Russian and Belarusian propaganda resources are disseminating information in a coordinated manner on social networks, trying to present the Ukrainian Armed Forces as using the “human shield” tactics in the Kursk region. These accusations are based on the statements of an unnamed Russian soldier without any confirmation. This means that it is not true. This is what the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes.

The “human shield” message is typical of the Russian army, which has repeatedly used civilians in the occupied territories as cover since 2014. For example, in December 2023, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office opened a criminal case on the use of Ukrainian prisoners as a “human shield” in the Zaporizhzhia region. This is another attempt by Russian propaganda to shift the blame for its crimes to the Ukrainian side.

The purpose of disseminating disinformation about the alleged use of civilians in the Kursk region by the Ukrainian military as a “human shield” is to discredit the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the international arena and to increase hostility towards Ukraine among the Russian population and its presence in Ukraine to shift attention to the numerous war crimes committed by Russian troops, accusing the Ukrainian side of such crimes.

Pro-Russian sources are distributing a photo of an announcement in Ukrainian, which states that the National Police headquarters in Kharkiv Oblast is looking for Carlos Maria Mallarino and Héctor Santiago Trujillo. Russian propagandists are commenting on the photo of the announcement, claiming that two “Colombian mercenaries” have deserted from the Ukrainian army.

In fact, this information is not true. The Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kharkiv region did not put these two people on the wanted list - there is no such information on their official website or on their social media pages. The ad also contains punctuation errors. And the photo of the ad is distributed mainly in the pro-Russian segment of the network. Considering the listed facts, it can be argued that the ads were presumably forged by propagandists.

This fake feeds the Russian narrative about the presence of “foreign mercenaries” in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In addition, by spreading such disinformation, the Russians speculate on the topic of desertion in the Ukrainian army.

Earlier, we analyzed the Russian propaganda that a group of foreign mercenaries of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was allegedly “liquidated” in the Briansk region.

Propagandists are distributing an interview with a Ukrainian prisoner of war in the media, who allegedly heard threats from his commanders to “shoot him in the back”. However, this is disinformation. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Its experts remind us that, firstly, prisoners are forced under pressure to talk about what the occupiers demand, including confessing to false crimes or making other false statements. The Russians practice torture and murder of prisoners, grossly violating the laws of war. Secondly, methods similar to Stalin's blocking detachments have been restored in the Russian army, where Kadyrov's Akhmat units perform this function. Back in March 2022, the SBU released an intercepted conversation of a Russian militant who admitted that their task was to hold back retreating Russian soldiers. Thus, Russia is again using the “repulse” tactic, accusing the Ukrainian side of its own crimes.

The purpose of spreading this disinformation is to undermine Ukrainians’ trust in their military command and state institutions, to raise doubts about the professionalism and morality of the Ukrainian army, and to sow divisions in society. Such tactics help Russian propaganda to shape the image of Ukraine as a state with a chaotic military, where there is supposedly brutal treatment of subordinates by commanders. It also serves to justify the brutality of the Russian army by projecting its own practices onto the enemy.

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

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

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

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

The news was spread on social networks, in particular on the propaganda Telegram channel Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny, citing the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform. The fake news states that 500 volunteers have been recruited for the Ukrainian Legion, which is being formed in Poland, but there is not a single Ukrainian among them.

“Ukraine needs to quickly gather enough people to form a battalion. Ukraine is doing everything to recruit foreigners to fight”, the propaganda correspondence said.

However, the fake news repeated the context of the news. In fact, the point is that as of early November, more than 500 applications from 30 countries had been submitted to the Ukrainian Legion, a military unit that is currently being formed in Poland among Ukrainian volunteers living abroad. In fact, the decision to create the Ukrainian Legion, which will be prepared with the assistance and support of the Polish Ministry of Defense, was announced following the signing of a security agreement between Ukraine and Poland on July 8 in Warsaw.

That is, only Ukrainian volunteers living abroad are signing up for this unit. There is no talk of any “recruitment of foreigners”.

Russian propaganda systematically feeds the narrative that professional military personnel from other countries are fighting in Ukraine — so-called foreign mercenaries.  In this way, Russian propaganda also tries to justify the failures of the Russian army. They say that they are not fighting weak Ukrainians, but “specially trained NATO soldiers” or Americans. Moreover, Russian propaganda throws in such fakes to show that there is no one left to fight in Ukraine and they are recruiting “anyone in sight”.

