Russian propaganda is actively spreading the message in the media that Ukraine is allegedly using information about the presence of North Korean troops in the war to draw NATO into an open conflict with Russia, calling it "rumors". They say this was stated in an interview with Andrii Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, for the Italian publication Corriere Della Sera. However, this is not true.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes about this. Its specialists note that there is no such information in the interview. In addition, the presence of North Korean troops at Russian bases is confirmed by intelligence data and officials, including the NATO Secretary General and the US Secretary of Defense.

The aim of this disinformation is to create the illusion of an external threat and “hostile plans” of the West to interfere in the conflict, which will help mobilize domestic support in Russia. The Kremlin seeks to present the West as an active participant in the war, and Ukraine as a “controlled” NATO player. This approach allows Russian media to explain to citizens why the so-called “special operation”, which was initially promised to end in a few days, has been going on for several years. Russian propagandists have previously used a variety of pretexts, from accusations of supplying weapons and intelligence assistance to disseminating information about alleged foreign mercenaries.

In the Briansk region, a group of foreign mercenaries of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was allegedly “eliminated”.

On October 29, the Russian FSB announced that a group of foreign mercenaries of the Ukrainian Armed Forces had allegedly been “liquidated” in the Briansk region. At the same time, the saboteurs were allegedly found to have a Canadian flag and a prayer book in Polish. However, this incident raises many questions. In particular, Kremlin political scientists claim that Russia is thus looking for grounds to involve North Korean troops in the war. The official interpretation, however, looks unconvincing.

The Kremlin justifies the deployment of North Korean troops by citing a treaty with Pyongyang, but that treaty was only ratified on October 24. Meanwhile, Ukraine's Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security released a video confirming the presence of North Korean soldiers in Russia on October 18, as well as this explanation.

The incident can be seen as yet another step in Russia’s disinformation campaign aimed at justifying its aggression and spreading propaganda to domestic audiences. The Kremlin is trying to present the war not only as a conflict with Ukraine, but also as a fight against Western mercenaries. Such tactics allow the authorities to create the appearance of a broad international conspiracy against Russia and attract popular support, including by justifying increased repression and mobilization. This message is also part of a broader information context in which Russian propagandists regularly try to attract more foreign participants to the conflict, including countries seeking to maintain neutrality.

Russian resources are spreading information that, allegedly, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecast does not include the option of Ukraine winning the war against Russia. As the propagandists claim, “Western experts have stopped believing in “Ukraine's victory” in the special military operation”.

However, this is a fake, writes StopFake. On October 18, 2024, the IMF published a report on Ukraine. In the document, analysts estimate that the war will continue into the next year, 2025, and “the outlook remains highly uncertain”, and therefore additional financing of $32 billion will be needed. It will be covered by $33.1 billion of the G7's proposed Emergency Relief Arrangement (ERA) initiative, which provides for the use of proceeds on frozen Russian assets.

The report's risk section also talks about baseline and downside scenarios, both of which assume that the war will last longer than expected. At the same time, the scenarios do not talk about Ukraine's expected loss. On the contrary, the IMF report emphasizes: “We are currently focused on supporting macroeconomic, external, and financial stability to strengthen Ukraine's potential for victory”. This contradicts the information disseminated by Russian propagandists.

With this fake, the Russians are feeding the propaganda narrative about the West losing faith in Ukraine's victory. Earlier, we refuted the information that Ukrainian Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko stated that the West “is tired of driving Ukraine into debt”.

Russian Telegram channels are spreading information that allegedly in the city of Zhmerynka in the Vinnytsia region, three Ukrainian young men beat up a citizen of Kazakhstan, mistaking him for a Korean. In the corresponding publications, the propagandists add that during the clash, the Ukrainians allegedly shouted racist insults, and the Kazakh embassy even intervened in the incident.

However, in fact, the “news” about this incident is fake. This was reported by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation after verifying the information at the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Vinnytsia region. No similar incidents have been recorded in Zhmerynka recently.

This fake is a reaction of Russian propagandists to the involvement of North Korean troops in the Russian-Ukrainian war. The purpose of such lies is to discredit Ukrainians and create a false idea of racism in Ukrainian society. Earlier, we refuted the information that the Territorial center of recruitment and social support workers allegedly beat up an ethnic Hungarian in western Ukraine.

