Propagandists spreading pro-Russian rhetoric in the media and social networks claim that Halloween was celebrated in the churches of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, which the authors of such posts call “the holiday of evil spirits”. Like, proof of this is a video where one can see a church choir performing a song dedicated to this holiday. It was allegedly filmed in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Lutsk. However, this is a fake.

Analysts of the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found out that the video was not actually shot in Lutsk, but in the Church of the Holy Mother of God in Lviv on October 8, that is, before Halloween. Moreover, it is a temple of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, not the OCU. In addition, in the original video, the choir does not perform a song about the holiday, but the church song “How Beautiful is in Your Temple, Mother of God”, which has nothing to do with Halloween. The “celebration” of Halloween in Ukrainian churches is impossible, as the Orthodox Church of Ukraine publicly opposes this holiday, as explained on its official Facebook page.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists want to portray Ukrainians as schisms who destroy their faith for the sake of ideology. He said that even the churches in Ukraine were invaded by Western influences, which is why Russia introduced troops to protect “true values”.  Detector Media has repeatedly refuted messages and fakes related to the OCU.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are distributing a video in which Ukrainian first-graders allegedly march to the song “We’re killing Russianns” on Knowledge Day. Russian propaganda also states that the subject Defense of Ukraine is designed to instill in children neo-Ukrainian ideology and hatred of Russians. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the VoxCheck project. They found the original video, dated September 2, 2022, and featuring a different song. That is, Russian propaganda edited the video and superimposed the song “We’re killing the Russians” on it.

Regarding the subject Defense of Ukraine - it has long existed in the school curriculum and until February 26, 2020 it was called Motherland Defense. This subject aims to provide schoolchildren with knowledge to defend Ukraine. The updated program contains information on the provision of pre-medical care, terrain orientation, and mine safety. As stated in the Ministry of Education and Science: “And the skills of controlling UAVs are used by videographers, surveyors, archaeologists and many specialists in their professional activities”.

This is a continuation of the narrative promoted by Russian propagandists that Nazism reigns in Ukraine, to which children are taught from childhood, and the Russians are supposedly trying to save Ukrainians. Thus, Russia is trying to justify a full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territory. Previously, we refuted the fake that in the Azov children's camp children read Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are disseminating information that representatives of the Hamas group allegedly recorded a video thanking Volodymyr Zelenskyi for the transferred weapons, which help resist Israel. It's fake.

Fact-checkers at the Center for Countering Disinformation analyzed the video and determined that it was fake. It is this video that is being distributed by Russian propaganda resources and fake foreign accounts, the time and place of filming are unknown. Moreover, the video cannot be verified because Hamas representatives have their faces covered.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi and reduce the assistance of Western partners. This is a continuation of the disinformation campaign about Ukrainian weapons in the hands of Hamas. Previously, Detector Media refuted the fake that Ukraine sells weapons to Hamas and debunked the fake that Hamas militants use weapons from Mukachevo.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that an illegal “mobilization of scientific staff” is allegedly being carried out in Ukraine - and add to the publications a video from an eyewitness who says that her comrade was allegedly forcibly taken to the local territorial recruitment and social support center. And that person is a historian and supposedly teaches in a higher education institution. The authors sum up: no one can fight in Ukraine, it doesn’t need smart people, so everyone is being raked into the “Zelenskyi meat grinder”. It is not true.

Research workers, scientific-pedagogical and pedagogical workers are not subject to conscription for military service during mobilization. According to the amendments to Article 23 of the Law “On Scientific and Scientific-Technical Work” dated July 29, 2022, they are not subject to conscription, provided that this category of people works in scientific institutions and organizations, institutions of higher education, professional higher education, professional (vocational and technical) or general secondary education (at the main place of work with at least 0.75 rates of their salary).

