social media pages. There are no similar reports in any reliable Western media, including Euronews. The editor-in-chief of this broadcaster, Strunz, did express support for Trump on his social media pages, but did not comment on the potential consequences for Ukraine after the newly elected US president takes office, nor on reports of mass surrender of Ukrainian troops. After all, this “news” is false.

Therefore, there is no independent and verified data on how many Ukrainian soldiers actually surrender, since such statistics are only available from the Russian side, which does not inspire confidence.

With this fake, propagandists are trying to assert that with Trump coming to power in the United States, Ukraine will not receive any critical financial and military support from this state and, in general, a “complete catastrophe” awaits Ukrainians.

Earlier, the Russians had already distributed a fabricated video on behalf of ISW. Thus, earlier we recorded a fake video about how two out of ten Ukrainians died during meetings with representatives of the Territorial recruitment and social support centers.

Fake Fake news that US Vice President Vance twice refused to talk to Yermak on the phone

The Russians are distributing a video report on behalf of the American publication The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), which states that the newly elected US Vice President J.D. Vance allegedly twice - on November 6 and 7 - refused to speak to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak on the phone.

However, this video is fabricated. This is reported in the StopFake project. First of all, the WSJ did not publish such a video either on its website or on social networks (X, Facebook, YouTube). In addition, the video has obvious errors indicating its falsity. For example, J.D. Vance is called Vice President, although today the politician has not yet taken office and has the status of Vice President-elect of the United States. The current Vice President of the United States is Kamala Harris.

The video also quotes “political scientist” Dina Titus as saying that “the vice president has more important tasks now than to listen to Zelenskyi's Victory Plan once again”. While Titus could indeed comment on current political events, she is not a “political scientist” but a member of the US House of Representatives from Nevada. In the end, StopFake journalists were unable to find any confirmation that Titus actually made such a statement.

Let us recall that on November 8, 2024, it became known about a telephone conversation between the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the newly elected President of the United States Donald Trump.

Earlier, we analyzed the Russian fake news that Yermak called Macron a hypocritical politician for wanting to cut aid to Ukraine.

Fake An advertisement for military training courses for women was published in the Kyiv metro with the slogan "Even a macaque can be taught to drive" - fake news

A supposed advertisement from the Ukrainian Women's Watch organization is being distributed in the pro-Russian segment of social networks, which talks about military training courses for women. The “advertising banner” shows a woman in a military uniform and in the background is a photo of a monkey sitting behind the wheel of a car. And the slogan is: “Women's two-week military assistance courses - even a macaque can be taught to drive!”

However, this advertisement is not real. We checked the image from the Telegram channel using a special tool FotoForensics, which establishes the fact of interference in the image. For example, Photoshop or other photo or video editors. Therefore, it was possible to establish that the photo distributed by the propagandists contains signs of editing. Moreover, no Ukrainian media published such an advertisement. Just like on the organization's website, we did not find any information about such an advertisement.

Women in armed conflicts are one of the most vulnerable social groups. Some researchers call Russian aggression a war for gender order, a gendered confrontation, because Moscow is fighting for so-called traditional values, which imply the triumph of patriarchal practices and the leveling of gender equality. Hostile propagandists depicts a dissolute and full of feminists, prostitutes and the emasculation of the “true male essence”. Ukraine, according to propagandists, was once part of the famous “Russian Gothic”, but, having become Europeanized, adopted the destructive practices of gender equality.

Read our study on the Russian dimension of Russian misogyny: The shell of a femina with black content. How Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Ukrainian women.

Fake Fake that the cousin of the Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense ordered a car for €7 million

A video with the logo of the Polish newspaper Fakt is being distributed in Russian Telegram channels. It claims that the cousin of Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klimenkov ordered an elite car for the 777 Hypercar race in Poland for €7 million.

But the Polish edition of Fakt did not publish such a news story. This video is not on the official website of the Polish edition of Fakt, nor on its pages on Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube. Moreover, the newspaper did not publish any news about the 777 Hypercar at all - a search by keywords did not bring any results.