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.

Russian propaganda is spreading information in the Balkan segment of Facebook that the army of North Macedonia should prepare to participate in the war in Ukraine. They say that this will happen because of the future involvement of NATO. In spreading this information, they refer to the words of the President of Croatia, who allegedly criticized the NATO mission NSATU (Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine), claiming that this means the Alliance's intervention in the war in Ukraine. However, this is fake.

This was brought to the attention of fact-checkers from the Macedonian Truthmeter project. They claim that the NSATU mission is designed to train Ukrainian forces and coordinate aid, but does not involve NATO in combat. In fact, the Croatian president expressed concern about the potential risks of such a mission, but this is not a common opinion in his country. His comments were criticized by Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic.

The purpose of this fake is to spread fear and disinformation in order to provoke anti-NATO sentiments among the population of North Macedonia and other countries supporting Ukraine. The propaganda attempts to discredit NATO and sow doubts about its mission, as well as to create the illusion of the inevitable involvement of the Alliance member states in the war. In addition, such a message seeks to provoke antagonism and push for protests against NATO and support for Ukraine. Such manipulations are aimed at distracting attention from the real problems and crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.

Pro-Russian sources claim that the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Andrii Yermak believes that the main task for Ukraine is to draw NATO into a direct confrontation with Russia. According to propagandists, this is what will allow Ukraine to join the Alliance and win the war. There seem to be no alternative scenarios - reserves and equipment are at critical levels, Ukraine cannot withstand a protracted war, which means “we need to look for formats for escalating the war and provoking the Kremlin”. 

In fact, the Ukrainian military-political leadership, on the contrary, is striving to end the war, and on fair terms for the country. This is written by the Center for Countering Disinformation. Ukraine does not intend to involve NATO in a direct conflict with Russia, but the Ukrainian government asks for comprehensive support for the country so that it can continue to repel Russian aggression and, finally, defeat the terrorist country.

With such messages, Russia accuses the Ukrainian authorities of escalating the war. Propagandists also appeal to the “critical amount of reserves and equipment”, “Ukraine's inability to fight continued”, but international partners continue to provide military and financial assistance to the Ukrainian state, and thanks to the Kursk operation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the theater of military operations has moved to Russian territory. Accordingly, it may be unprofitable for the Kremlin itself to continue this groundless war, which is why they are looking for ways to end it on unfavorable and disadvantageous terms for Ukraine.

Previously, we analyzed the Russian disinformation message that Kyiv wants to provoke the Kremlin into attacking with tactical nuclear weapons.

Information is being spread online that in one of Lviv's lyceums, first-graders are being forced to kneel and honor the memory of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. As evidence, the Russian propagandists add a photo of a complaint addressed to the lyceum's director, allegedly written by the mother of one of the 1-B class students. It states that the woman is against her daughter ‘honoring the memory of fallen Ukrainian soldiers by kneeling before the start of classes’.

The StopFake project checked this information and found out that the propagandists simply made up this news by fabricating a complaint.

In the photograph distributed by pro-Russian sources, it is noticeable that the complaint was allegedly written by “Halyna Ivanytska”, the mother of the student “Olena Ivanytska”, to the director of Lviv Lyceum No. 17, Iryna Luniova. And such a lyceum with such a director really does exist.

Therefore, StopFake journalists asked the director to confirm or deny the complaint and to tell whether the said practice really exists in this educational institution. But she replied that this information is completely fictitious. “No such complaints have been received by the director of Lyceum No. 17 of the Lviv City Council! And we do not do such things (getting on our knees – Ed.). There is no 1-C class in the Lyceum, we only have two of them. In addition, student Olena Ivanytska does not study and has never studied in our educational institution”, said Iryna Luniova.

StopFake also verified the information from the parents of first-graders. The head of the parents' committee of first-graders, Anastasiia Lysenko, confirmed that there is no practice of ‘getting on one's knees’ in the school, and there is no 1-C class with a student named “Olena Ivanytska”.