Moreover, the heroine in the video did not provide any evidence, photo or video evidence confirming the arbitrary behavior of employees of the local territorial recruitment and social support center towards the man. Yet, cases where employees of territorial centers exceed their authority are still recorded. We are talking, in particular, about the use of physical force against those liable for military service. But the woman simply spread information and in no way confirmed either the thesis about the use of violence against the scientist, or the fact that, in general, a higher education worker was hypothetically mobilized.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing a video according to which street advertising allegedly appeared in New York calling for support for Ukraine rather than Israel. The video was captioned as follows: “In New York, an advertisement appeared from disgruntled Ukrainians: Helping Jews = burning money”. It's fake.

The case was examined by the fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. In fact, such advertising was not placed in New York. And the video used by propaganda appeared a month ago on the YouTube channel The NYC Walking Show, where the author gave a virtual tour of the streets of New York.

Russian propagandists seek to discredit Ukraine and worsen its relations with Israel and Western partners. Detector Media refuted the fake that the Turkish magazine Le Man published a cover with Zelenskyi “enraged by the whole world”.

In the Russian segment of social networks, on YouTube and in pro-Kremlin media, a trailer for the horror film “Voienkom” (The Military Commissariat), which was allegedly produced by the Ukrainian company Kvartal 95 Studio, is being distributed. It's a lie.

The case was examined by the fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. They established that the video was created by the Russians. Experts also managed to identify the person in the video - it turned out to be Russian actor Roman Makarov living in Moscow.

By spreading fake news about mobilization, Russian propaganda is trying to intimidate men of military age. The Russians are deliberately demonizing the mobilization process and exaggerating its pace in order to cause panic among Ukrainians. Previously, we talked about the manipulation that in Ukraine they are planning to mobilize men who are over 60 years old.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, including the Georgian segment of Facebook. The authors publish the video and claim that it depicts the process of transferring Western weapons to the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The authors add that the transfer of weapons was allegedly initiated by the Ukrainians. In the video, a man in Arabic “thanks the Ukrainian authorities for the supply of weapons”. It's a lie.

The analysts from the Myth Detector project took on the case and found out that the speaker is not visible in the video, and the location and time of filming cannot be determined, because the video itself consists of several frames where the weapon lies on the floor. Moreover, the fact- checkers emphasize that this video is actively disseminated in the Russian segment of social networks. Neither Israeli nor international media come out with news about the transfer of weapons to Hamas. Most likely the video is compiled.

Experts also refer to a statement by the Institute for the Study of War on October 7, which states that the Kremlin is actively using the Hamas attack on Israel for information operations aimed at weakening US and Western support for Ukraine. This includes promoting the thesis of a “black market for the sale of weapons”.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists once again want to show Ukrainians as ungrateful provocateurs who want to destabilize the situation in the world and incite armed conflicts. They say that Ukrainians resell weapons on the black market and they fall into the hands of criminals. Thus, the authors undermine the authority of the Ukrainian authorities and try to disrupt future supplies of armed assistance from NATO countries. After all, such fakes previously target Western audiences and leaders in order to inspire despondency towards Ukraine’s actions.

In the Russian segment of social networks Facebook and TikTok, propaganda media and pro-Kremlin telegram channels are distributing videos with fortune telling on Tarot cards about Volodymyr Zelenskyi. At some point, the fortune teller’s online stream is interrupted, allegedly because the police came. According to propaganda, law enforcement officers detained the fortune teller because of her regular negative Tarot spreads for the President of Ukraine. The reason for the arrest was criticism of the president. “Having opened the cards, the woman said that the head of the independent state was becoming more and more aggressive and obeying his mind less and less, being exposed to emotions”, the Russian propaganda wrote. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. The circulated video does not mention the name of the fortune teller, and there is also no link to her Twitch. Russian propaganda refers to the “original source” posted on the YouTube channel under the nickname “Lera”. It was created on June 9, 2023. The fact-checkers analyzed the content and concluded that its purpose was to spread Russian disinformation.

In a comment to StopFake, representatives of the National Police of Ukraine said that the Cyber Police Department does not have information about such a detention. However, they established that the original source where the video was posted was probably the pro-Kremlin telegram channel Sheikh Tamir.

Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian authorities; they have already begun to arrest people for allegedly criticizing the President of Ukraine. Russian propaganda is using deflection tactics to portray Zelenskyi as a dictator whose criticism could land him in jail. That is, propagandists accuse Ukraine of what Putin is really doing. Previously, we talked about the message that Volodymyr Zelenskyi is introducing “Nazism” into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In the American segment of the social network Facebook, a message is being circulated that NATO allegedly sent troops to Ukraine to fight Russia. The post contains a video in which a man expresses support for the candidacy of US ex-President Donald Trump in the White House elections in 2024 and notes that “NATO troops have been sent to Ukraine”.

As fact-checkers of the PolitiFact project note, there are no reliable news or official sources that could confirm the message that there are no NATO troops in Ukraine. The man in the video refers to Russian sources.

Moreover, NATO press officer Matthias Eichenlaub commented to the fact-checkers, where he noted: “There are no NATO troops in Ukraine”. The official website also contains no information about these military personnel in Ukraine. “And we have a responsibility to ensure the conflict does not escalate and spread beyond Ukraine. That would be even more dangerous, destructive, and even more deadly”, the alliance’s website says.

Russian propaganda continues to spread messages that Russia is fighting the West on the territory of Ukraine. Thus, the Russians are trying to justify their defeats at the front and absolve themselves of responsibility for crimes in Ukraine.

Russian publications broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, the speaker of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mariia Zakharova, distributed a video with the Fox News logo, where allegedly during Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s visit to the United States to participate in a meeting of the UN General Assembly, he was greeted with a billboard in yellow and blue and the inscription “Glory to Urine”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the MythDetector project. An NBC investigative journalist determined that there is no such billboard in Times Square, at the intersection of 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue, where the billboard video was allegedly filmed. This inscription was added in the video editor, like the Fox News logo. Opposite the billboard is a McDonald's, which is not visible in the video. So, the propagandists used an old fake video, filmed in 2022, when there was no McDonald's in this place.

Fox News confirmed to Reuters that the video was not posted on its platform. And Erin Watkins, the chief lawyer of the Big Outdoor media company, which owns and manages part of the billboards in Times Square, commented to Reuters that photographs and videos with a banner and the inscription “Glory to the Urine” are 100% fake.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the West and humiliate Volodymyr Zelenskyi, saying that his Western partners do not respect him and the whole world is against Ukraine. Previously, we refuted the fake news that an advertising banner with Zelenskyi was installed in New York with the inscription that “he earned more than the Barbie movie”.

A number of anonymous telegram channels with pro-Russian rhetoric are disseminating information that on Ukraine’s Independence Day, children sang the Ukrainian Anthem in English. They say that this proves that Ukraine has, in fact, already fully become a “puppet” of the West, which means it has lost its independence.

The specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to the manipulation. They found out that the anthem was performed by students of Nadvirnianskyi Lyceum No. 1 in the Ivano-Frankivsk region and this video was posted on the official Facebook page of the institution on March 6, 2017. Accordingly, the children did not complete this version for Independence Day. Project analysts also note that international partners do not stop expressing their support for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine, citing numerous speeches by the US President, NATO Secretary General and other officials in Western countries. In addition, they remind that the anthem of Ukraine was also heard in concert halls of other countries, where spectators greeted it standing.

By spreading this message, propagandists want to undermine trust in Western partners and justify Russia’s crimes against Ukrainians. They say that Russia is really helping Ukraine maintain its independence in front of the “collective West” and if Russia loses, Ukraine will finally be occupied by Western countries. Detector Media has already written about how the Russians are scaring Ukrainians with the “occupation” of the western regions of the country by Poland.

This information was disseminated by pro-Kremlin media. Reports say that Joseph Biden gave a speech to the Americans. However, according to the authors of the fake message, the crowd was unhappy with the politician and began chanting obscene words in response. The publications add that the angry crowd shouted “f*ck you, Joe”. To support this, the reports add video evidence that appears to be a real recording of the American president’s speech. It's a lie.

