A video allegedly of fires in the “military registration and enlistment office” of the Shevchenko district of Kharkiv is being distributed on social networks. They say that Kharkiv “military personnel” cannot withstand the “hot” mobilization campaign. The reports note that allegedly the building was deliberately set on fire by “partisans”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Kharkiv anti-corruption center managed to identify the video from social networks. The results of the check indicate that this is a video of a fire in Moscow back in 2014. Then the house where the builders lived burned down. That is, this video has nothing to do with either Kharkiv or the Territorial recruitment and social support centers (former military enlistment offices).

Russian propaganda deliberately spreads fakes and manipulates the topic of mobilization in Ukraine. Thus, they put emotional pressure on Ukrainians. Previously, propagandists claimed that the Territorial recruitment centers were illegal structures, so handing draft notices by them was also illegal.

The telegram channels are distributing a photo of the stand, where they allegedly posted announcements for Ukrainian military personnel studying in Germany from the German Ministry of Defense. It states that in Germany, displaying a Nazi swastika or other symbols associated with fascism is punishable by up to three years in prison or a heavy fine. The comments say that this “memo” was allegedly hung on the building of the Bundeswehr to warn the Ukrainian military. In other reports, they specify that they are talking about Ukrainian tankers who went to take possession of German tanks. These messages entered the Ukrainian information space through pro-Russian and occupation telegram channels. It's fake.

According to Ukrinform, the German special training command denied the existence of such an announcement. In addition, reports say that an announcement for Ukrainians is hanging on the building of the Bundeswehr. Its offices are in Berlin, Bonn and Potsdam. At the same time, Ukrainian tankers are being trained at the School of tank troops in Münster. That is, the nearest building of the Bundeswehr is more than 300 kilometers away.

Propagandists systematically spread fakes and manipulations that nourish the narrative of Nazism in Ukraine. Earlier it was said that in Kyiv volunteers were openly recruited into the Nazi brigades, and the Ukrainian military was awarded “Nazi” awards. Propagandists also claimed that the military uses Nazi symbols on uniforms and equipment. Thus, the propagandists are trying to identify the Ukrainians with the crimes of the Nazis and use the tactics of dividing the Ukrainians.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write about this with reference to the words of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Hungary,Szijjártó Péter. Like, all European countries, except Hungary, defend the need to fight on. Only Hungary is interested in a ceasefire and peace talks. According to Szijjártó, the war in Ukraine is becoming more and more brutal and human lives need to be saved, and this can only be done with the help of peace.

Hungary, despite its supposedly neutral position, really systematically “plays” along with Russia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has previously explained that the war started because of Russia's opposition to NATO expansion. Orban also opposed sanctions against Russia. Such theses coincide with the narratives of Russian propaganda. Actually, like Szijjártó’s proposal for peace negotiations.

Western countries have repeatedly said that only Ukraine will decide how and when to start the peace process and whether to start it at all. The partners also promise to provide support to Ukraine “as much as necessary”.

Russian propaganda systematically manipulates the subject of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia. Like, Ukraine refuses to negotiate and cease fire. Thus, Russia transfers responsibility for the unleashed war to Ukraine. The position of Ukraine regarding the negotiations has not changed - negotiations are possible only after the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Ukraine. Earlier propagandists claimed that Zelenskyi could have stopped the war, but the West did not let him do it.

Russian and foreign media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric use the recent statement by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against Ukraine. Like, the chancellor is against NATO supplying weapons to Ukraine, because it weakens the Alliance. As a result, according to the authors of the messages, Germany will no longer supply Ukraine with armed assistance.

Analysts of the EUvsDisInfo project found out that in fact, in his statement, Scholz did not criticize the supply of weapons to Ukraine, but that the members of the Alliance turned this process into a “public competition”. This, according to the Chancellor, is what weakens NATO, threatening its unity. Scholz said that unity helped Ukraine in the early days of the war and countries should not argue about arms supplies to Ukraine.

Propagandists are trying in every possible way to condemn Western countries for providing military assistance to Ukraine, using various methods for this. They either call it “foul play” or direct intervention in the war. Very often this is combined with manipulations on the topic of the attitude of society in NATO member countries to the provision of weapons to Ukraine.