Previously, we recorded disinformation that children in Ukraine were forced to donate blood for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Propagandists are spreading information on anonymous Telegram channels that the former deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Rostyslav Shurma allegedly called for ending the war on Russia's terms and stopping the “useless destruction of soldiers”. However, this is fake.

It was brought to the attention of specialists from the Center for Strategic Communication and Information Security. They found out that the video distributed by the fake-baiters was a deepfake created with low quality. “Shurma's” facial expressions do not synchronize with his voice, and the Russian propaganda slogans attributed to him are voiced carelessly - sentences in Ukrainian are interspersed with Russian phrases.

Through such deepfakes, Russian propaganda is trying to push the narrative that the only way out for Ukraine is to “capitulate on Putin’s terms”. The use of deepfakes with fictitious statements by former or current officials, such as Rostyslav Shurma, is aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian government. By distributing fake statements, propaganda is trying to create the impression that even officials are ready to surrender or are leaning towards capitulation. False statements made using deepfakes are intended to provoke a rift between the population and the government. This could undermine support for the government and create the impression that the Ukrainian leadership is allegedly abandoning its strategy to protect sovereignty. The spread of such fakes among the international community could sow doubts among Ukraine’s allies, indicating an alleged internal readiness for capitulation or fatigue from the fight. This could reduce support for Ukraine from Western partners.

Former US intelligence officer Scott Ritter claimed that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi allegedly started a war against the Russian-speaking population of Donbas by launching an anti-terrorist operation during which the Ukrainian army allegedly killed women, children and innocent people. This was noted by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

The Center's experts explain that the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas was a response to the Russian-backed armed aggression that began after the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine did not initiate the war, but acted within the framework of international law, defending its territory and citizens from pro-Russian separatists and Russian troops. The accusation of mass murder of civilians is part of the Kremlin's disinformation campaign aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian government and justifying its aggressive actions.

Russia is trying to create an image of Ukraine as an aggressor country that violates the rights of the Russian-speaking population. This is done in order to justify its actions on the international stage, in particular the occupation of Crimea and support for militants in Donbas. The spread of such fakes is aimed at causing tensions between different ethnic and linguistic groups in Ukraine, especially among Russian-speaking citizens, which could lead to internal destabilization. Russia is also trying to influence public opinion in Europe and the United States in order to reduce support for Ukraine from the international community. With such statements, the Kremlin seeks to portray the conflict in Donbas as an internal civil conflict, rather than an act of external aggression.

The experts of the fakenews.pl portal, together with analysts from GLOBSEC (Slovakia) and Political Capital (Hungary), with the support of the Open Information Partnership, conducted a study of the activities of pro-Russian anti-war movements in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It describes the messages, connections of these movements, the background of their leaders and how the Kremlin manipulates pacifist ideas to legitimize the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin's main trick in this case, according to the above-mentioned experts, is to use anti-war appeals to justify Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. Instead of real peace, these movements spread ideas that shift part of the blame to the victim of aggression - Ukraine.

They also came to the following conclusions:

Pro-Russian “anti-war” movements cover a wide range of political forces, from parties in power to opposition and small political movements

In some countries (Slovakia, Hungary) anti-war rhetoric was successfully used to gain political advantages.

Almost all the movements studied have direct or indirect links with Russian officials or structures.

Anti-war movements use the same set of pro-Russian messages, adapted to the local context, but maintaining the general pro-Russian line.

The Visegrad Group organizations (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic), as well as Germany, Bulgaria and Romania, cooperate, mutually promoting Russian propaganda.

Left- and right-wing movements are willing to cooperate if they are united by a pro-Russian narrative.

“Anti-war” movements that sympathize with Russia oppose supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. Although they hide behind ideas of pacifism, their rhetoric strengthens the Kremlin’s position and contributes to disinformation. Using fear and emotion, these movements try to influence public opinion, creating a false image of the world, which in fact involves concessions to the aggressor.

Experts from the Center for Countering Disinformation have recorded an information campaign by Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Citing the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, they claim that Ukraine, “at the instigation” of the United States, is preparing a staged Russian missile strike on one of the children's institutions in Ukraine.