The VoxCheck project specialists were able to analyze the case, who verified the authenticity of the video and determined that it was compiled. In fact, obscene exclamations were added to the original audio track, allegedly aimed at the President of the United States. Using a reverse Google search, the fact-checkers also discovered a real video of Joe Biden's speech, which was published back in July 2022. In fact, the official’s clothes, accessories and the location of the shooting coincide with the propaganda heritage - most likely, the authors used this particular video to plant a fake. As for the speech itself, the politician spoke about introducing legislation that would strengthen the security of local communities. For example, the legislative initiative provides for limiting the use of weapons for certain categories of people.

Propagandists exploited a moment in the speech when a listener chimed in on Biden's speech, declaring that “Americans need to do more”. And the politician asked the listener to sit down. Moreover, others began to shout “”Joe Biden! Yes!”, that is, in this way they supported the official’s initiative.

Propagandists of the system are trying to discredit the US President by showing his “clumsiness” and “meaninglessness”. Allegedly, Ukraine’s strategic partner is not competent at all and does not deserve recognition. Thus, the authors ridicule Western leaders. But they are trying to point out that Russian politicians, say, are more conscientious and never have any incidents happen to them: they are “successful”, they are “supported everywhere” and are trying to “imitate”. Thus, Russian propaganda despises, for example, Volodymyr Zelenskyi, contrasting him with the standard bastions of Russian politics.

The analysts of Detector Media recently refuted similar cases about the head of the White House, where they tried to undermine his authority. Read the latest: how Joe Biden allegedly buys books about dementia, “sniffs” a teenager, or supposedly falls asleep during a meeting with the President of Israel.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukrainian refugees in Europe have begun to demonstrate their Nazi tendencies. They claim that this is a direct threat to the territorial integrity of the EU. In support of this thesis, evidence is provided that a Ukrainian barista offers Europeans coffee with a swastika on it. All this, they say, is happening in a German town. Video evidence is added to publications. It's a lie.

The analysts from the VoxCheck project analyzed the case and determined that the video is an advertisement for online late art courses in Bolivia, and there is no mention of Ukrainians in it. The video has an Instagram page tagged, so the fact-checkers decided to check it out. The page is actually active and posts are posted there.The fact-checkers came across the original video used by propagandists. There is no mention of Ukraine there either. And it is impossible to say for sure that it was the swastika that was depicted on the coffee. That is, the authors of the online courses did not add any context to the Instagram message, so there may be different interpretations. Although the video received more than 384 thousand likes with 4,800 subscribers, in the comments, users mock and hint at the theme of Nazism. The fact-checkers claim that the video could have been used to attract attention.

With all that, neither the Instagram page nor the video have anything to do with Ukrainians. Propagandists explained the video modifications in a context that was favorable to them. It’s as if a Ukrainian refugee in Germany is selling coffee with a swastika design. Thus, the authors seek to demonize Ukrainian refugees and show that Europe does not support Ukraine and Ukrainians in general. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric and users of the Russian segment of Facebook are disseminating information that the Kyiv Mama Gochi restaurant is supposedly running a special promotion - visitors are offered “kebabs with Karabakh smoke” and a shot “to Pashynian”. Russian propaganda is also distributing a video of a restaurant and a sign with the action. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the MythDetector project. The video, distributed by agitprop on September 20, has been edited. Russian propaganda shows a chalk inscription on a black board, where the center is noticeably darker than the edges. The Mama Gochi restaurant published a post on its Instagram page on the same day, where the real menu is visible on the board, and noted that this video is fake. In fact, there was neither such a kebab nor such a shot on the menu. Representatives of the restaurant informed the fact-checkers who contacted the police that this fake was damaging the reputation of Mama Gochi.