On the air of one of the Georgian TV channels,there was a thesis similar to Russian narratives. Like, Ukraine had to refuse to join NATO in accordance with the terms of the Minsk agreements. In exchange for this, Russia supposedly must return the occupied territories to Ukraine. But since Ukraine violated these terms, Russia had no choice but to attack. Analysts of Mythdetector, the Georgian project, drew attention to the case.

In fact, there are no provisions in the Minsk agreements regarding Ukraine's accession to NATO. In addition, it was Russia and its forces that sabotaged the presence of the OSCE in the occupied territories, which was the main part of the Minsk agreements. According to Mythdetector, the Georgian media that disseminated this thesis are controlled by pro-Russian forces.

Russian propaganda uses the theme of the Minsk agreements, in particular, because of the statements of pro-Russian politicians. Thus, propagandists want to shift the responsibility for starting a war from the aggressor to the victim and accuse Ukraine of disrupting international agreements. However, it is Russia that often fails to comply with international obligations, and the outbreak of war is proof of this.

Russian propagandists spread information that in Poland, namely in the Warsaw metro, you can allegedly see public service announcements with a call to “protect the original Polish lands in Ukraine”. The authors of the messages claim that in this way Poland is preparing to seize the western regions of Ukraine. It's fake.

Analysts of the VoxCheck project came to the conclusion that the posters are not real. This is indicated by the link posted on the poster. It is not valid because instead of the referenced WKU, according to the updated Polish law, it should be WCR. The reason for this is that the Military Commander's Offices (WKU) in Poland have been replaced by Military Recruiting Centers (WCRs) that recruit volunteers for military service. In addition, in a commentary for Ukrinform, Grzegorz Popielaž, director of the rental and advertising office for the Warsaw metro, said that the metro does not have such advertisements. The propagandists took the old 2018 announcement for the recruitment of volunteers for the Polish army as the basis for fake posters.

Russian propaganda often frightens with the “imminent attack” of Poland on the western lands, diverting attention from their own crimes with baseless accusations. Detector Media has already investigated disinformation related to this topic.

Russian propagandists spread a number of fakes within the same topic: allegedly the Ukrainian army used chemical weapons at the front. The Russian media refer to the statements of a number of “officials” of the so-called “DNR”. According to them, a number of Russian fighters have “nausea, vomiting, severe dizziness”. Telegram channels are spreading a video where supposedly Ukrainians drop a grenade from a drone and, after the explosion, a Russian soldier has convulsions, which causes him to drown. In addition, the Russians say that allegedly even the Ukrainian military “exposed” chemical munitions in the video. Propagandists also claim that this is not the first time Ukraine has used chemical weapons. All of these are baseless accusations.

StopFake analysts denied these fakes. In particular, if we are talking about a video of dropping a grenade, its full version shows that in fact this is an attack with two grenades. The first of them knocked out the Russian soldiers, disorienting them in the water. This explains their convulsions. In addition, there are no prohibited weapons in the video: the military used an F-1 grenade and a VOG fragmentation munition.

The video where a military man “exposed a chemical weapon” is about the commander of a separate tactical aerial reconnaissance group “Madyar Birds” by Robert Brovdi (“Madyar”). In it, you can see the allowed VOG shells (grenade launcher shot). Together with the FPV drone, they form a kamikaze drone.

Western media also drew attention to these messages of propagandists. In particular, Reuters journalists failed to confirm the use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian army. In a commentary for the publication, the General Staff stated that the Ukrainian military “never used chemical weapons anywhere”.

StopFake also reminds that in 1998 Ukraine ratified the international Chemical Weapons Convention. At the same time, the entire chemical arsenal that Ukraine inherited from the USSR was destroyed, which was confirmed by international observers.

This thesis is spread by anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say that if Kyiv had adhered to the Minsk agreements, there would not have been a full-scale war. Ukraine allegedly wanted to “cede” the Donbas and provoked Russia to invade at the direction of “Western curators”. More messages on this topic on the telegram appeared after the statements of the press secretary of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Anatolii Hlaz. He stated that the Minsk agreements allegedly “fulfilled their role well”, namely, they helped “stop the escalation of the conflict”.

