In social networks, in particular in the Ukrainian segment of Facebook, information was disseminated that the EU government is introducing a project for the issuance of financial assistance to people of retirement and pre-retirement age. Like, people can get up to 200 euros per day by participating in this program. The authors also claim that the funds are provided by the Provision Fund. Then the message asks to follow the link for the registration.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project worked on the case and found out that the program for paying 200 euros per day does not exist at all. The Provision Fund itself exists in the USA. The purpose of the fund is to create additional funding for residents of Sheridan County, Wyoming, in areas that do not have sufficient funding from the government. That is, this fund has nothing to do with the EU. In fact, group admins use the financial assistant thesis as a bait to increase the reach and membership of the channel. As fact-checkers explained, the group can later change its subject and spread fake information, and due to the large number of subscribers, potential readers will get the impression that this resource can be trusted. However, this is not true.

On May 8th, Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed a decree on celebrating Europe Day in Ukraine on May 9th. The Day of Remembrance and Victory over Nazism in World War II is proposed to be celebrated on May 8th. Against the backdrop of these changes, many disinformation messages were circulated in pro-Russian anonymous telegram channels, with the help of which Russia imposes its own interpretation of events on the audience. Analysts of Detector Media have identified the most common of them.

1. Zelenskyi gave back Victory Day to Russia, although the Ukrainians are the victorious people. 

Indeed, the Ukrainians fought against Nazism as part of different armies of the world, because they were a stateless people. More than 7 million Ukrainians fought the Third Reich in the Red Army. In addition, they fought in the armies of the United States, Great Britain, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Canada and other countries. That is why the authorities proposed to celebrate the Day of Remembrance and victory over Nazism together with the rest of the world. However, this does not mean that Ukraine is abandoning the role of the winner altogether, as anonymous telegrams are trying to convince the audience, reinforcing the recurring propaganda narrative that “Ukrainians are Nazis”, because they are abandoning the so-called Victory Day over this phenomenon. This decision only means that now Ukraine will celebrate Remembrance Day on May 8th, like most countries of the world.

2. There is no point in celebrating Europe Day because the European countries surrendered to the Nazis or were their allies.

In fact, even in the countries occupied by Germany and the allied states, there was a powerful resistance movement against the Nazis. Moreover, such states as Czechoslovakia and Poland, although they were under occupation, had their own military formations as part of the armies of other countries. For example, people from Transcarpathia, who at that time were citizens of Czechoslovakia, in 1943 made up the majority in the First Separate Czechoslovak Brigade. This unit fought against the Nazis as part of the Red Army and distinguished itself in the battles for the liberation of Kharkiv and the Kyiv offensive. As for the struggle against Nazism in European countries, we should mention the Warsaw Uprising, the Slovak National Uprising, the Resistance Movement in France, etc. That is, Europe also fought against Nazism. By spreading such messages, anonymous telegram channels are trying to discredit European allies by outlining their historical past to the Ukrainian audience. Thus, propaganda theses are being promoted that only the “fraternal Russian people”, without the help of Europe, together with the Ukrainians defeated Nazism.

3. Ukraine refused May 9 to please Western partners.

With this message, anonymous users of social networks are promoting the thesis of Russian propaganda that Ukraine is a puppet of the West in order to deprive Ukraine of legitimacy and sovereignty in decision-making in the eyes of propaganda consumers. In fact, the celebration of Europe Day was synchronized with this holiday in the EU countries, and the celebration of the Day of Remembrance and Victory will also take place along with Europe.

4. The authorities will ban Ukrainians from bringing flowers to the monuments to those who died in World War II. For this one can get a prison sentence.

In fact, according to the law on decommunization, honoring the memory of those who died in World War II, laying flowers at monuments or taking to the streets of veterans with medals (which anonymous telegrams were also noted) is not considered a crime. Only the public display of Nazi and communist totalitarian symbols is punished. At the same time, these symbols are not considered prohibited if they are placed on state awards, commemorative medals and other awards that were awarded before 1991 and during 1991-2015 in connection with the anniversary of the events of World War II. Anonymous telegram channels spread such messages in order to intimidate the audience and discredit Ukraine, identifying it with totalitarian states.