By the way, in our Newspeak column we reported that it is Russia that is recruiting mercenaries, in particular Wagner representatives. This is essentially a terrorist organization within the Russian army.

Let us recall that Niezależny Dziennik Polityczny is a fake resource created solely to spread propaganda messages that are beneficial to Russia.

Read also: The lie that Polish media reports about half a million fallen Ukrainian soldiers.

Anonymous propaganda Telegram channels are actively distributing an ad about a “50% discount” on one boot for veterans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a disability allegedly established by Ukrainian sellers. However, this is fiction, and the photo with the ad has been edited.

This is what experts at the Center for Countering Disinformation say. They note that this type of disinformation is aimed at manipulating citizens' emotions in order to cause indignation and despondency among Ukrainians, especially among those who actively support the military and help the wounded. Through targeted fakes, Russian propagandists are trying to portray Ukrainian society as not appreciating its heroes, as absolutely false and manipulative.

Such propaganda can also sow discouragement among international partners providing financial and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. Propaganda seeks to convince both external and internal audiences that support for veterans is weak and their needs are ignored. This not only undermines unity within the country, but can negatively affect Ukraine’s reputation in the world. At the same time, such manipulations reinforce stereotypes, portraying Ukraine as a country that allegedly despises its heroes, which in a war situation is a dangerous tool for psychological influence on society.

Russian anonymous Telegram channels have spread information about the detention of a volunteer at a checkpoint in the Sumy region, allegedly with more than 100 kg of drugs that were supposed to be received by Ukrainian soldiers from the 82nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The propagandists used a photo of a pickup truck with drugs from the X social network. However, this is not true.

This was discovered by experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They found out that the photo used for the fake really does refer to a report from the US Border Service. And the drug shipment mentioned in the fiction was seized in Texas, not in Ukraine.

The purpose of such information manipulations is to discredit the Ukrainian military and volunteers in the eyes of the international community, which undermines support for Ukraine at the international level. Such fakes create the impression of corruption and criminal activity among Ukrainian defenders and volunteers, aiming to cause mistrust among partners and donors providing assistance to Ukraine. Such disinformation campaigns are part of Russia's strategy aimed at undermining the unity of international support and the attitude towards Ukraine as a reliable partner in the fight for security and democracy.

Russian propaganda Telegram channels are distributing a video in which a friend of a Ukrainian soldier, who was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, 3rd degree, allegedly shows the state's assistance to the family of the deceased. The video says that the family was given toothpaste, antiseptic, seasoning, and a sheet. The man in the video concludes that this is not the kind of assistance that the family actually needs.

However, this is a fake, the VoxCheck project writes. Despite the fact that the order shown in the video is real, the aid shown in the video was unlikely to have been provided by the Ukrainian authorities. After all, among the items shown, there is not a single one that was produced or sold in Ukraine. For example, OraLine Bubble Gum toothpaste for children is produced and sold in the USA. The antiseptic is also not available for sale in Ukraine, but can be ordered from the UK. The manufacturer of the bed sheet is the Finnish company Sakupe, its products are also not available for sale in Ukraine.

Accordingly, it is unlikely that the Ukrainian authorities would purchase household items, such as toothpaste or bed sheets, from foreign companies to help the families of fallen defenders. Perhaps these items were transferred to Ukraine as humanitarian aid, and propagandists passed it off as state support for the families of fallen soldiers.

Families of Ukrainian soldiers killed at the front receive a one-time payment of 15 million hryvnia from the state. If a soldier died during his service, but not during combat, his relatives receive financial assistance in the amount of 750 subsistence minimums. As of January 1, 2024, the subsistence minimum is 3,028 UAH for able-bodied individuals. That is, the family of a fallen soldier receives almost 2.3 million hryvnia. However, this amount may change with the change in the subsistence minimum. These amounts, 2.3 or 15 million, are equally divided between all members of the deceased's family. The following are entitled to receive the funds: the parents of the deceased; one of the spouses who has not remarried; children under 18; dependents.

Also, families of missing soldiers, in addition to maintaining monthly payments for the soldier (official salary, salary for military rank, allowances for length of service, other monthly additional types of monetary support), are provided with an additional payment, which was assigned to the soldier for participation in military operations, in the amount of 100 thousand hryvnia. The family is deprived of such payments if the soldier voluntarily surrendered, deserted or arbitrarily left the military unit or place of service.