By spreading such messages, Russian propaganda is once again trying to shift the blame for the invasion from Russia to Ukraine. Like, if Ukraine did not break promises, everything would be fine. Thus, Russia is changing reality. However, it was Russia that repeatedly violated the Minsk agreements and attacked Ukraine. In addition, the Minsk agreements did not stop the escalation, but only postponed it for a while.

Recently, Viktor Medvedchuk, accused of high treason, a former People's deputy of the pro-Russian “Opposition platform - for life” party, spoke on the topic of the Minsk agreements on the air of the Belarusian state television. In particular, Medvedchuk repeated the narratives that he had been spreading in recent years. Like, Ukraine “bombed the Donbas” and in every possible way evaded the reintegration of the territories “for the sake of votes” in the elections. At the same time, he presents himself as the only possible mediator for the success of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia. And he claims that nothing happened with Minsk through his mediation as he had no influence on its execution.

This thesis is spread by the Russian media. Like, “without Western curators” Zelenskyi finally “told the truth” and turned to the Ukrainians. The authors of the messages claim that the President of Ukraine “does not understand what they (Ukrainians – ed.) are fighting for”, since they only have “loans”, and now also mobilization. It's fake.

StopFake analysts claim that Zelenskyi did indeed use such a phrase, but it did not refer to Ukrainians. The President addressed it to the Russians. In his appeal on September 28, 2022, he said:

‘If you want to live, run. If you want to live, surrender. If you want to live, fight in your streets for your freedom. Everything has been taken from you. Or do any of you have oil rigs? Any palaces? Any vineyards? Maybe you have yachts? Or any bank? What are you fighting for? You now only have loans, something to eat in the evening and now - mobilization. Fight for yours! Don't meddle in our land, in our soul and our culture”. Russian publications that distribute this fake deliberately do not leave a link to the full version of the appeal, because then it becomes clear what Zelenskyi really means.

Russian propaganda often takes the phrases of Ukrainian politicians out of context. Thus, they seek to demoralize the Ukrainians and show them that supposedly the Ukrainian authorities are indifferent to the people, unlike the Russian ones. Also, propagandists are trying to shift the responsibility for the crimes of the Russians to Ukraine.

This thesis was spread in social networks and in the media of the Polish segment. Reports say that Poles' attitude towards Ukrainians has worsened. Like, the majority of Ukrainians speak Russian and boast of expensive cars, which is typical for the “Russian world”. Therefore, the Poles allegedly feel hostility towards certain categories of Ukrainian refugees and say with confidence that the attitude has indeed changed for the worse. Later, the material was picked up by users and the media of the Ukrainian segment. The authors of the original article for Rzeczpospolita refer to a likely study conducted by the University of Warsaw, which allegedly refers to the deterioration of attitudes, and cite the words of the President of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland, which allegedly confirm these studies. This is manipulation.

The case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project, who found that there was absolutely nothing about the “Russian world” or expensive cars in the study. The quote taken by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita for their article belongs to the President of the Union of Ukrainians in Poland Myroslav Skorka. That is, this quote belongs to one person, although an official representing the interests of both Poles and Ukrainians, but this was not in the study and the quote does not represent its results. In the material itself, they are talking about the deterioration of the attitude of Poles towards Ukrainians, which was noted by Rzeczpospolita at the beginning of the article: “Many Poles are changing their attitude towards them [ed. Ukrainians] for the worse, research shows”.

According to the study, in January 2023, 80% of respondents had a positive attitude towards refugees from Ukraine. 8% of respondents perceived Ukrainians negatively, and 12% - presumably neutrally. When asked if the attitude towards refugees from Ukraine has changed over the past 6 months, that is, since June 2022, a quarter of Poles surveyed (25%) answered yes. Accordingly, for 75% the attitude towards Ukrainians has not changed. These 25% of respondents answered that the attitude has changed, without specifying how. That is why of the one quarter of those surveyed who further answered that their attitude had changed, 68% said that the attitude had changed in a negative direction. However, this is not representative, because in general nothing has changed for 75% of the respondents.