The fakers were unable to provide any evidence to support their false thesis. That is, Ukraine is not planning any “shelling”. Russia shells Ukraine almost every day, destroying civilian infrastructure, residential buildings, hospitals, schools, and kindergartens. The propagandists explain that Moscow allegedly does not resort to terrorist attacks, but targets “decision-making centers”. They say that the Kremlin only attacks facilities where military equipment is located or servicemen are present, and therefore does not violate any norms and customs of warfare.

In fact, Russia is trying to hide its criminal actions against peaceful Ukrainians, hiding behind the term “decision-making centers”. But it finds an excuse that shelling military facilities is the norm for war. However, Ukrainian cities are suffering from Russian missiles and drones.

But the infidels do not aim at “decision-making centers”, but purposefully commit genocide against Ukrainians, killing them in their homes, in public places. At the same time, Moscow tries to whitewash itself and deny any crimes. But documented cases of Russian terror show what the terrorist country is actually doing.

By spreading disinformation that speculates on the life of children in war conditions, in particular the so-called children of Donbas, Russian propaganda seeks to discredit Ukraine and the Ukrainian government in the eyes of both its own and Western society. In the stories of Russian propaganda about the life of children in the occupied territories and in the combat zone, the Ukrainian authorities and military are portrayed as ruthless “punishers” whose goal is to exterminate the so-called people of Donbas, who “voluntarily chose to be with Russia”. By telling such stories, Russian propaganda seeks to turn reality upside down and show that nothing will stop the Ukrainian authorities and armies from achieving their goal.

Read also: Ukrainians whom Moscow is turning into enemies: how Russia justifies the deportation of Ukrainian children

Propagandists are spreading messages on the social network X (former Twitter) that Russia “fired 200 missiles and drones at Ukraine, but only 5 civilians were killed”. They say this is further proof that Russia allegedly does not try to destroy Ukraine or kill its civilians, but demonstrates noble behavior. Its “religious, moral and social principles do not allow it to wipe Ukraine off the face of the earth”.

The Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to these statements. Thus, propagandists want to justify Russian aggression by deliberately distorting reality and hushing up evidence of numerous Russian attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine, which have led to thousands of civilian casualties. The massive airstrikes on August 26-27, directed against critical civilian infrastructure, are another example of Russia's terrorist actions against civilians, which are undoubtedly war crimes.

Such messages serve several purposes. First, they are aimed at creating the illusion of the “humanity” of the Russian army’s actions, reducing their impact on public opinion outside of Ukraine. Second, they seek to sow doubts among those who support Ukraine, reducing their belief in the need for assistance. Third, such statements help spread propaganda narratives that attempt to divert attention from the real goals of Russian aggression and justify war crimes committed against Ukraine.

On the night of August 24, 2024, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Sapphire Hotel in Kramatorsk. At the time, it was housing foreign and Ukrainian journalists. As a result of the enemy attack, four journalists were injured, one British media worker was killed. Later, a Reuters report revealed that the deceased was their security adviser, 38-year-old Briton Ryan Evans. Evans is a former British military man who began working with Reuters in 2022. Immediately after the information about the shelling was made public, Russian propaganda began to spread manipulations around the death of the British news agency employee, trying to justify this crime. This was warned by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

In their messages on Telegram channels, the Russians lie that Evans was allegedly an agent of the British intelligence service MI6, appealing to his military past. They also spread disinformation that all “military instructors from NATO member countries” arrive in Ukraine as journalists, and the attacked hotel was a “location of foreign mercenaries”. In fact, the deceased arrived in Ukraine as part of a team of foreign journalists as a civilian security adviser for reporters working in the combat zone. He has already advised Reuters journalists on security in Ukraine, Israel, and at the Paris Olympics.

By spreading such fakes, hostile propaganda is trying to hide its crimes against civilians and present the hotel primarily as a “military target”. With the goal of a targeted strike on “Sapfir” (Sapphire), the enemy is trying to intimidate foreign journalists who have come to Ukraine and are covering the truth about Russia's armed aggression against our country.

On social networks in the Russian segment, they add that the American authorities “expect” the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use ATACMS long-range missiles “against Russian cities”. Thus, propagandists concluded that the United States was “forcing” Ukraine to attack Russia. The messages also refer to CNN material.

