The Center for Countering Disinformation reported that the Russians created a fake website that outwardly copies the official web portal of the State Border Service of Ukraine. The purpose of creating this website is to spread disinformation and steal personal data of Ukrainian citizens. Thanks to the measures taken, the resource imitating the official website of the State Border Service of Ukraine was blocked.

The official page of the State Border Service of Ukraine is located at this web address: https://dpsu.gov.ua/

The  Center for Countering Disinformation adds that it is possible to distinguish a real page from a fake one using its domain: only official websites of the government portal have the gov.ua domain.

Earlier we wrote about eight fake chats that copied the official “Main Intelligence Bot”.

On October 14-15, more than 1,500 fake bomb threats were sent out in Ukraine, targeting schools, universities, business centers, media, courts, and diplomatic missions, including the US Embassy. Among the institutions that received these letters were also more than 60 Ukrainian embassies abroad, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reports.

The author of the letters accused Radio Svoboda (Liberty) journalists Iryna Sysak, Valeriia Yehoshyna and Yuliia Khymeryk. The reason was their investigation into the FSB recruiting children to commit arson. Investigators from Scheme established that the sender of the letters lives in occupied Crimea and has a Russian passport. The letters were signed on behalf of the Fire Cells Group, a group that calls for attacks on Ukrainian military personnel and the Territorial center of procurement and social support employees via Telegram, promising a reward of up to $1,000 for the execution of crimes.

The SBU considers these actions to be part of a Russian information and psychological operation aimed at increasing panic and destabilizing society, in particular by undermining trust in government institutions and the military.

On October 14, 2024, the Russian propaganda media school RT (Russia Today. - Ed.) Academy launched its first educational course for African journalists. The training is conducted by media experts, in particular employees of the RT and Ruptly channels. According to RT, representatives of 35 African countries are participating in the project.

In turn, the Center for Countering Disinformation writes that in fact, through such media projects, Russia is trying to expand its connections and influence in African countries. It is also about recruiting African journalists who, after training, can spread pro-Russian narratives in their countries.

This is not the only project aimed at strengthening Russian influence in the region, the CPI adds. Russia is also increasing so-called cultural cooperation with African states, opening “Russian houses” that are in fact a cover for conducting information operations and promoting Kremlin propaganda.

In addition, RT signed a memorandum with the Egyptian TV channel Sada El Balad, which broadcasts statements by Russian officials and manipulative materials about Ukraine.

Read also: What the Global South media writes about Ukraine

Russian propagandists used the flooding in Poland to create anti-Ukrainian sentiment and sow discord between Ukrainians and Poles. One of the main messages was that supporting Ukraine allegedly weakens Poland's ability to help its citizens. Propagandists spread information that Ukrainian refugees received more aid than the affected Poles, which caused negative emotions and fueled discontent. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Examples of manipulations:

Accusations against Ukrainians of looting in areas evacuated due to flooding.

Using fake videos and data from other countries to exaggerate the scale of the disaster.

Manipulation of the numbers of dead and missing in order to distort the real state of affairs.

According to the PAP press agency, from September 13 to 25, 23,000 disinformation messages were recorded online, reaching around eight million users. The campaign also aimed to incite hostility, weaken the strategic alliance between Poland and Ukraine, and undermine unity in confronting Russian aggression. This is part of a broader information war aimed at isolating Ukraine on the international stage and reducing support among key partners. In response, the Polish authorities emphasize the continuation of comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor.

Experts at the Center for Countering Disinformation monitor the media in the Global South for narratives that are beneficial to Russia. They have identified several of these.

On the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israeli territory, some Middle Eastern media wrote about the double standards of the West regarding the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza. It was noted that “violations of international humanitarian law are condemned in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine, but are not condemned in the case of Israel”.

In addition, some Middle Eastern media outlets actively disseminated statements by Russian officials that “the current confrontation between Russia and the West is unprecedented” and that the United States is “paving the way to a nuclear conflict”. 

As a reminder, the term Global South refers to countries that the World Bank considers to be low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. All countries with a per capita GDP of over $15,000 are considered part of the Global North, except for Bulgaria and Romania, which are members of the European Union. By this definition, both Russia and Ukraine are in the Global South, as are China and India. Some geographically southern countries, such as Chile and Uruguay, are classified as part of the Global North based on their per capita GDP.