Moreover, the fact-checkers checked the video frames using the Forensic application, which allows one to extract metadata from documents on social networks, and the visual manipulation tool InVid. They found that Forensic shows one type of manipulation in place of the telegram channel logo and the menu board. It was also established that fake posts were spread by similar posts, published mainly on September 20, and the first videos appeared in the telegram channel “Ostashko! Important” (its logo is contained in the video), owned by a Russian propagandist.

Russian propagandists are trying to dehumanize Ukrainians and show them to be cruel. They say that the escalation of the armed conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh is a reason for jokes. By accusing Ukrainians of being indifferent and mocking towards other countries, Russia is diverting attention from its own crimes and the aggression it is showing towards Ukraine. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that in Ukraine they sell the House of Trade Unions candle with the aroma of marshmallow on the fire.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric and Kremlin propagandists are distributing a video of an employee of Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s security service allegedly accompanying him to the UN General Assembly allegedly starting a fight in New York at a local bar, The Campbell Bar, not far from the UN building. In the low-quality video, we first see footage of the visit of the Ukrainian delegation to the United States, and then the crush of a group of men. Russian propaganda refers to the American publication USA Today, which apparently published this video. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. The video published by propaganda is a forgery. It is impossible to identify the men in the video, and the text accompanying the video is riddled with errors. Fact-checkers analyzed the bar in the video and compared it with The Campbell Bar - they are visually different. Also, the bar administration, authorized representative of the company Scott Gerber, said in a comment to StopFake: “This video is a fake. This was not the case at the Campbell Bar”.

Moreover, the American publication USA Today did not publish material about the fight that Zelenskyi’s security guard allegedly started. There is no information on this case on the publication’s website or on the company’s social networks.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi and the Ukrainian delegation in the United States and reduce Western support. Previously, we refuted the fake that Suspilne compiled a video of Zelenskyi’s speech at the UN General Assembly.

A number of anonymous telegram channels disseminating pro-Russian rhetoric published photos and videos in which allegedly Defense Minister Rustem Umierov masturbates on camera and addresses a potential partner. The authors of such reports argue that such actions jeopardize Ukraine's reputation, especially in international negotiations, and show shortcomings in the selection of personnel in the Ukrainian government. In publications containing these materials, propagandists used disparaging language towards Umierov himself. However, these photos and videos are fake.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to this. Using the sites Search4faces and PimEyes, they found out that the person in the video is indeed Russian Davyd Kasaiev. In particular, in the public domain one can find a photo of Kasaiev with the background that is visible in the “leaked” videos. Also, some telegram channels indicated that videos and photos with allegedly Rustem Umierov were filmed long before the start of his career. However, if one compares the photo of the real Umierov from 12 years ago and the videos published by the Russians, one can see the difference. In particular, one can see differences in the shape of the nose, face and eye shape. The timbre and manner of speech in the video do not match Umerov’s voice. In addition, such actions are not a characteristic of a politician’s professional activity and it is not worth assessing the reputation behind them, especially with the use of derogatory language.

Using such fakes, propagandists aimed to personally discredit Umierov before his appointment as Minister of Defense of Ukraine and prevent this. They continue their personal attacks on him, in particular by spreading fake quotes from Umierov, which we wrote about earlier.

Such information was disseminated in pro-Kremlin telegram channels. Reports say that the German fast food chain Burgermeister allegedly launched an advertising campaign - “to talk about something more important than Ukraine”. Instead, they suggest talking about “a new line of tasty and juicy burgers”. The publications add a screenshot allegedly from a promotional video. It's a lie.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project analyzed this case and found out that the video was compiled using a video editor. At the same time, representatives of the German burger joint noted that they did not create such a campaign and had nothing to do with the creation of the video. And to edit this video, the propagandists used cuttings of various news stories about Ukraine, and in the second part of the video they placed a real Burgermeister advertisement posted on the main page of the site.

We have repeatedly debunked fake news regarding fake graffiti or covers on foreign magazines/newspapers 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. And especially when the authors use elements of popular culture, hinting that people are laughing at the situation in Ukraine and that the Ukrainian agenda for Europe is a reason to laugh.