StopFake fact-checkers explained that even in the article they write how the United States “does not want to give permission” to Ukraine to use American long-range weapons against enemy targets on Russian territory.

Regarding the Kursk region, the United States officially denied involvement in organizing the operation in the Kursk region. For example, as Reuters writes, the United States still considers Ukraine’s invasion of the Kursk region of Russia unexpected.

The Biden administration is now working to determine Ukraine's goals in its offensive, which U.S. officials say has taken Washington by surprise.

Moreover, the American government has not lifted absolutely all restrictions for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the use of weapons on Russian territory: neither in range nor in use. Actually, the country's leadership is still determining the feasibility of using weapons in the Kursk region. That is about the fact that the United States was not informed about this offensive.

Propagandists are disseminating on anonymous telegram channels a statement by former Pentagon adviser Colonel Douglas McGregor that after the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ invasion of the Kursk region, the chances of peace negotiations have significantly decreased. They say that Washington was afraid of Putin’s reaction to the attack and returned to the idea of creating a government of exile in Lviv. However, this is not true.

Specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security drew attention to this. They note that the official position of the United States and the EU on the operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region remains unchanged: Ukraine has the right to defend itself at its own discretion. US State Department representative Matthew Miller emphasized that the decision to conduct military operations is made by Ukraine itself, and European Commission representative Peter Stano emphasized that the EU fully supports Ukraine’s legitimate right to defend and restore its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Such statements by McGregor are part of the Kremlin’s disinformation narratives aimed at legitimizing the crimes of Russians. This is an attempt to influence Ukrainian and Western audiences under the guise of “expert” opinions from the West. McGregor has long acted as a mouthpiece for Russian propaganda, justifying the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of Donbas in 2014, and after the full-scale invasion predicted the imminent defeat of Ukraine.

Ukrainian troops broke through the Russian border in the Sumy region on Tuesday, August 6. Already on August 12, President Zelenskyi for the first time directly wrote that Ukraine was conducting an operation in the Kursk region of Russia. Back on August 12, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi stated that Ukraine controls almost 1,000 km of Kursk region. As of August 13, it became known that 74 settlements in Russia are under Ukrainian control.

Russian anonymous telegram channels began to spread messages that in fact everything was happening under the so-called “cover” of the United States and the American government.

“Without Washington’s participation, Kyiv would hardly have risked entering Russian territory. Because of American interests, the residents of Ukraine are suffering, which the United States has turned from a state into a military anti-Russian project”, the propagandists add.

However, the United States officially denied involvement in organizing the operation in the Kursk region. For example, as Reuters writes, the United States is still considering an unexpected invasion of Ukraine into the Kursk region of Russia.

The Biden administration is now working to determine Ukraine's goals in its offensive, which U.S. officials say has taken Washington by surprise.

Moreover, the American government has not lifted absolutely all restrictions for the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the use of weapons on Russian territory: neither in range nor in use. Actually, the country's leadership is still determining the feasibility of using weapons in the Kursk region. That is, we are talking about the fact that the United States was not informed about this offensive.

And, as CNN writes, the United States does not allow Ukraine to use the American long-range weapons provided for attacks in the Kursk region of Russia, since it believes that it would be more expedient to use them for attacks on the temporarily occupied Crimea.

This is how Russia once again promotes the narrative of “external governance” in Ukraine: With this, propagandists want to show that all political decisions in Ukraine are made by Western officials. While Ukrainian politicians are subject to these decisions, without the right to appeal them. Any events occurring in Ukraine that are not in favor of Russia are allegedly caused by external control. Fake robes strive to create the image of a puppet country that cannot exist on its own. Let's say Ukraine constantly needs “protection”.

The authors convince us that most often, peaceful people who suffer from “external control” pay taxes “who knows where”, are zombied by “Western values” and have literally lost the right to be heard. That is, they show that such an “impact” is bad and leads to stagnation in all spheres of people’s lives.

Russian resources claim that French General Bertrand Toujouse believes that NATO would be unable to respond to a potential Russian attack. When spreading this information, propagandists refer to the material from Politico.