The press service of the Ministry of Infrastructure reported that the Russians are attacking an online service for booking a border crossing for the eCherha (online waiting list) transport. Russian propaganda channels are calling for a cyberattack.

The Ministry notes that the system is now working without failures, however, in case of changes, they promise to inform drivers and carriers, they promise to inform them promptly. The department assures that the personal data of drivers and data of vehicles registered in the system are protected and cannot be accessed by unauthorized persons even in the event of cyber attacks.

Russians often resort to cyberattacks on Ukrainian web pages or services, and the attacks are coordinated through Russian propaganda channels on social networks.

Such a “document” was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The order states that the Ukrainian military is seeking to regroup and withdraw troops from the Bakhmut area. The document says that allegedly  Zelenskyi forbade the withdrawal of troops, and left them there “to the last”.

The Center for Countering Disinformation investigated this case and found that the document was fake. As analysts explain, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The “document” contains incorrect military terminology;

The barcode of the counterfeit document is damaged, making it impossible to verify it;

The “Order” was issued with significant violations of the rules of official document flow.

Verified Twitter accounts are spreading misinformation about an imminent nuclear strike on Kyiv. 

This was told by the journalists of the Vice edition. They explained that after the explosion over the Kremlin, the so-called official Twitter accounts began to spread misinformation about the nuclear attack on Kyiv.

For example, a pseudo-verified account called DEFCONWarningSystem posted a post explaining that “we are currently evaluating rumors of nuclear movements in Russia”. Although this account has nothing to do with the real official agency.

After that, Twitter did not remove the verified checkmark in the account. If one clicks on the checkmark, the following message will pop up: “The account is not associated with any government agency and does not represent the alarm status of any military unit. Users should draw their own conclusions and not rely on account information”.

At the same time, this account also spreads apocalyptic information about Christian movements. That is, this account invents conspiracy theories. It has been verified by Twitter.

Another twitter “verified” account said that the authors had heard about the movement of nuclear bombers, and assured that these reports were “grossly unconfirmed”.

Although these accounts are unofficial, someone could write on their behalf. There was no confirmed information about the so-called nuclear strike on Kyiv. The authors of the channels began to talk about the so-called rumors, which also did not exist.

Such a “document” was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” says that the Ukrainian military has increasingly begun to leave their positions, refusing to perform tasks at the forefront. They also allegedly sabotage the orders and instructions of the commanders.

This case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project, who found that the report was not real. The fact-checkers sent a request to 123 TD brigade. They replied that they did not create such a report.

In particular, the “document” contains elements in its design that do not comply with the standards of modern Ukrainian office work. For example, in this case, the document should not be signed for the “commander of the OUV KHERSON (operational group of troops KHERSON)”, but is required to write for the highest military authority (for example, the headquarters of a military unit) and the authority of the Military Law Enforcement Service. This is a different type of document, namely a report. Therefore, there are other instructions for its design.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The document says that the commander of the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade ordered cars to be taken away from peaceful Ukrainians. Like, the need arose due to “significant losses of equipment” on the battlefield. In addition, the commander allegedly ordered campaigning among the personnel so that they use their own cars for official purposes.

This case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project, who determined that the order was not real. Fact-checkers sent a request to 123 TD brigades. They were told that the leadership of the brigade did not issue such a document, and it was fake.

In particular, the “document” contains elements in its design that do not comply with the standards of modern Ukrainian office work. For example, the name of the author of the document should be indicated in full, and the last name should be written in capital letters. On the fake document they wrote “Yu. Chaplenko”, but the correct option is “Yurii  CHAPLENKO”. Also, in the header, now you need to write not “the city of Kherson”, but simply “Kherson”.

Romanians have started receiving emails en masse on behalf of a real parcel delivery company. Such messages say that the alleged delivery address of the parcel is incorrect. Fraudsters ask to update the data within a day, otherwise “the parcel will be returned back”. That is, if during this time people made a delivery or sent a package using this service, they received a message from hackers about incorrect data.