We have previously recorded similar fakes from Russians. In particular, they spread disinformation about a dead Ukrainian soldier buried in an anonymous grave, as well as about the alleged theft of personal belongings of a Ukrainian soldier at his funeral.

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.

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

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

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

The National Security and Defense Council's Center for Countering Disinformation has recorded a significant increase in the scale of Russian disinformation, in which propagandists promote false messages about the alleged deliberate killing of civilian Ukrainian soldiers. In particular, they are actively distributing an unverified drone video, using it to support their claims. This video does not contain specific information about the direction of the shelling, the circumstances of the events, or the identity of the participants, which makes these claims dubious.

The purpose of such disinformation is to create a false image of Russian military personnel as “defenders” of the civilian population of the temporarily occupied territories and to divert attention from the real war crimes recorded there. Russia is trying to justify its aggression by using these information leaks to discredit the Ukrainian military and strengthen the negative image of Ukraine among the local population and the international community.

Propaganda Telegram channels are spreading the message that Ukrainian soldiers from the 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade are “committing atrocities” against civilians in Kursk and “bragging” about photographs of the tortured on the Internet.

But in fact, the original publication talks about Russian atrocities in one of the villages that was liberated by the fighters of the 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade. To create a fake, the real message was edited.

In fact, the original publication is a message from October 13, 2024 on the Facebook page of the educational project of the analytical center CASE Ukraine “The Price of the State”. The description of the project states that it explains to Ukrainians “how much the state costs them and what their taxes are spent on”.

The message noted that the photo shows the aftermath of Russian crimes in one of the liberated villages (the location is not specified). The 61st Separate Mechanized Brigade took control of this settlement. Its fighter took a photo of the dead tortured by the Russians. The post then included a gathering for the brigade. There is no mention of the Kursk region in the text. The Russians changed the original publication.

A video is being distributed in Russian social networks, showing military equipment located along the road. The publication indicates that it supposedly belongs to Ukraine, it was hit in the Kursk region, where it remains.

But the video does indeed show Russian equipment that Ukrainian troops captured in 2022. OSINT analysts geolocated the location of the video recording to the village of Myrnoye in Donetsk region. And the video itself has a watermark from one of the Russian propaganda Telegram channels. When the video was published on the channel, it was simply captioned as “a cemetery of Ukrainian armored vehicles destroyed in the zone” and did not mention the Kursk region.

And the OSINT analyst EjShahid actually established that the video was filmed in the village of Myrne in the Donetsk region. It is located at a great distance from the Russian-Ukrainian border. The analyst confirms that the video shows captured Russian tanks.

Ukrainian troops broke through the Russian border in the Sumy region on Tuesday, August 6. On August 12, President Zelenskyi wrote directly for the first time that Ukraine was conducting an operation in Russia's Kursk region. On August 12, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi reported that Ukraine controlled almost 1,000 km of the Kursk region. As of August 21, 93 settlements in Russia are under Ukraine's control.

Russian sources, citing a certain “news story”, are spreading information that the Colombian government is planning to restrict the showing of TikTok videos from Ukraine due to the “romanticization of war” and “propaganda of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”. Thus, the video story says that TikTok videos from Ukraine allegedly create a distorted romanticized perception of war among Colombian youth, which allegedly encourages them to join the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces en masse.

However, this information is fake, writes the StopFake project. The video clip that the Russians are distributing is fabricated. The attackers used the corporate style and logo of the Colombian publication City Noticias TV to create the fake, but did not take into account that the publication publishes content not in English, but exclusively in Spanish. There is no such clip on the media’s website or social networks. There is also no similar news on the Colombian websites of the Ministry of Information Technology and Communications and the Ministry of National Defense, as well as on any authoritative Spanish-language or English-language media.

Finally, the “facts” in the video contradict reality and common sense. For example, the story claims that the average age of Colombians joining the Ukrainian army has dropped from 22 to 18 due to the influence of TikTok. However, this is highly unlikely, since 18 is the minimum age to join the International Legion.

On the contrary, most Colombians in the Ukrainian army are veterans with combat experience – this was written about by a number of publications that studied the motivations of Colombian citizens to join the International Legion. Accordingly, such experienced fighters are encouraged to join the war with Russia not by a romanticized perception of the war, but by decent financial compensation.

Previously, we recorded a number of Russian propaganda leaks on the topic of Colombian citizens in the ranks of the International Legion. For example, we analyzed the fake that the body of the fallen Colombian fighter Michael Ramirezi Fino from the International Legion was allegedly returned to his family “without internal organs”.