However, Toujouse’s words were manipulated, they write in the StopFake project. In fact, in the Politico text, the French general simply drew attention to what areas of defense Europe should improve to effectively defend against Russian aggression. In particular, we are talking about the mobility of military weapons. As Toujouse writes, the rapid transport of weapons is hampered by excessive bureaucratic procedures, inconvenient infrastructure (including tunnels and bridges) and a shortage of railway cars.

To strengthen this area of defense, EU member states introduced a new military mobility pledge in May 2024, which will help ensure the rapid and smooth movement of military personnel and materiel within and outside the EU. Commitments include investments in dual-use infrastructure and a simplified procedure for obtaining permits for the transport of military equipment across borders.

Bertrand Toujouse does not believe that Europe is powerless against a potential Russian attack. European countries are identifying weak areas in their defense systems and implementing changes accordingly.

Russian propaganda is distributing publications accusing the Ukrainian Armed Forces of war crimes. As “evidence”, the Russians use the stories of people who found themselves in the territories of Ukraine occupied by Russian troops.

These people claim that the Ukrainian military allegedly shelled and looted civilian homes, burned homes, or opened fire on civilians. However, there is no evidence to support these words. This was reported by the National Security and Defense Council Center for Countering Disinformation.

By spreading false statements about “crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine” on behalf of the population of the occupied territories, Russia seeks to:

- justify the war she started;

- set up residents of the occupied territories against the Ukrainian Armed Forces;

- shift responsibility for the destruction of civilian infrastructure in Ukraine.

The Center adds that in reality it is Russia that is destroying Ukrainian settlements. It is responsible for the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories.

Previously, we have already recorded fake evidence of “crimes of the Ukrainian Armed ForcesЄ. Thus, Russian propaganda accused the Ukrainian military of threatening residents of the occupied territories and extorting intimate services from them, of taking children away from their parents in the Donbas in order to hand them over to pedophiles or organs.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are spreading the message that the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, does not believe in victory and sincerely believes that Ukraine is not capable of gaining an advantage over the Russians on its own soil. Syrskyi and his entourage seem to be ready to sign a “ceasefire regime” and all sorts of variations on the theme of surrender and enforcement of peace.

Propagandists claim that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has stopped listening to the Office of the President and refuses to implement the offensive in the form in which it is proposed. And the OP’s demands seem to be to “throw meat at the front”. At the same time, just six months ago, propagandists called Syrskyi a “butcher general” who does not value his personnel. However, today he has allegedly become perhaps the biggest fan of surrender.

Considering these messages, we can conclude that Russian propaganda is once again trying to create a split between the political and military leadership of the country. On the one hand, propagandists send Syrskyi on an independent political voyage, saying that he does not listen to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and is playing his own game. On the other hand, the military leadership supposedly wants peace and surrender, but the political leadership does not.

In 2023, Russia also promoted the message that there is a conflict in Ukraine between the military and political leadership. Then the main object of propaganda was Valerii Zaluzhnyi, and now it is Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Propaganda telegram channels disseminate messages saying that soldiers of the Russian Army guarantee life and humane treatment to Ukrainian prisoners of war.

However, more than one case of the death penalty of Ukrainian prisoners of war by the Russians has already been recorded. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

At the end of March 2024, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine published another report (December 2023 - February 2024), which reports a sharp increase in cases of torture and execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian occupiers. The report emphasizes that torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners by Russians is very common and “commonplace”. According to the UN, 96% of Ukrainian prisoners of war (58 out of 60 respondents) became victims of various types of torture.

Recently, on July 10, 2024, the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andrii Kostin announced the execution of two Ukrainian prisoners of war near Robotyne.

By spreading lies about the “humane” treatment of prisoners, the Russian Federation is drawing Ukrainian fighters into a deadly trap. The mentioned UN report also states that the captured occupiers interviewed admitted that they were not subjected to torture in official places of detention.

Pro-Russian telegram channels are disseminating information that in Vovchansk the Russian army allegedly seized an aggregate plant, leaving on a “starvation ration” the Armed Forces of Ukraine, holed up in high-rise buildings in the city center.