So, Rzeczpospolita journalists manipulated the data and used a quote from the President of the Union of Ukrainians as justification for their thesis, although according to the study, 75% of Poles have not changed their attitude towards Ukrainians.

Russian publications disseminate information that the only “compensation” from the state for relatives of the dead Ukrainian soldiers are toys. The authors of such messages in Russian telegram channels are ironic. Like, the life of the Ukrainian military is worth nothing for the state. It's fake.

StopFake analysts came to the conclusion that the basis for the fake is the real message of the Facebook page of the Third branch of the Lubenskyi district territorial center for acquisition and social support of the Chornukhy village, Poltava region. However, toys are only part of the help. According to the legislation of Ukraine, the families of the dead Ukrainian soldiers can receive monetary compensation in the amount of up to 12 million hryvnias. In addition, there are a number of non-governmental initiatives that provide material and psychological assistance to such families. The local authorities of the Poltava region also provided them with financial assistance in the amount of 50,000 hryvnias.

With such messages, Russian propaganda wants to show that human life is worthless to the Ukrainian government. Thus, Russia wants to demoralize the Ukrainians and persuade the government to negotiate. Like, the Ukrainians will be able to put pressure on the authorities, because without decent compensation, these efforts are worthless. However, as practice shows, compensations only in the form of food packages or items of clothing are the most common thing in Russia.

Such a fake was distributed in the Hungarian segment of social networks, including Facebook. The reports say that allegedly Ukrainian prisoners of war among the Hungarian national minority of the Transcarpathian region, will be handed over to the Hungarian government by Russia. Like, despite the fact that the military are Ukrainians, they need the protection of the Orban government, because they are ethnically Hungarians and no one will take care of them in Ukraine. The messages of the authors were picked up by Ukrainian users of the social network and began to distribute it in various groups on Facebook. It is not true.

Analysts of the Infopost project took the case and examined that this claim is unfounded, since Ukrainian prisoners of war are under the protection of Ukraine, regardless of whether they belong to any of the national minorities. According to the publication, the fake news was published by the Békekör Egyesület organization. According to journalists, this is a typical pro-Russian group. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, this organization has dealt exclusively with the issue of Hungarians as a national minority in Transcarpathia.

This organization also joined marginal rallies, the purpose of which was to stop the mobilization of national minorities, in particular Hungarians, in Transcarpathia. As the journalists explain, representatives of the Russian special services, with whom the head of the pro-Russian organization is in close contact, were involved in the preparation of the action.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukraine will soon collapse due to Russian shelling of energy infrastructure. They say that it will become unbearable to live in Ukraine, and the number of victims due to lack of electricity “may be more than from nuclear weapons”. The authors add that Ukraine is paying for the shelling of the Crimean bridge, because before that Russia did not shell civilian infrastructure. In addition, the authors refer to the publication of Foreign Affairs and its probable material, which dealt with the collapse of Ukraine. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and found that the context of the article was completely distorted. Foreign Affairs did publish an article “Ukraine's Coming Electricity Crisis. How to Protect the Grid from Russian Attacks”, which talks about the problems of the energy system in Ukraine. The material also predicts what could happen if effective measures are not taken to counter Russian shelling.

However, in the article, such a “forecast” is possible only under the worst-case scenarios, the journalist says that without “the support of the West”, and also “in case of further successful attacks by the Russian army on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure”, a collapse of the energy system is possible. At the same time, the author notes how such a catastrophe can be avoided.

By spreading such a message, propagandists want to nourish the narrative that Ukraine is allegedly uninhabitable due to a lack of electricity or high utility prices. Thus, the authors want to sow panic among Ukrainians in order to destabilize moods and create a feeling that “nothing will change”. Also calling the so-called collapse revenge for the Crimean bridge, the Russians once again seek to shift the responsibility for what is happening to Ukraine. Like, Russia is destroying the infrastructure solely because of the aggression of Ukraine. However, it is Russia that is the aggressor, and it is this country that started the war.