The Global South is not homogeneous. Attitudes toward Russia’s aggression vary greatly in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Some experts argue that the Global South has generally taken a neutral stance toward Russia’s war against Ukraine. Turkey, for example, is trying to mediate Russia’s war against Ukraine by facilitating a grain deal and participating in a prisoner exchange. Brazil is proposing its own “peace plan” to resolve Russia’s war against Ukraine. And China and South Africa are conducting joint naval exercises with Russia. Recent opinion polls in China, Turkey, and India show that residents of these countries clearly want the war to end as soon as possible, even if that means Ukraine has to make territorial concessions.

The Center for Countering Disinformation reports that Russian programmers are developing the game together with the Russian Defense Ministry. The game's creators claim that they will add ‘educational elements’ by modeling the game on military campaigns in Ukraine.

‘The authors promise realistic tactics and varied missions, in particular, defensive operations in various landscapes, depending on the skills of the vault fighters in constructing and fortifying their positions’.

And before the game's creators began creating the product itself, as the propaganda media says, they consulted with ‘invasion participants’ in Ukraine.

Propaganda happens everywhere and analyzes what content we consume. Even in a reasonable tone, Russia is able to fill the mind with its agenda. After all, at first glance, something absurd or funny helps the aggressor country to distract attention, reducing vigilance. This generally reduces resistance to Russian propaganda. Accordingly, in this way, through video games, people can, without suspecting it, absorb what Russia spreads on television, on anonymous Telegram channels and on other platforms.

Read also: Dive into the virtual world and come back as a ‘vatnik’: how Russia spreads its propaganda through video games.

Russian authorities have blocked the Discord messenger, popular mainly among gamers and students. The blocking of Discord did not stop even the fact that it is used by the Russian military. Now “war correspondents” (that is, the same propagandists) are criticizing Roskomnadzor, accusing it of almost sabotage.

The formal reason for blocking is the presence of “illegal and extremist content” and the unwillingness of the messenger’s management to remove publications at the request of the Russian authorities. However, as reported by the Center for Countering Disinformation, the Kremlin’s decision to block yet another Internet resource of Western origin is part of a strategy to isolate Russians from information so that they do not have access to any information alternative to Russian propaganda.

Earlier, Russian authorities blocked Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X and some other resources. YouTube is facing restrictions in its work. The CPI adds that the blocking of independent resources in Russia will probably continue until the creation of the so-called "sovereign Internet" completely controlled by the Kremlin.

The Russians are spreading information that the volume of steel production in the occupied territories allegedly increased by 25% in 2023 - it is about 2.33 million tons. In reporting this, the propagandists refer to the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov.

However, in reality, the figures cited by the Russian official are meager compared to the volume of work of the metallurgical industry in the region before the full-scale invasion and occupation. The Azovstal plant alone, which the Russians destroyed with massive shelling, produced twice as much steel in 2021 as the entire current metallurgical industry in the occupied territories. This is written by the Center for Countering Disinformation.

By talking about “successes”, the Russian minister is pushing a propaganda narrative that Russia is allegedly bringing stability, investment, and economic development to the occupied regions, something that did not exist under Ukrainian control. In this way, he is trying to justify the occupation of Ukrainian territories and create the illusion of greater prospects for the region.

Earlier we wrote that in the occupied territories the Kremlin has stepped up measures of so-called disruptions.

A video of a drone hitting one of the towers of the Moscow City business center on July 30, 2023 was distributed in the Russian segment of the Internet, and this attack was presented as a strike on the Israeli city of Eilat on October 1, 2024. To make the video more believable, Hebrew text was added to the video.

To verify that this is a still frame of the explosion in the Moscow City business center area, it is enough to use Google's reverse image search tool. Thus, it was possible to find out that the corresponding video appeared online in July 2023 after the attack on Moscow.

It should be noted that this is not the only ancient video that has been passed off as an Iranian attack on Israel on October 1, 2024. Logically Facts fact-checkers have recorded and debunked a number of other similar cases.