This was reported by journalists from Digi24, who found that letters from a so-called courier company look like real ones, but no company can ask people for detailed bank account details (i.e. PIN or CVV). That is why journalists are convinced that this is a fraudulent scheme. After checking, it turned out that the IP address of the site from which the letters are sent is Russian. Accordingly, the message is sent by the Russian network of hackers.

Such a document was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The “document” states that the commander of military unit 3056 ordered his personnel to shoot deserters at checkpoints. As if to prevent desertion, the “document” gives precautionary measures, including “organizing firing points”.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated this case and found that the document was fake. This was stated by the most military unit on its Facebook page. In addition, as analysts explain, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The fake document does not comply with the formatting rules. For example, the military unit of 3056 is part of the National Guard, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and not the Ministry of Defense;

The authors indicated the wrong name of the commander. So, the commander of military unit 3056 since 2021 is lieutenant colonel Ruslan Kuzmich. However, in the order, instead of “R. Kuzmich” it says “R. Kuzmych”;

They also indicated the wrong city for issuing the order. Military unit 3056 is located in Kherson, from there it sends all the documents.

As experts say, there are no documents or orders to “neutralize” the fugitive military man. If a military man arbitrarily leaves the place of military service, he receives punishment in accordance with the current legislation. According to article 408 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, desertion during martial law is punishable by imprisonment for a term of 5 to 12 years.

In a propaganda TV report, the Russians told fake news about the “shelling of Donbas by Ukrainians”, where they showed footage of a destroyed house in Uman. Allegedly, “Ukrainian militants” are once again shelling the Donbas and Luhansk region. According to the authors, the AFU shelled the town of Yasynuvata and two villages: Nikolske and Yakovlivka. Moreover, they note that during the massive shelling, Ukraine allegedly fired more than 20 missiles.

Journalists of “Ukrainska Pravda” (Ukrainian Truth) drew attention to this, referring to the material of the “Nastoiashcheie Vriema” (Current Time) project - created on the initiative of Radio Svoboda (Liberty) and Voice of America. Actually, in the footage in the propaganda story, there is no shelling of Donetsk, but the consequences of the shelling of a residential building in Uman. The authors stole the video from the telegram channel of the press service of the State Emergency Service. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klimenko, said that the occupiers hit with a Kh-101 missile. As a result, a whole entrance collapsed, where 109 people were registered. 27 apartments were completely destroyed. More than 33 cars were also burned or damaged.

At the end of April 29, the search and rescue operation was completed. The press service of the State Emergency Service reported that as a result of striking at a multi-storey building, 23 people died, including 6 children. 19 people were injured, and 17 were rescued from the debris.

Similar information appeared in the social networks of the Lithuanian segment. The reports say that Lithuanians received fake letters in the mail on behalf of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense. The letters note that Lithuanians are allegedly recruited into the trilateral Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade named after Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi the Great Hetman, and then sent to the Ukrainian front.

The Institute of mass information drew attention to this case and explained that the department of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense refutes this information. The ministry also stated that Lithuanian citizens are not called up to serve in the trilateral Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian brigade named after Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi the Great Hetman as this international brigade operates under a separate mandate.

Unknown people use the kariuomene[.]com domain to spread false information, through which they send fake letters and convince Lithuanians that they will be sent to the front.

In early April, Russia adopted a large package of amendments to the Federal Law “On military duty and military service”. In the previous edition, the law allowed military registration and enlistment offices to send draft notices by registered mail. Now they have adopted an amendment that allows serving electronic draft notices on the website of the Russian “state services”.

According to Meduza, the Russian media received “recommendations” to cover the bill. The author of the “recommendations” is the Russian Ministry of Defense, and they allegedly “quickly correct the shortcomings of the military accounting system that they discovered in 2022”.

Russian propaganda should explain to conscripts that “the new system is human-oriented, convenient, minimizes direct contacts with military registration and enlistment offices and the possibility of errors”, and “those who deliberately evade military service do not fulfill their constitutional duty, and it should be clearly understood that they will be held accountable”, and “a person who has run away from service cannot be in more privileged conditions than a person who is fulfilling their constitutional and civic duty”.