Such a fake was spread on social networks and in propaganda media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Romania and Moldova have begun urgent construction of a road to Odesa. The construction project, according to the authors, is allegedly aimed at further transfering NATO forces into Ukraine. The reports refer to the words of the Minister of transport and infrastructure of Romania, who allegedly spoke about this. It is not true.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case and investigated that on January 26, following the meeting of the Ministers of infrastructure of Romania and Moldova, the representative office of Romania really reported that both countries are considering the possibility of continuing the Romanian-Moldovan highway being built on the territory of Ukraine to Odesa. The ministers did not make any statements that the route was needed to “transfer NATO forces into Ukraine” or that the road was being built as part of military assistance to Ukraine. In particular, the statement about “the continuation of the highway to Odesa” only sounded like a possible version of the project and is not an officially approved point, because there were no agreements with Ukraine.

By spreading this fake, propagandists once again nourish the narrative, as if Russia is fighting not only against Ukraine, but also against the collective West, led by NATO. Thus propagandists justify the war and their defeats on the battlefield.

This is stated in one of the columns in the Polish publication Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny, which regularly publishes pro-Russian disinformation regarding Ukraine and Poland. Russian resources disseminated this point of view as a journalistic investigation. They say that foreign military equipment is being accumulated on the eastern border of Poland, the army is being strengthened, but not for a direct clash with Russia, but to suppress uprisings in case of the return of the western territories of Ukraine.

The author of the column, Marek Gala, claims that the alleged militarization of Poland indicates preparations for a conflict through the territory of Ukraine, and Warsaw is strengthening its military potential in order to subsequently protect the territories returned to itself from possible rebellions.

He believes that the process of transferring the western lands to the former Ukraine seems to have been planned for a long time and began from the first days of the Russian special operation.

Russian propagandists in their publications add to his column the assertion that it is Ukraine that intends to give up the western territories of Poland and that this is a matter of time. At the same time the Polish readers are just against Poland seizing the western part of Ukraine, because they believe that geopolitical ambitions are not worth the blood of the Poles.

This is not the first time propagandists have been distributing the materials of this Polish publication and each time they add their version of events in favor of Russia and expose Poland as an occupying country. Russians need such fakes in order to quarrel Poles and Ukrainians both at the private and interstate levels.

Russian publications distribute photos that allegedly depict a billboard with the Polish words “To nie jest nasza wojna” (This is not our war) against the background of the Ukrainian and Russian flags. The poster also features prosthetic legs wearing khaki trousers. According to propagandists, the poster symbolizes Poland's desire “to distance” itself from the war. It's fake.

StopFake and mythdetector.ge report that this photo was taken with the help of the Mediamodifier website. On it, one can insert any photo into the billboard template and the image search confirms this. The basis of the template is one image.

With such messages, Russian propaganda wants to illustrate Poland as an enemy of Ukraine, and that Polish people are tired of the war. The narrative about “Poland the aggressor” is one of the most widespread in Russian propaganda at the moment. By spreading such messages, Russia seeks to reinforce the view that even Ukraine's most loyal partners in this war are getting tired of it and will soon stop helping with money and weapons.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Europe planned the cataclysm and in this way decided to punish Turkey for its attitude towards Russia. They say that everyone suffers from the fact that they support Russia “trying to help it”, and Europe at the same time punishes them. The authors of the messages add that Europe is using the so-called “tectonic weapon”.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project investigated this case and found that this is a conspiracy theory of propagandists. There is no evidence to support this, besides, there is no evidence for the existence of “tectonic weapons”.

A “tectonic weapon” is a hypothetical device or system that can trigger earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, or other seismic events at specific locations, interfering with Earth's natural geological processes. According to the propagandists who used this definition, Europe used precisely this “weapon”.

Fact-checkers add that there is a 1978 Convention on the Prohibition of military or any other hostile use of environmental methods. It has been ratified by 75 states, including EU states. In fact, the convention prohibits the use of artificial methods of causing earthquakes, tsunamis and other phenomena for one's own benefit.

Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It says the US is unlikely to hand over the Abrams tanks to Ukraine because of their difficult process of maintaining combat capability. The authors of the report add that the Ukrainian army is not capable of repairing tanks, so they will definitely not be sent. As evidence, they refer to the material of the Financial Times, where supposedly experts talked about this. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and found out that neither the author of the article nor the experts interviewed stated that the United States was not ready to transfer the tanks. On the contrary, the publication says that after long discussions and requests from Germany and Ukraine, America nevertheless decided to send 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, which is equivalent to one Ukrainian tank battalion. The fact-checkers note that the reporters only cited experts interviewed by the Financial Times who expressed concern about whether Ukraine could actually handle the maintenance of the tank. That is, the context of the article was distorted and the authors used convenient propaganda theses to justify “the unwillingness of the United States to transfer tanks”.

By spreading such manipulation, propagandists are trying to convince that the Ukrainian military is not capable of using Western weapons, they say, they don’t even know how to repair them. Thus, they also want to promote the narrative about the combat-ready Russian technology, which has no equal in the world. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake story about the alleged destruction of the Abrams tank by the Russian army, which had not yet arrived in Ukraine.

Such a fake was spread on social networks and in the propaganda media. The reports say that Ukraine is “throwing weapons to the left”, that is, it is engaged in various frauds, including smuggling. The authors of the messages refer to an interview with the Financial Times, in which the prime minister mentioned this. It is not true.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and found that there is no mention of this in the interview itself. In an interview, the prime minister only says that because of the war in Ukraine, the risks of arms smuggling have increased significantly, but there is no mention of possible evidence in the material. That is, the prime minister did not give any specifics and did not try to prove anything. In the Financial Times, she talked about the risks for the world community caused by Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

Propagandists have repeatedly manipulated the topic of arms delivery. Thus, they want to convince that allegedly Ukraine uses weapons for other purposes, therefore Ukraine is far from being a loyal partner who can be trusted.

Such a fake was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Poland is not only preparing to take the territories of Western Ukraine, but will also try to cut off part of Belarus or Russia. Polish President Andrzej Duda allegedly wants to implement a plan for the restoration of the territories of the Rzeczpospolita (Poland republic) and will do everything possible for this. The authors of the reports add that the alleged military training planned for March will be an offensive campaign into these territories. It is not true.

As the fact-checkers of the EU vs Disinfo project explain, this is stuffing and a conspiracy theory of Russian propaganda. In the Polish segment of social networks and in the media, in particular, there is indeed information about military training, but this is a project of the Ministry of Defense, which is designed to train reservists during 2023. Reservists are persons liable for military service, but in peacetime they are leading service in a civilian way and making a career outside the armed forces. Therefore, they can study for one day or up to 90 days.

There was no talk of an attack. Poland respects international law regarding state borders and fully supports the independence and territorial integrity of neighboring countries.

Propagandists are spreading this message to once again promote the narrative of Poland being a hostile state to Ukraine. In this way, the authors of the messages want to discredit our allies, who, they say, really want to cut off the territories and pretend to be benevolent.

Telegram channels and pro-Russian media are spreading messages that allegedly the Ukrainian army and authorities are leaving Kupiansk. Such messages also found their way into the English-speaking segment. It is not true.

The head of the Kupiansk military administration, Andrii Kanashevych, denied this information. He said that the employees of the district military administration, the Security service of Ukraine, the National police, the prosecutor's office of the Kupiansky district are at their workplaces and continue to do their job properly. The Ukrainian army, according to Kanashevych, keeps the situation under full control.

According to the Kharkiv anti-corruption center, Russians have recently been spreading fake reports about a new offensive by the Russian army on Kharkiv, Kupiansk, Dvorichna, Izium and other settlements. Propagandists also say that Ukraine allegedly does not restore the liberated settlements.

Russian media and pro-Russian social media accounts are spreading reports about two Ukrainian soldiers who allegedly went to study in Germany and asked for political asylum “because of their unwillingness to die in a senseless war”. The messages refer to news published in the Financial Times. Like, the military believes that Western weapons will not help Kyiv win, but will only lead to an increase in casualties both among the military and among the civilian population. It's fake.

The Financial Times article, cited by Russian media, does not mention the Ukrainian military who asked for political asylum in Germany. It also does not contain statements by Ukrainians that Western weapons will not help Ukraine win the war. The screenshot of the publication was edited and a paragraph was added that was not in the original article.