Thus, the propagandists are trying to exaggerate the consequences of the recent attack on Israeli cities. Israel, in turn, admits that some Iranian missiles did hit air bases, but assures that this did not cause significant damage to infrastructure or weapons.

We previously analyzed the Russian message that the wars in Ukraine and Israel are “not an accident”, since the United States is allegedly creating unstable zones with its own hands.

Russian cybercriminals from the Evil Corp. group have been sanctioned by the US, UK and Australia, according to experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

The cybercriminal group is responsible for creating and distributing the Dridex malware, which was used to infect computers and steal credentials from hundreds of banks and financial institutions in more than 40 countries. The attacks cost US and international financial institutions and their customers more than $100 million, according to the US Treasury and the UK government.

The following were subject to sanctions:

- Maksym Yakubets, who headed the group's activities for a long time and developed close ties between Evil Corp. and the Russian special services, the FSB and the GRU.

- Eduard Benderskyi, a former FSB officer, and Oleksandr Ryzhenkov, a friend of Yakubets, accused of using the BitPaymer ransomware to attack American citizens.

- Victor Yakubets, father of Maksym Yakubets.

Britain has imposed sanctions on 16 members of the Evil Corp group, including asset freezes and entry bans.

The Center for Countering Disinformation reports that a large number of propaganda events are taking place in the occupied territories of Ukraine, where Russia draws parallels between the present and the events of World War II. In particular, the DPR court recognized the crimes of the Nazis in the region during World War II as genocide. Russia is presented as the heir to the “great victory” over Nazism, and its aggression against Ukraine is portrayed as a continuation of this struggle.

Also, in the occupied territories, thematic events to attract the public are constantly organized, propaganda films are released and broadcast. The Center for Countering Disinformation writes that in this way, Kremlin propaganda seeks to change the historical memory and consciousness of the residents of the occupied territories, drawing them into a single Russian socio-cultural space.

The Kremlin uses manipulations on the topic of World War II to consolidate support among the population and create the image of an “external enemy”. By speculating on the topic of the “heroic past”, the occupation authorities seek to distract the attention of the local population from economic and social difficulties, as well as from the repressions that “unreliable” residents of the occupied territories systematically experience.

Kremlin propaganda has launched a large-scale information campaign for the anniversary of the pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories. This was reported by the Center for Counteracting Disinformation.

Pro-Russian resources on the Internet cite statements by Putin and Kremlin-controlled Gauleiters regarding the so-called “reunification holiday”. Propaganda mass actions are also being held to create a “festive atmosphere”.

The Kremlin promotes the “happy occupation” narrative, constantly emphasizing how the occupied territories are supposedly “flourishing” under the Russian flag. In this way, Russia justifies the war against Ukraine.

The CPD adds that in reality all the Kremlin's statements about “improving life” in the occupied territories are outright and cynical lies, the purpose of which is to distract the population from the war crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine. The occupied territories are in a humanitarian crisis due to Russian aggression, destruction of infrastructure and violation of human rights. Life in the occupied territories is accompanied by repression and violence against the local civilian population.

Thanks to the Serbian government's control over media and a favorable political environment, RT (formerly Russia Today) uses its office in Belgrade to adapt Kremlin narratives and spread them throughout southeastern Europe. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in its explanation of RT Balkan, calls on the European Union and its member states to hold Serbia accountable for hosting the video.

In September 2024, RSF approached RT with questions about the purpose of the new Balkan bureau and its relationship with the Russian government. RT immediately responded sarcastically: “We created RT Balkan with the sole purpose of annoying Reporters Without Borders”. This response underlines the provocative political nature of RT, which positions itself as a counterweight to organizations defending a free, independent and pluralistic press. However, this response also shows that RT is unwilling to be open about its goals or its ties to the government, as would be expected from a truly independent media outlet.

RT Balkan was officially launched on November 15, 2022, as an online broadcaster and multimedia website in the Serbian language. Although the TV channel never operated, RT Balkan quickly became the main tool of Russian propaganda in the Balkans. RT chose Serbia because of historical ties, shared Slavic culture and Orthodox religion, which created a favorable environment for Kremlin propaganda. Also importantly, the Serbian government controls a significant part of the media market, which it uses to spread its own propaganda. RT Balkan employs tactics such as “information laundering”, where disinformation published by RT is turned into “news” and distributed by mainstream media in the region. Through its presence in Serbia, RT actively amplifies Kremlin narratives across the region, particularly through social media and popular Serbian TV channels and newspapers.