Read the latest fakes on this topic, where Russia turns a blind eye to false works of street art and pop culture: 

Allegedly, in The Hague, the capital of European justice, they created graffiti depicting Zelenskyi hanging on the gallows. Or look at the fake cover of the allegedly British newspaper The New European, where the Ukrainian president was sitting on the lap of the Dalai Lama. Or about the fake cover of the numb Volodymyr Zelenskyi from the figure of the dictator Putin and Jesus Christ.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that on September 20, Volodymyr Zelenskyi spoke at a special meeting of the UN Security Council dedicated to Russia’s war against Ukraine. At the same time, propaganda telegram channels promoted messages that the Ukrainian president was not supported and was not listened to during his speech; that Western officials “ran away” from the Security Council meeting room in protest against Zelenskyi. But in support of this thesis, the authors added video evidence - supposedly an excerpt from the live broadcast of the United News marathon, where Ukrainian media workers allegedly resorted to editing. So, at one of the moments in which Zelenskyi was giving a speech, they inserted what seemed to be a shot from the audience, as the president was already sitting and listening to someone. That is, they hinted that the Ukrainians were deceived in this way, just to create the impression that the hall was full during the official’s speech. And the anonymous telegrammers summed it up: “such a product will only be useful to the Ukrainian viewer”. However, this is a lie.

In fact, Zelenskyi’s speech was broadcast live at the Marathon with a completely different translation. This can be checked by comparing two video excerpts - a fake one and one from a real broadcast. That is, at least Suspilne has nothing to do with the probable compilation of the broadcast. But we managed to find a video with exactly the same translation as in the propaganda passage. It was published on the official TSN YouTube channel. However, the fake legacy here also differs from the broadcast: it does not record the moment when, during the delivery of a speech, the synchronization with Zelenskyi sitting in the hall is superimposed. It’s easy to determine this by starting from a fake video and finding that moment already in the TSN broadcast. Most likely, the video was edited by the authors of the fake publications. Information about the “editing” of the live broadcast was subsequently picked up by the Kremlin media.

Thus, propagandists are trying to portray Zelenskyi as an unsuccessful politician, whose opinion is not listened to or who is ignored at international events, “running away” from the meeting room. Among other things, fake makers are also trying to convince people that the President of Ukraine has usurped and owns the entire Ukrainian media space: it is known that the public broadcaster is financed from the state treasury and should not be influenced by political forces. And if journalists allegedly indulged Volodymyr Zelenskyi and compiled the moment for broadcast, the Ukrainian authorities are ready to direct the agenda, seemingly in places beyond the reach of the state, and impede freedom of speech.

In the Russian segment of the social network VKontakte, a video advertisement is being distributed in which environmentalists allegedly put forward a proposal to hide the Ukrainian military “in special biodegradable capsule bags". This development was allegedly presented on the air of the Ukrainian telethon “United News”. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the fact-checker of the StopFake project. They found out that in fact such advertising does not exist, and Ukrainian environmentalists did not make such statements. Using an image search, experts found footage from the video - Russian propaganda used the presentation of the Capsula Mundi project by Italian designers Anna Citelli and Raoul Bretzel in 2016. Russians used these frames, added the “1+1” channel and the “United News” telethon, and read low-quality text.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to spread the message about high losses among the Ukrainian military and sow despondency among Ukrainian society. Previously, Detector Media refuted the fake that Defense Minister Umierov disclosed data on Ukraine’s losses during the counteroffensive.

Propaganda resources began publishing reports about the “shooting down” of a Ukrainian Air Force helicopter in the area of the temporarily occupied Lyman without evidence. They say that the “first shots” of the Russian military’s successful testing of the Mi-8 helicopter of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have appeared. However, this is fake.

Researchers at the StopFake project debunked this case using Google's reverse image search tool. As it turned out, the information provided is not true. These “first shots” only show a helicopter burning in the sky. They have nothing to do with the allegedly downed Ukrainian helicopter. An identical photograph has been used by various media outlets for several years. The oldest publications found by the search engine date back to 2020.