Ukrainian media have no news about the purchase, although corruption scandals usually receive publicity in society. This video is published only on Russian and pro-Russian resources.

The so-called investigations into the property of Ukrainian officials are turning into a systematic campaign to discredit them. In this way, propagandists or Moscow's protégés seek to portray Ukraine as a cradle of corruption schemes, which in the future may harm Ukraine's path to European integration. After all, the fight against corruption and its reduction is one of the main tasks of the state on the path to the European Union.

Here are some more cases that concerned the “taking possession” of real estate using “stolen funds”: how Zelenskyi allegedly bought the villa of Hitler’s propaganda minister Goebbels for 8 million euros; or how Zelenskyi’s mother-in-law bought a villa on the coast of Egypt using Western humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

Fake Video fake of Ukrainian woman complaining about lack of heating at school

A video is being circulated online in which a woman complains about a note in her son's diary: “Dress the children warmly! There is no heating at school!” The woman is outraged that she donated money for a generator, but the school still has no heating.

But it's fake. The video is probably a decree. In a number of cities, schools are already heated, and there is no need for generators yet, since there are no power outages.

Traditionally, the heating season in Ukraine starts in mid-October. However, the start of connecting heat in different cities may differ. The actual start date depends on weather conditions, as well as the readiness of the infrastructure. In particular, the heating period begins if the air temperature for 3 days is on average +8 degrees and below. However, social facilities, in particular educational institutions, are usually connected to heat earlier than residential buildings.

For example, by the end of October, heating of schools in a number of cities had already begun. In particular, in Kyiv, Lviv, Uzhhorod, Ternopil, Vinnytsia and other cities.

By spreading such a message, propagandists want to feed the narrative that Ukraine is allegedly uninhabitable due to the lack of electricity, high prices for utilities; or due to various diseases, pandemics that are spreading exclusively in Ukraine due to the war. In this way, the authors want to sow panic among Ukrainians in order to destabilize the mood and create a feeling that “nothing will change”.

Fake Fake news that Ukrainian water is polluted with “cadaveric poison” due to “rapid growth in the number of burials”

Russian propaganda sources are distributing a fake video as if it were from the environmental organization Greenpeace. It talks about the pollution of the Dnipro, Dunai, and Southern Buh with “cadaveric poison” due to an alleged 12-fold increase in the number of burials since the start of the full-scale invasion. The video also notes “a potential threat to neighboring countries, primarily Poland and Romania”.

“Since 2022, Ukrainian cemeteries have begun burying soldiers who died in the conflict with Russia. Due to the “significant number of daily burials”, cemetery administrations have stopped observing sanitary standards”, they wrote in the fake video.

In fact, the information is false, and Greenpeace did not distribute such a video. As reported by StopFake, citing Ukrainian environmental safety expert Maksym Soroka, the term “cadaveric poison”, in the scientific community - “ptomaines”, is outdated and creates a false idea about the nature of this substance. You can get poisoned if, for example, you drink such water only in “large volumes”. Moreover, tap water is purified and disinfected before it goes directly to users. Therefore, botulism or staphylococcus bacteria, which reservoirs can be contaminated with, do not pose a threat to health in case of indirect consumption.

Thus, propagandists frighten Ukrainians with “inevitable consequences”, in particular for the environment, if the war continues. That is, they do everything to sow the idea, for example, of the need for negotiations with Russia. They explain this by saying that this is to stop the alleged hundreds of thousands of losses at the front. Or, so that “at least some conditions remain” for a safe life in Ukraine in the future.

Fake Shakira's relative who fought on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was allegedly killed in Kursk region

Propagandists are spreading information in the media and social networks that a relative of the singer Shakira died in the Kursk region, fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As evidence, they are spreading a video published by the Colombian publication El Espectador, which says that Shakira's relative joined the International Legion and allegedly died fighting in Ukraine. However, this is a fake.

Ukrinform writes about this. Their fact checkers found out that there is no such news on the official El Espectador resources, and their materials are generally published in Spanish, not in English, as stated in the fake video.