An unknown person created a deepfake of Dmytro Kuleba to hold a conversation with a US senator via Zoom, posing as the former Ukrainian Foreign Minister. According to The New York Times, the attacker was able to communicate with the head of the US Foreign Affairs Committee Benjamin Cardin, asking politically provocative questions, including about support for the launch of long-range missiles at Russia. The behavior of “Kuleba” aroused the senator's suspicions, and he ended the conversation. Later, the US State Department confirmed that the senator had dealt with a fraudster using deepfake technology. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

The purpose of such a deepfake was likely to obtain confidential information, stir up political controversy, or discredit the Ukrainian government and its international partners. Although the Kremlin’s involvement in this incident has not yet been confirmed, the questions raised during the conversation were clearly of interest to the Russian side.

Such technologies are increasingly being used for manipulation and disinformation. For example, on September 17, Russian propagandists released a deepfake with the former deputy head of the Presidential Office Rostyslav Shurma, in which he allegedly called for ending the war on Russia's terms. Also, before the Paris Olympics, Russian hackers spread deepfakes and disinformation about these competitions, trying to sow chaos and mistrust.

According to the State Special Communications Service, cybercriminals are sending Ukrainian military personnel emails with fake information about the latest weapons. The emails are accompanied by a file containing a RARSFX archive, which contains an EXE installer with the SPECTR malware. This virus collects confidential information, including passwords. In addition, hackers carry out attacks through the Signal messenger, where they send shortcut files that infect devices and allow remote access to the victims' data.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security notes that this cyber group was created before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and consists of collaborators and former employees of Ukrainian law enforcement agencies.

The purpose of such cyber attacks is to undermine the ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to effectively defend the country and destabilize the situation at the front by breaking information systems. By collecting confidential data, including passwords and other important information, hackers can gain access to military plans, unit locations and other critical information, which can jeopardize both military operations and the lives of Ukrainian servicemen. In addition, Russia actively uses cyber attacks for information warfare to discredit Ukraine's defense capabilities in the eyes of the international community, presenting these breaks as weaknesses in the protection of critical infrastructure.

German media outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR, as well as the Estonian online publication Delfi, have gained access to leaked internal documents of the Agency for Social Design (ASD), an organization under EU and US sanctions. According to US law enforcement agencies, this agency works on behalf of the Russian presidential administration.

Journalists from Schemes (Radio Liberty), together with a number of European editorial offices, examined thousands of files obtained as part of the leak. As part of the Fake Factory project, they found out that ASD, under the leadership of Russian political strategist Illia Gambashidze, is engaged in disseminating disinformation to discredit Ukraine, its leadership and citizens, as well as Western leaders who support Ukraine. At the same time, the agency promotes Russian interests and supports European politicians who promote these interests.

Some of the documents from this leak were published by American law enforcement in early September, when they filed a motion to seize Internet domains associated with ASD. According to anonymous sources in Western intelligence, the files obtained by journalists are authentic.

ASD positions itself as an organization providing customers with full media support, including analysis of the Western information space, identification of potential threats, proposal of solutions and their implementation. The leak contains a video presentation of the company, presumably created for customers, where its director, Illia Gambashidze, appears. In the presentation, Gambashidze takes off his glasses and hood, stating that there is no point in hiding anymore, since the Doppelganger campaign was exposed by French intelligence.

The Doppelganger campaign involved creating fake websites of well-known publications, such as France's Le Monde and Germany's Der Spiegel, to discredit Ukraine. The fake news also covered Germany, the US, and Israel. Meta called Doppelganger the largest Russian information operation since 2017.

American law enforcement directly accuses ASD of working for the Kremlin and names its activities as being supervised by Serhii Kiriienko, deputy head of the administration of Russian President Volodymyr Putin. In addition, Sofiia Zakharova, an employee of the Putin administration, who, according to American intelligence agencies, took part in planning disinformation campaigns, was also involved in the Doppelganger campaign.