Thus, propagandists want to smooth out the reaction of society to the adoption of new norms. The very adoption of the new system seems to be connected with rumors about the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian troops - Russia should counter something in response, for example, “millions under arms”. Earlier, Detector Media wrote about the manual of the Russian media on how to cover “partial” mobilization.

There are fake websites of the Ukrainian edition “Ukrainska pravda” (Ukrainian truth) and the news agency “Ukrinform” on the network. The authors of the fake site publish fake news there, and then telegram channels that broadcast pro-Kremlin rhetoric intercept this “news” and talk about supposedly Ukrainian agendas.

Specialists of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council determined that in this way the authors affectionately spread the desired anti-Ukrainian narratives or fakes. Fact-checkers give an example of news allegedly from Ukrinform, which says that a bill has been submitted to the Ukrainian Parliament forbidding making videos and taking photos in cemeteries. However, there is no such bill, it is not true.

At the same time, the editor of “Ukrainska pravda” reported that their online media had nothing to do with the new site. Analysts of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation urge to check the domain (name) of the site, and if it differs from the original one (has characteristic ru-domains or the site name is disfigured, letters are omitted, etc.), this is not a real site.

On TikTok, there is a fake account of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Unknown people speculate on the theme of the war and publish videos about supposedly “live broadcasts from the front” or “diaries of the counteroffensive”.

The case was taken up by the fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News”, who investigated that in this way it is beneficial for the authors to spread fakes and Kremlin narratives. For example, in one of the videos, the authors depicted the “top of euro banknotes” with the inscription: “Do you want to join the team? Leave a comment”. In this way, they promote the narrative about the existence of so-called “foreign mercenaries” on the battlefield, whose main goal is to make as much money as possible in the war.

Fact-checkers are sure that neither Valerii Zaluzhnyi nor the representative office of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was involved in the creation of this page. At the same time, fact-checkers believe that the authors are trying to increase activity on the TikTok account by publishing emotional videos from the so-called “live broadcasts at the front”.

And the TikTok account itself is tied to one of the telegram channels, which spreads false information about the “missile radar”, which is ready to track every missile or flying object. Analysts of Detector Media have already talked about the “missile radar” and why it does not exist.

The official pages of the “Russia house” in Warsaw publish reports about how Russia allegedly plans to restore and build more than 360 schools and kindergartens in the Donbas.

Analysts of the Polish project Demagog drew attention to this. They found out that such a message appeared on the official page of the “Russia house” in Warsaw on March 27 in Polish and Russian languages. One of the commentators of the message notes that “the restoration of, for example, MARIUPOL is something incredible” and “the city is being rebuilt at an unprecedented speed”.

Thus, propagandists want to justify the actions of the Russians and “smooth over the blame”. Schools and kindergartens would not have needed to be restored if Russia had not destroyed them. In addition, the report mentions planning to “restore eight buildings of the Azov State Technical University”, which was destroyed as a result of Russian attacks.

“Russian houses” in Poland are constantly spreading Russian disinformation, as they are directly subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Detector Media has already written about how this institution spread pro-Russian rhetoric on the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea.

Communities with names like “Military speaks” or “Voice of the common people of Ukraine” have become more active in social networks, spreading pro-Russian manipulative rhetoric. Analysts of the project “Beyond the News” drew attention to this.

They analyzed the creation and content history of four Facebook groups, namely “Military speaks”, “Military says”, “Military truthfully”, and “Automechanic says”. They were created on March 14 and 21 this year. In the description of the communities there is also a link to a telegram channel with a similar name, created on March 17th. To these pages, analysts also add the pages “Military speaks (CrazyNews)” and “Voice of the common people of Ukraine”, despite the fact that they were created several years ago. At first, these two groups published information about employment in Poland, but in February of this year they changed the appearance of their messages to republish videos from TikTok and Telegram.

The message of these messages is the same: “do not trust the Ukrainian authorities”. The administrators of these pages actively use information guides, distorting the message of the authors of the primary sources published on the pages. To do this, they add emotional titles or video comments. In addition, publications of other well-known fake makers are distributed on these pages.