We also managed to find a video from which Russian propaganda took its “proof” of the alleged destruction of Ukrainian equipment. The British TV channel SkyNews published a video back in February 2020 with the same footage, but with a completely different caption. According to their journalists, it shows a Syrian military helicopter shot down by rebels. One can understand that this is the right helicopter from the same ignition of the fuselage (the place where fuel, landing gear, engines can be placed) of the aircraft and the color of the sky.

Previously, we also documented a similar hoax about the Russians “massively destroying” M1 Abrams tanks, although they had not even been delivered to Ukraine at that time. We also denied information that the Russians destroyed the first Leopard tank on the battlefield. This also turned out to be untrue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The social network TikTok is distributing a video in which the military command of Ukraine, in particular Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Oleksandr Syrskyi, Serhii Shaptala, Dmytro Marchenko  allegedly created a petition for the dissolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and the subsequent mobilization of deputies. The video also features Vitalii Kim, the head of the Mykolaiv Regional Military Administration. Social network users are encouraged to follow the link and sign the petition. It's fake.

The case was examined by fact-checkers from the Center for Countering Disinformation. In fact, such a petition does not exist, the video is fake, and the link to the petition leads to various telegram channels and third-party sites.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the military command of Ukraine and promoting the message that there is a conflict between it and the leadership of the state. Previously, we talked about a message that allegedly Zaluzhnyi “was asked to reduce the level of his publicity due to the conflict with Zelenskyi”.

Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular on anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that soldiers of the 79th separate air assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Zaporizhzia receive drugs from the United States namely ephedrine. Video evidence is added to publications. It's a lie.

Fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project analyzed this case and determined that the propaganda video was published in the fake telegram channel of the 79th separate air assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, where supposedly the military was receiving “another help from fellow Americans”. The video itself was published in the Russian segment of social networks, and the official channel of the 79th brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces does not exist in the telegram. Most likely the video is compiled. At the same time, a USAID representative stated that the United States did not supply ephedrine or any other substances for the Ukrainian Armed Forces to Ukraine.

In addition, Russian channels claim that the military received ephedrine in Zaporizhzhia. However, the 79th brigade operates in the Mariinsk and Uhledar directions of the Donetsk region. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this in July.

By the way, read how the Russians create fake accounts of the Ukrainian military on social networks and what the Kremlin achieves in this way.

This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular in telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the so-called Western biological laboratories have already flooded the whole of Ukraine and are conducting experiments on the military there: in particular, they are testing vaccines of “unknown” origin. The experiments are allegedly carried out by the Pharmabiotest company, which is allegedly affiliated with clinics in the USA. The authors add that in the temporarily occupied Luhansk region, Russian troops found the corresponding “documents” confirming the testing. Interviews with supposedly Ukrainian prisoners of war are added to the publications.

VoxCheck project analysts analyzed this case and came to the conclusion that the Russians did not provide any evidence or documents in their publications to support their thesis. Moreover, the fact-checkers were unable to identify the characters in the video. That is, probable military prisoners of war. They suggest that the videos could have been compiled and passed off as Ukrainian prisoners. Or the occupiers forced the Ukrainian military to lie, blackmailing them in any way. After all, Russia can use prisoners of war for its own political purposes. For example, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry condemned such actions by Russia.

Read what is happening to Ukrainian soldiers behind the walls of Russian prisons in the Human Rights Media Initiative. Because intimidation, constant terror and blackmail are the actions of the Russians towards Ukrainian captives.

By the way, Pharmabiotest is a real laboratory where experiments are carried out. However, on the website of the State Expert Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine there is a list of all possible experiments conducted by different clinics. Therefore, Pharmbiotest conducted studies on the bioavailability of drugs such as Adesin, Tenzocard, Klovask, etc. All these names are common drugs. There is no mention of vaccine testing on the clinic's website. That is, propagandists threw in information without confirmation.