According to the documents, the ASD’s activities are carried out in three main areas:

Monitoring – analysis of the media space and opinions of more than 1000 public opinion leaders in six languages.

Analytics – studying the target audience and creating topics for further use.

Creative – creating fake articles and visual content that looks authentic to the target audience.

According to the leak, between January and April 2024 alone, the SDA created 39,899 pieces of content, including posts, videos, articles, memes, and special messages that are part of disinformation campaigns. The agency is also involved in distributing fake official documents.

In the leak, the journalists of Schemes found examples of forgeries of Ukrainian government documents. Among them are orders allegedly from the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense, which were aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian government and military, accusing them of censorship and concealment of information.

Russian Telegram channels and pro-Russian users of the social network X are distributing a video allegedly published by the BBC. The material says that Polish schoolchildren allegedly do not want to study together with Ukrainian children because of the latter’s “low academic performance and bad behavior”. In turn, Polish parents are even allegedly ready to bribe the directors of local schools just to protect their children from studying in mixed classes. However, this is fake.

The video clip being distributed online has nothing to do with the BBC, Ukrinform journalists report. There is no corresponding clip on the British Broadcasting Corporation's website or on its official social media pages.

Additionally, all BBC videos on YouTube Shorts recently contain information about when they were released. However, the fake video does not have a publication date.

Russian propaganda faked the video using photos and videos found on the Internet. Some of them do not even concern Ukraine. For example, the frame with which the video begins appeared online back in 2021 - it can be found on foreign websites.

It should also be noted that earlier the Russians distributed a fake video on behalf of the BBC, which concerned the “mass use of Nazi symbols” by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region. The audio track in that video matches the audio track present in the video about the negative attitude towards Ukrainian schoolchildren in Poland.

With this fake, propagandists are trying to sow discord between Ukrainians and Poles, as well as weaken relations between Ukraine and Poland. Earlier, we refuted the information that the Volyn tragedy will not be studied in Polish schools where Ukrainian children study.

The Kremlin regularly threatens the world with its nuclear arsenal. This time, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Riabkov said that Russia does not rule out the possibility of resuming nuclear tests “in response to similar actions by the United States”. He explained that "similar actions" meant nuclear tests by the United States, but this statement was made during a discussion about Russia's response to possible Western long-range weapons strikes on its territory.

The Russian diplomat also noted that all the infrastructure necessary for nuclear testing appears to be in full readiness at the testing site on the Nova Zemlia archipelago (Russia).

The Center for Countering Disinformation emphasizes that in this way Riabkov is trying to manipulate public opinion and justify another act of nuclear blackmail, positioning it as “retaliatory actions”. By signaling its readiness for nuclear escalation, Moscow is seeking to demonstrate its strength and intimidate Ukraine’s Western partners so that they abandon the idea of granting permission to strike Russian territory with their weapons. It should be noted that the Russian diplomat made the statement against the backdrop of information appearing in the media about the explosion of the Sarmat intercontinental missile during tests.

Russian invaders continue to carry out large-scale deportation of Ukrainian children to Russian territory under the pretext of so-called recreation in children's camps. As reported by the Center for National Resistance, this is also about propaganda “re-education” of the younger generation.

Thus, 430 children from occupied Donetsk are being sent by local collaborators to Taganrog (Russia) for preventive rest. There, Ukrainian students will undergo a two-week course of “re-education”. That is, we are talking primarily about the militarization and Russification of children.

The CNS adds that there are known cases where parents, having sent their children to such camps, are subsequently unable to return them due to bureaucratic or physical obstacles, which threatens family reunification.

Information about occupiers and collaborators can be sent to the anonymous telegram bot CNS. Also there, after reading the instructions, one can learn how to bring the time of deoccupation of Ukrainian lands closer.

In Lviv, a Telegram channel was distributing information about possible terrorist attacks in schools. The channel quickly gained popularity, reaching more than 2,500 participants before it was blocked, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported.

As the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs noted, the channel was administered from Russian territory. This is another case of disinformation aimed at spreading panic and destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. The threats of terrorist attacks in Lviv schools mentioned in the channel are not confirmed.