Russian sources are spreading information about alleged “atrocities” by Ukrainian soldiers from the 61st separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region. The propagandists write that a Ukrainian serviceman allegedly “bragged” online about a photograph depicting “tortured peaceful resisting residents”.

However, this is a fake. The Center for Countering Disinformation found the original message, and it turned out that it had a completely different context. Russian propagandists made certain manipulations with the real correspondence, changing its text in a photo editor and, finally, presenting it as the real one.

The purpose of the fake is to present Ukrainian military personnel in a negative light. That is, it is about discrediting Ukrainian soldiers, in particular those carrying out combat missions in the Kursk region. Earlier, we documented a fake that Ukraine allegedly created “concentration camps” in the Sumy region.

Propagandists are spreading information that a mutiny has occurred in the 116th separate mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Kupiansk. In addition, they claim that the unit has lost its combat capability, as a result of which it was allegedly withdrawn from the combat zone. The enemy's messages say that the military refuses to follow orders, and relatives are raising money for lawyers to help the detained fighters avoid punishment. However, this is fake.

This was reported by specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. They checked this information among the military command and confirmed that these statements were fictitious. The brigade continues to carry out combat missions in a certain area of responsibility and acts in accordance with orders.

Such information leaks are part of psychological operations aimed at undermining the morale of the military and distrust of the Ukrainian Armed Forces among the population. Their goal is to destabilize the internal front, cause panic, despondency and discredit the Ukrainian army against the backdrop of active military operations. Such campaigns are also designed to exert emotional pressure on the families of the military in order to cause fear and doubt in the effectiveness of the armed forces. The enemy uses disinformation as a weapon to weaken Ukraine's defense, so it is important to trust only verified sources of information.

A video of Ukrainian servicemen packing up their belongings is being circulated in the Russian segment of social networks. Propagandists claim that the video is allegedly evidence of “looting” by Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region.

“The villagers are robbing the Kursk region. The Nazis cannot do otherwise”, users comment.

But using image search tools, StopFake fact-checkers discovered that the video of soldiers packing their belongings was published on September 15 on the channel of a Ukrainian serviceman from the 58th separate motorized infantry brigade.

Also in the description of the video the location is indicated - Donbas. From the following videos on this channel one can see that the military is moving to another place.

Russian propaganda accuses Ukrainian troops of looting for many reasons - both to discredit the image of the Ukrainian armed forces and to distract attention from the problems with looting among Russian soldiers, which have repeatedly proven themselves guilty.

Anonymous Telegram channels are discussing the reaction of the Ukrainian leadership to a previously published article by The Wall Street Journal, which states that the number of killed Ukrainian soldiers allegedly reaches 80 thousand, and the wounded - 400 thousand. At a meeting with journalists on September 20, 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyi denied such information.

“80 thousand? That's a lie. The real figure is significantly lower than what was published. Significantly”, Zelenskyi said.

WSJ journalists also reported that it is difficult to determine the exact number of dead and wounded in the Russian-Ukrainian war, since Russia and Ukraine refuse to publish official estimates or publish ones that “many do not trust”. And they formed their figures based on unnamed sources familiar with the situation in Ukraine.

Russian propagandists used this information drive and spread reports that Polish journalists also decided to conduct their own assessment of the dead and came up with a figure of up to 500 thousand killed Ukrainian soldiers.

“The more Ukrainian soldiers, and especially those from the western regions of Ukraine, die, the easier it will be for Poland to take back what already belongs only to it,” the propagandists who allegedly commented on the “results” of the study on Polish radio reported.

But this is just a Russian fake. No major Polish media outlets have come out with such news - and even with the help of a reverse Google search - using the key phrase “500,000 wojskowych zabitych na Ukrainie” (500 thousand soldiers died in Ukraine) there are no similar publications.

As for the phrase on Polish radio, it was also made up, because there were no “results”  of the study. Moreover, the quote that the propagandists cite was only published in the segment of Russian and anonymous telegram channels. That is, official sources did not confirm this: and the quote itself is a set of Russian rhetoric about “Poland taking the western part of Ukraine”.

Information about the dead is sensitive information that the Kremlin's minions are trying to speculate on, playing on the mood of Ukrainians. Due to the extremely inflated figures from the propagandists, it may seem that the war has no end and soon no one will be fighting. In general, such figures cannot be genuine; even the Ukrainian authorities can adjust some constant figures, for example, only deny the WSJ material, since it is currently impossible to establish the real number of dead during the active phase of the war.