However, this information is not true, according to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. Speaker of Kharkiv Operational and strategic grouping of troops Yurii Povkh said on Radio Svoboda (Liberty) that the Russian military remains blocked at the aggregate plant. He added that other Russian forces are trying to get through there, making attacks, but to no avail - the Ukrainian Defense Forces are repelling them.

Earlier, military observer and coordinator of the Information Resistance group Kostiantyn Mashovets claimed that about 200 Russian military personnel were surrounded by the Vovchansk aggregate plant after attempts to cross the Vovcha River.

This resource disseminates fake news, in particular, about “the death of soldiers of the French Foreign Legion in the war in Ukraine”, criticizes the French government, publishes caricatures of President Macron, promotes pro-Russian fakes and supports right-wing radicals. They write about this in the Center for Strategic Communications and Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

Resistancerepublicaine.com is registered and hosted in Moscow - that is why the .com domain was chosen rather than .fr, intended for French online resources. This was determined by researchers from Insight News Media.

According to investigators, the materials on this site are intended to spread chaos, despair and protest sentiments in France, to blow up the French government and support right-wing radicals committed to Moscow. Previously, we denied information that France had allegedly made an official decision to send its troops to Ukraine.

Russian propaganda media are spreading the message that Ukraine will supposedly “end up just like Afghanistan” - when the collapse happens, it will happen instantly. In asserting this, propagandists refer to the statement of the Irish “journalist” Chey Bowes.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine writes that such statements have nothing to do with reality and are not supported by any facts.

In fact, “journalist” Chay Bowes is a well-known relay of Kremlin narratives and propaganda. He collaborates with Western publications that spread Russian lies. For example, Bowes claimed that the Ukrainian military has allegedly “killed thousands of civilians” since 2014, and that there is an ongoing “civil war” in Ukraine that began after the “Maidan coup” for “CIA sponsorship”.

The Center also adds that the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to destroy Russian occupiers, and international partners provide all necessary assistance and support to Ukraine. This, in particular, does not give grounds to talk about the so-called Afghan scenario in Ukraine.

This stuffing is another information operation of the Russian Federation, the purpose of which is to convince the Western audience that supposedly “the victory of the Russian Federation is close and inevitable”, and support for Ukraine makes no sense. Previously, we analyzed the message that the United States could turn Ukraine into a new Afghanistan.

Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels spread information that Polish doctors are allegedly being sent to Ukraine to front-line hospitals and to participate in hostilities. According to Russian propagandists, this will happen in the near future and, moreover, forcibly. As proof, the Russians provide screenshots of one of the Polish sites with the corresponding article.

However, this information does not correspond to reality, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security Council. The article actually says that 15 Polish doctors will come to Ukraine precisely for educational purposes. The material does not mention their participation in hostilities at all.

By spreading such messages, Russian propaganda promotes the narrative of “foreign mercenaries” allegedly fighting against the Russians in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Earlier, we refuted information that a Ukrainian called on Poles to go fight against Russia.

Propagandists began publishing a large number of messages according to which the next target of the “Western curators” plan is Georgia. And the plan, in their words, is to “ignite another conflict in the Russian sphere of influence,” but Georgia “was not affected” even despite the “disorder in the streets”, which was “orchestrated by the West”. And because of this, the EU is allegedly threatening to freeze funding for Georgia or terminate its European integration.

Specialists from the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to this message. They found that propagandists are trying to portray popular protests against Georgia's “foreign agent” law as Western “color revolutions”, making similar events seem like a thing of the past. However, these demonstrations arise from genuine dissatisfaction among Georgian citizens over a controversial law reminiscent of the crackdown imposed in Russia. Critics fear the law could restrict freedom of expression and association, jeopardizing Georgia's democratic aspirations. European and international leaders condemned the law and authorities' crackdown on protesters, noting its potential incompatibility with EU democratic standards, which could stall Georgia's path to European Union integration. The significant number of protesters gathered across the country underscores the depth of public opposition to the law, reminiscent of similar protests that forced the government to withdraw legislation in the past. But even despite them, the government still passed the law.

Propagandists spread such messages to discredit Western states and try to regain Russian influence in Georgia. They say that Georgia is on the path with “traditional values”, and not with Europe.