Intimidation of the population and the spread of rumors about possible terrorist attacks in educational institutions create fear and uncertainty about security. Such messages cause anxiety among parents and schoolchildren, which negatively affects the morale of the population. Due to the spread of rumors and panic, propaganda is trying to undermine trust in local authorities and law enforcement agencies, forcing citizens to believe that the authorities are not able to ensure security in their own country. Fake threats and manipulative statements contribute to disorientation in the information space, reducing trust in official sources of information and increasing faith in anonymous channels that spread false news. This disinformation distracts citizens from important events, focusing on fictitious threats, which at the same time gives Russia room to implement its aggressive plans. Spreading fear through social networks and instant messengers is a tool of hybrid warfare that Russia uses to increase pressure on Ukrainian society and demoralize citizens during the war.

Fraudsters have launched eight fake chatbots that copy the official “Main Intelligence Bot” in name, description and appearance. The main goal of these fake resources is to mislead Ukrainians, especially those living in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT), in order to obtain confidential information or distort communication. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Attackers create these bots to collect sensitive data from the population and misinform citizens. This can be used to pass personal information to hostile forces or to undermine trust in government agencies, in particular the GUR.

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) notes that the use of such bots is extremely dangerous and calls on citizens not to transmit any information through them.

Links to the real GUR bot can be found on the official GUR website or on their verified social media pages marked with a blue or green checkmark.

Proven methods of communication with the GUR: the official chatbot of the Main Intelligence Directorate – @gur_official_bot; email: gur_official@proton.me; via Signal and WhatsApp: +38 096 945 53 41.

The spread of fakes about cooperation with terrorist groups is aimed at destroying Ukraine’s reputation with its international partners. It is an attempt to create an image of Ukraine as a country that supports terrorism. Accusing Ukraine of recruiting militants is aimed at distracting attention from Russia’s own actions, which are actively recruiting Syrian mercenaries to fight against Ukraine. This is part of a broader Russian propaganda strategy. This fake is also aimed at a domestic audience, where such statements can undermine trust in the Ukrainian government and military. Russia is trying to create fear and mistrust in the Ukrainian defense forces, making people believe that they are using “dubious” mercenaries to defend the country.

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.

Fake emails from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine have started arriving in Ukrainians' email inboxes. These emails talk about the so-called “rocket attack” on the Rivne NPP, which resulted in increased radiation levels. The emails contain evacuation instructions and links to unknown resources.

Experts advise the Center for Countering Disinformation to mark such letters as spam and not to follow the links under any circumstances. If you do follow the link, contact the Cyberpolice.

Russia is speculating on the use of a “dirty bomb” to sow distrust in Ukraine and force the world to spend resources on refuting the accusations of propagandists. An IAEA commission came to Ukraine to check whether a “dirty bomb” was really being developed at the sites that Russia claimed to be developing – the Eastern Mining and Processing Plant in Zhovti Vody and the Institute for Nuclear Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The result of the inspection was that the Agency did not find any signs of such a weapon at Ukrainian nuclear sites.

The fake news about Ukraine creating a “dirty bomb” is a mirror response from Russia, the purpose of which is to try to convince the world that it is Ukraine that is acting as a terrorist group. This, by the way, is one of the most common messages of Russian propaganda, constantly trying to accuse Ukraine of terrorism, saying that it itself is shelling Ukrainian civilians and launching missile strikes on its own critical infrastructure.

Read more: “Dirty Bomb”: What is it and why did Russia come up with this fake?

In the Ukrainian segment of social networks, in particular on Facebook, an advertising post is being distributed with information that the Ukrainian Sports Association is allegedly providing assistance in the amount of 7,500 hryvnias for Ukrainians “affected by the war”. This was reported by the TSN publication on its page. Then the publication suggests applying for financial assistance.

However, fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project have established that such a payment from the Ukrainian Sports Association does not exist. Fraudsters use the application form as a way to obtain users' personal information.

Moreover, the page that distributed the fake publication about compensation actually mimics the real TSN account on Facebook.

Also, there is no announcement about the payment on the official website of the Ukrainian Sports Association, and the association's website has not been updated since 2021. Also, the link to the site with alleged information about the social payment differs from the official link to the Ministry of Social Policy website.