Let us recall that in February of this year, the Ukrainian president reported the number of 31 thousand fallen Ukrainian soldiers over two years of the great war.

A pro-Russian resource has spread information that an advertisement for Ukrainians to join the Ukrainian Legion has been placed in a Polish aid distribution center in Lublin. It says that an Apple iPad tablet will allegedly be raffled off among those who join the Ukrainian Legion. As proof, the propagandists publish a corresponding image.

In fact, no reliable Polish or Ukrainian media outlet reported the existence of such an ad. A search for this photo using Google's reverse image function also yielded no results.

In the Polish city of Lublin, on Defenders' Day, October 1, 2024, a recruiting center of the Ukrainian Legion really opened. However, neither the Ukrainian Legion website nor the social networks of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine contain information about the Apple tablet raffle. Probably, propagandists simply made up this news, reacting to the opening of the first recruiting center of the Ukrainian Legion abroad.

Previously, we analyzed Russian manipulation, saying that Ukraine is recruiting mentally unstable foreigners.

Russian sources are spreading messages online that during military operations in the Pokrovsk direction, the 152nd separate ranger brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly disappeared along with its commander. The publications write that Ukrainian soldiers are disappearing en masse, and their relatives cannot obtain any information about the fate of their loved ones.

In fact, this is fake. The Center for Countering Disinformation verified this information with the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and reported that the 152nd Brigade continues to carry out combat missions, and the statements about its “disappearance” are unfounded.

Such fakes by Russians are aimed at sowing panic among Ukrainian society, causing mistrust of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and demoralizing Ukrainian soldiers and their families. We previously refuted information that the 128th separate mountain assault brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly abuses mobilized soldiers.

Propagandists regularly create videos to discredit Ukrainian military and volunteers, as well as to demoralize society. This time, due to comments in various channels and groups, they are massively distributing another fake, which was noticed by specialists from the NotaYenota project. This is a short 46-second video, filmed in vertical format with the logo of the Yedyni Novyny (The Only News) telethon. It tells the story of a 70-year-old pensioner who was allegedly beaten for refusing to provide Ukrainian soldiers with potatoes. They say that because of her decision, the military will go hungry. The video states that she “rudely refused”, spoke Russian and complained about low pensions and high prices.

However, such a video was not available on any media outlet included in the United News telethon. The logo is used to give the video authority, to create the impression that this is reliable material. Propagandists often use logos of well-known media outlets to create the illusion of truthfulness. This video plays well on emotions, but it does not contain any specific information - neither the name of the pensioner or the volunteer who allegedly beat her, nor any mention of potatoes. The police did not report such incidents, and the video consists of blurry footage where it is impossible to identify a single person. Such fakes deliberately simplify the situation, causing an emotional response and forcing people to invent details. The video recalls that the State Bureau of Investigation allegedly opened a criminal case, although this is not true, since the State Bureau of Investigation only has jurisdiction over officials, law enforcement officers and war criminals.

Propaganda thus tries to create an image of cruel and heartless soldiers or volunteers, allegedly attacking civilians. This is aimed at undermining trust and support for the defenders of Ukraine, in particular among the population that provides them with assistance. The fake is also intended to exacerbate hostility between different groups of the population - volunteers, soldiers and civilians. This division contributes to the weakening of unity, which is a key component for defending the country in war. By spreading fake stories about conflicts within society, propagandists try to demoralize citizens and create a sense of hopelessness. Such videos are used to sow doubt and pessimism, creating the impression of disorder in society. The use of fake stories with emotional triggers, such as the beating of a pensioner, is aimed at causing indignation and negative emotions, which contributes to the faster spread of disinformation among people. The Kremlin is also trying to portray Ukraine as an unstable state where social conflicts are taking place, which can affect the international community and reduce the level of support from other countries.

Propagandists claim on anonymous Telegram channels that Ukraine allegedly created concentration camps in the Sumy region, and these camps contain not only Russian civilians captured in the Kursk region, but also local Ukrainians, allegedly “awaiting the arrival of the Russian army”. However, this is a fake.

The Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council writes about it. Its specialists found out that Russian sources came up with different versions to explain the purpose of these camps. Among them are the use of civilian prisoners as human shields, their forced participation in demining minefields or for creating staged videos. At the same time, Russian propaganda does not provide any evidence to support its claims.