This fake is part of a larger disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian army on the international stage by creating negative associations across cultures. As Latin America becomes an increasingly important political region for Russia, the spread of such fakes attempts to undermine support for Ukraine among Latin American communities by using recognizable names and absurd details to attract attention and sensationalism.

Disclosure Propagandists сreated fake animated video about the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers

A number of propaganda Telegram channels are distributing a manipulative animated video, which illustrates a conversation between a boy and a personified school board and the sun (cartoon characters). The boy asks them why his father was forcibly taken away by the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers, to which the school board replies that they were doing their duty, and that it was wrong that the boy's father “did not want to go”. After this, the sun joins the conversation and continues to promote manipulative rhetoric.

However, some words and phrases used in the cartoon exposed the propagandists. For example, the video contains the phrase “they don't choose a duty”, which is a tracing of the Russian "they don't choose an obligation". In addition, the cartoon contains a number of other manipulative cliches inherent in Russian propaganda: “either you fulfill your duty, or you are a coward and a traitor”; “if he didn't leave on his own, then they did the right thing by taking him away”.

Also, having taken a screenshot of the video, using the reverse image search function from Google, it was possible to find out that on the YouTube platform there is a training video with a similar background as in the fake cartoon, about how to create animated videos. That is, most likely, the propagandists used this video tutorial to create a fake cartoon about the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers.

After all, this animated video is being distributed primarily in the pro-Russian segment of the Internet, which gives additional grounds to believe that it is a fake.

Earlier, we recorded a Russian fake about a cartoon “Ukrainian piglets” being shown in EU countries.

Fake Russians lie that Ukrainians are being “arrested en masse” and “tortured” for calling Russian phone numbers

Russian propaganda sources are distributing a video produced by the organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF). It claims that law enforcement agencies are massively detaining and harshly interrogating Ukrainian citizens who contact Russian phone numbers, or even for searching the Internet in Russian. Thus, allegedly, in Sumy alone, as of early October, 56 criminal cases for collaborationism were opened, and 27 people arrested on such charges died from torture.

In fact, RSF did not release such a video, as reported by fact-checkers from the StopFake project. They contacted the head of the organization's investigations department, Arnaud Froger, who denied that RSF had published such material.

“This is the third time in recent months that pro-Kremlin social media accounts have used the RSF brand and staff to lend credibility to their propaganda. They use Western media or NGOs like RSF to add value to their narrative and bridge the trust gap that their own propaganda outlets suffer from. With this disinformation, Russia and its affiliated trolls manipulate what is at the heart of every relationship: trust” , Froger commented.

Two things are also indicative. Firstly, the footage of Frozhet's face in the propaganda video is indeed taken from a video in which RSF debunks another Russian propaganda story - about the mass use of Nazi symbols by Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk. We also recorded this disinformation in one of our previous materials.

Secondly, despite the fact that the fake video clip talks about 26 people allegedly dying from torture, the text of the propaganda publications for some reason already mentions 12 dead people – the propagandists are confused in their own fabrications.

After all, communication with relatives in Russia and Russian-language queries on the Internet are legal and are not regulated in any way by Ukrainian legislation.

Fake Fiction about “Ukrainian snipers” at protests in Georgia

Russian state media recently reported that snipers trained in Ukraine had been spotted in Tbilisi, intending to provoke protests. This was accompanied by RT footage of people in military uniforms, allegedly with Ukrainian and Georgian patches, seen among the protesters. Russian media used the video to support the claim that Ukraine was involved in fomenting unrest in Georgia.

After an investigation, MythDetector identified these people as Georgian tourists with no military ties. One of them, Lasha Katsiashvili, explained that he and his friends regularly attend public gatherings and protests in camping gear for convenience. In addition, the patches with the Ukrainian and Georgian flags on their clothes were purchased in Tbilisi and distributed among local outdoor enthusiasts.

This attempt to label Georgian tourists as “Ukrainian snipers” fits into a larger pattern of Kremlin propaganda alleging Ukrainian interference in Georgia’s internal affairs. Similar narratives have emerged falsely claiming that Ukrainians travel to Georgia to incite political unrest, particularly during election campaigns. Recently, a Ukrainian MP who visited Georgia as an election observer was also portrayed as one of the leaders of “professional protesters”. The aim of the disinformation strategy is to create suspicion of foreign influence, particularly Ukrainian, on Georgian politics to support pro-Russian narratives.