As StopFake writes, in fact, in the article, citing two sources, they say that everything is ready at Eckernförde, the German training ground, for the start of training for the Ukrainian military on the operation of modern Leopard 2 tanks. The training will begin in two weeks.

In this way, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian army, sow panic among  and demoralize the Ukrainians. Allegedly, if the military does not believe in victory, the situation is quite bad.

Telegram channels spread information that there are allegedly not enough ambulances in the Volyn region, since they are regularly transferred for the needs of the 14th separate mechanized brigade named after Roman the Great. Also, many doctors were allegedly mobilized into this brigade, so there is an alleged shortage of professional personnel in the region. This is manipulation.

Reports of a shortage of doctors and ambulances are “fictitious”. The Volyn region indeed handed over nine ambulances to the military hospital and the 14th separate motorized brigade. Three more were donated by Lithuania as humanitarian aid. In addition to ambulances, SUVs and buses purchased with volunteers' money were handed over.

As VoxCheck fact-checkers found out, the messages are illustrated with photographs from the final meeting of the medical council of the Volyn medical center for emergency medical care and disaster medicine. During the meeting, the head of the Center, Volodymyr Shmal, said that 72 emergency teams were working in the medical center in November, provided with everything necessary. In December, another 7 brigades were formed. The center's car park was also updated - 5 new ambulances were bought. As for doctors, the official noted that certain personnel changes are now taking place. However, they are not associated with mobilization - some doctors have retired, and some have changed jobs. Shmal did not say anything about the lack of staff due to the mass mobilization of doctors. Moreover, according to the legislation, hospitals have the opportunity to “book” specialists from mobilization.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to undermine trust in the authorities and local governments and scare Ukrainians that they will be left without proper medical care. Previously, for this purpose, fakes were spread about the business trips of doctors to the combat zone.

Such a message is spread by pro-Russian telegram channels, based on the words of Dmytro Medvediev. The Russian politician posted a message to his telegram channel allegedly criticizing the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war according to the “Korean scenario”. Like, such a development of events is only a “whim” of Ukraine to become “South Korea” after the war. According to him, the “remnants” of Ukraine will never reach such a level of development as South Korea. Moreover, according to the “Korean scenario”, two independent states were formed. At the same time, Ukraine allegedly will never be independent, because it is “controlled by the West”.

Dmytro Medvediev's message is manipulative. The “Korean scenario” involves the distribution of territory between the warring parties along the conditional “38th parallel”, that is, along the front line. That is, the Russian politician is trying to create the impression that Ukraine is considering the possibility of giving up part of its territories in favor of Russia. He also notes the “post-war” future of Ukraine, which supposedly will be difficult. They say that the temporarily occupied territories will “finally” become part of the “strong, independent state”, which allegedly is Russia. At the same time, the “remnants” of Ukraine will “remain” under external control.

In fact, Ukraine does not consider the “Korean scenario” of ending the war. This was confirmed by National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) Secretary Oleksii Danylov. He noted that the message about the “probable” “Korean scenario” is deliberately promoted by Russian politicians and pro-Russian resources.

Russia did not achieve the original goal of the so-called ‘special operation”, that is, the rapid capture of Ukraine, therefore, now in this way it is trying to realize the most acceptable option for ending the war. At the same time, Ukraine seeks to return the territories temporarily occupied by Russia.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that the number of artillery shells that Ukraine allegedly uses per day would be enough for a small European country per year in peacetime. They say that the production of ammunition can be increased, but this will take several years. Allegedly, Europe now cannot but satisfy the “appetite” of Ukraine, since there is a crisis with ammunition.

These messages are manipulative. Any country in peacetime spends much less ammunition than in time of war. The intensity of hostilities, and hence the consumption of ammunition, can also be different. No country, for security reasons, can give Ukraine all its ammunition. That is why Eastern Europe and the United States have been increasing the production of ammunition since 2022. Eastern European businesses are now turning out weapons, artillery shells and other military equipment at a rate not seen since the Cold War to help Ukraine fight Russia.

By spreading the message that other countries are running out of weapons, that Ukraine does not want to supply weapons, new supplies will escalate, or that low-quality or obsolete weapons are being transferred to Ukraine, Russian propaganda is trying to devalue Western aid and demoralize Ukrainians.