The purpose of this disinformation is to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine and distract attention from the war crimes that Russia itself is committing in the occupied territories, including forced measures to filter out civilians and kidnap children. Such fakes create a false impression of events in Ukraine and try to justify Russia's actions by manipulating fears and distracting from responsibility for its crimes.

Russian propaganda resources are spreading reports that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) allegedly detained employees of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR MO) who were trying to enter Russia from Lithuania. The goal of the Ukrainian intelligence officers was to “gather information about border security and kidnap a child”.

In fact, this information is not true. This was reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation after verifying this news. They also added that Ukrainian intelligence does not use such methods, and this statement is another provocation by Russian special services.

The purpose of the fake is to discredit Ukrainian intelligence officers and demonize them in the eyes of ordinary Russians, because in addition to “collecting information”,  they allegedly also wanted to “steal a child”. Earlier, we wrote about eight fake chats that copied the official “Main Intelligence Bot”.

Russian propagandists are spreading manipulative messages that Russian aviation allegedly destroyed a UAV train in Zaporizhzhia. Russian media, citing the alleged words of the spokesman of the Operational-Strategic Group of Forces “Tavria” Vladyslav Voloshyn, claim that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly confirmed the “liquidation of the UAV production workshop”. This is reported by StopFake.

In fact, Russia has really stepped up terror against the civilian population of Ukraine's frontline cities - dozens of airstrikes are carried out daily on Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kherson, Odesa and other populated areas. Schools, playgrounds, residential buildings and hospitals often fall under these indiscriminate attacks. Russian occupiers have modernized guided aerial bombs (GAB), allowing them to attack cities located deep in the rear. On September 27, 2024, on the air of Novosti.Live, the press secretary of the Tavria Operational-Strategic Group of Forces, Vladyslav Voloshyn, commented on the modernization of Russian aerial bombs, but made no statements about the destruction of “UAV workshops”. Voloshyn noted that Russia continues to destroy Ukrainian frontline cities, striking the civilian population. He also noted that it is very difficult to shoot down guided air bombs and Ukraine should focus on destroying the enemy's rear airfields and its aircraft. This requires long-range weapons.

Russia's airstrikes in Ukraine can be considered war crimes falling under the jurisdiction of international courts. In this context, on March 5, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for the commander of Russia's Long-Range Aviation Serhii Kobylash and the former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet Viktor Sokolov for attacks on civilian targets in Ukraine.

Propaganda is trying to create the false impression that the Ukrainian military will suffer serious losses due to Russian airstrikes. Fakes about the destruction of “UAV warehouses” and “drone production workshops” help to present Russia as an effective force capable of carrying out pinpoint strikes on important Ukrainian Armed Forces facilities. By claiming that Ukrainian speakers allegedly confirm Russian successes, the Kremlin is trying to raise doubts about the veracity of Ukrainian reports and sow mistrust among Ukrainian citizens and the international community. The spread of false reports about allegedly massive strikes on important facilities in the rear can also sow panic among the population, undermine morale and create a sense of danger even far from the front line. Fake reports about the destruction of military infrastructure can be aimed at weakening Western support for Ukraine, making them doubt the advisability of providing further assistance.

Information is being spread on social networks that the Ukrainian energy company, the Sumyoblenergo joint-stock company, allegedly promises to leave without wages those workers who refuse to donate blood to the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The publications include a photo of an announcement stating this.

“Ukrainians are forced to donate blood for the Zeus members who defend the independence and security of Ukraine in the Kursk region. And if they don't donate, they won't get paid…” - this is how the fake news scammers describe the situation.

StopFake specialists analyzed the case and contacted Sumyoblenergo with a request to confirm or deny this information. The company's press secretary stated that the ad was fake and indicated where exactly the propagandists had miscalculated. For example, the company does not have such a department as the “personnel department”, since it was this department that allegedly posted the ad.

Propagandists have been systematically spreading fakes and manipulations on the topic of an alleged blood shortage in Ukraine. In this way, the authors of the messages are trying to convince that everything is bad in Ukraine and that there are many wounded who are not receiving adequate care because “there is not enough blood”. We managed to refute several fakes on this topic. For example, one of the fakes said that Ukraine is banning all foreign citizens from becoming blood donors. We also checked the authenticity of a message on social networks about a Ukrainian woman abandoning her husband because he was “transfused with Russian blood”.

Read on Censor.NET: In Ukraine, LGBT community representatives were allegedly banned from “donating blood”