Fake The lie that Yermak called Macron a “hypocritical politician” because he seemed to be willing to cut aid to Ukraine

Russian sources have distributed a video on behalf of United24, which says that the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak, allegedly called French President Emmanuel Macron a “hypocritical politician” for his “demand” to reduce the G7 loan to Ukraine to $20 billion instead of the expected $50 billion. In an interview with the 1+1 channel, Yermak also allegedly asked an outrageous rhetorical question: “Back in April, Macron was ready to send his army to help us, and now he wants to reduce the amount of aid?”

However, this information is not true. This is reported in the StopFake project. The video was fabricated by propagandists - United24 did not publish such news either on their website or in their social networks. Moreover, United24 is a state platform launched to consolidate international support for Ukraine, so it is very unlikely that insults against the leaders of allied states could appear on the platform.

Secondly, the interview with the 1+1 channel, where Yermak allegedly made the corresponding statement, does not exist at all. The last time the head of the Presidential Office gave an interview on this channel was three years ago, when he became a guest of the VIP with Nataliia Mosiichuk program. In the end, the claim that Macron allegedly demands to reduce the amount of the loan to Ukraine is fake. In fact, the President of France, together with the US government, was one of the initiators of the program, according to which the G7 countries will transfer a loan of $50 million to Ukraine, using the proceeds from the frozen assets of the Central Bank of Russia in Europe worth $325 billion. The funds should arrive in Ukraine by the end of 2025. The motivation for approving this loan was Donald Trump's statements that if he wins the presidential election, he will stop providing financing to Ukraine. Thus, the G7 program is designed to ensure a regular flow of aid to Ukraine, regardless of the decisions of the next leader or the head of the United States.

Earlier we analyzed the Russian message that Yermak was seeking to escalate the war.

Fake Ukrainian soldiers allegedly escaped from Selydove

Propagandists are actively distributing video materials from Ukrainian sources on anonymous Telegram channels, in particular, a video of Ukrainian servicemen of the 15th Brigade of the NGU Kara-Dag, where they evacuate the wounded from the combat zone under fire. Russian propaganda presents this video as evidence of the alleged retreat of Ukrainian troops from Selydove, disseminating information about the transfer of the city under Russian control. However, this is not true.

This was indicated by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. Its specialists emphasize that, according to the representative of the NGU Ruslan Muzychuk, Selydove remains under the control of Ukrainian forces. At the same time, Ukrainian units are holding back Russian attempts to advance from the north and east. Such information leaks are aimed at demoralizing the Ukrainian military and creating a false picture of the situation in order to sow doubts among the population and undermine confidence in Ukraine's defense efforts.

Such disinformation campaigns are also part of a broader Kremlin strategy that includes discrediting the Ukrainian military and distorting the real situation on the front lines, trying to justify Russian aggression as “protection” of civilians.

Fake Fake news that the Colombian government is introducing “restrictions” to local TikTok, banning footage of the Russian-Ukrainian war — so that young people “don’t go” to war

The Citytv publication is distributing a video online, which claims that the Colombian government wants to restrict the showing of videos from Ukraine on TikTok. They decided to resort to such an event because “young people, having watched enough Ukrainian videos, think that war is a romantic event and go to war”.

But Citytv did not publish the video, and some elements in the video indicate a forgery. Colombian authorities have not publicly announced their intention to restrict the showing of videos from Ukraine on TikTok.

Citytv is a Colombian TV channel. The channel is exclusively Spanish-language, but the text in the video that was distributed is written in English. Neither the Citytv website nor social networks contain any news about the Colombian government's plans to restrict the showing of videos from Ukraine on TikTok.

In addition, the video has several differences with the original videos of TV channels. For example, the Citytv Noticias logo is usually placed in the lower left corner and is part of the news banner, while in the propaganda video it is placed separately on the top left.