The administrator of the telegram channel mentioned in the description of the pages is an account under the nickname Serhii Pekh. His video message can also be found on some of the communities mentioned. Analysts of the project “Beyond the News” found out that this person has nothing to do with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He positions himself as an expert on the legalization of Ukrainians in Poland and an influencer. According to analysts, these communities were probably created for their further resale and monetization of content in general, using an increased level of trust in the military.

Thus, for the sake of profit, administrators play along with one of the goals of Russian propagandists - to cause distrust in the Ukrainian authorities and destabilize the situation in society by creating panic.

Twitter has a network of bots that, under the guise of ordinary users, spread anti-Ukrainian narratives, while applying social network trends. For example, under the hashtag #harniunia (cutie), such bots talk about a “nuclear strike” that “Russia has prepared and is about to strike”. Or they are convinced that Ukraine is doing the dirty work of the United States by fighting Russia. However, the most popular publications are distributed with the thesis that “the Union of Poland and Ukraine is futile”, because, they say, Poland should “somehow” take care of itself.

Thus, bots use a popular hashtag among Twitter users to destabilize sentiment and gently spread what they want. Like, if it is distributed by ordinary users, it is worth thinking about the information. However, the disseminated Russian narratives and anti-Ukrainian messages are part of the Russian propaganda used by Moscow against Ukraine and Ukrainians.

Such information appeared in the Ukrainian segment of social networks, in particular, on Facebook. The authors of the messages create separate communities and through them distribute posts with photographs of mutilated Ukrainian high-rise buildings with an appeal to write “Amen” in the comments and follow the link. Allegedly, after that the priest will pray for the people and there will be peace, there will be a victory for Ukraine.

The fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project drew attention to the case, referring to the NGO “CLEAR INFO”, which determined that these pages are supervised by a Chinese sect. At the same time, the groups are administered mainly in Spain. According to fact-checkers, active commentators are being recruited into a Chinese sect, which is now banned in that country. This is the so-called “Church of Almighty God”.

If you click on a link in messages with a call to write “Amen”, people are sent to the Facebook messenger. This is a chat with the user “Church of Almighty God”, where they offer to take part in an “international online lecture on the topic: How to get out of trouble and receive God's blessing”. They also promise that “this is a conversation that will give God's blessing, and the priest will pray for the will of all the faithful present”.

After that, the “Church of Almighty God” asked to add user “Oksana Oksana” as a friend, because “only she can add to the group” where the sermon will take place. Thus, Ukrainians continue to be recruited into the sect. New participants are recruited in a similar way in many countries, including Spanish speakers. If in the case of Ukraine communities mimic Orthodox Christians, in Western countries they mimic Catholics.

The “Church of Almighty God” (or “Eastern Lightning”) is a religious community that originated in China in 1991. Its founder, Zhao Wenshan, fled China in 2000 for the United States, where he received political asylum as a man persecuted by religious views. The main teaching of the sect is that the expected Second Coming of Christ has already arrived and that He lives now in the form of the Chinese Yan Xiangbin. This Chinese woman, according to the information available on the network, went to the United States with the founder of the sect and is (or at least was at that time) in a relationship with him.

Such a document was circulated in social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The document says that in separate battalions and brigades of territorial defense in the Kherson direction, “cases of desertion have become more frequent”. Allegedly, in order to avoid desertion, the “document” gives precautionary measures, including “neutralizing the fugitive military on the spot”.

The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council investigated this case and found that the document was fake. In addition, the first deputy chairman of the Kherson regional council, Yurii Sobolevskyi, also confirmed the falsity of the “document”. At the same time, as analysts explain, the “document” includes a number of inaccuracies, in particular:

The fake document does not comply with the formatting rules. For example, the secrecy label is not located in a specific place.

As experts say, there are no documents or orders to “neutralize” the fugitive military men. If a military man arbitrarily leaves the place of military service, he will receive punishment in accordance with the current legislation.

The BBC Disinformation Team found that the UK-registered publication Yala News has Syrian roots and distributes content that reflects the theses of the Russian propaganda media.

BBC analysts tracked Yala News's most popular videos over the course of a year and found that many of them resonated with Russia-sponsored disinformation. Thus, Yala News reported on the US plans to use birds as a biological weapon to carry diseases to Russia, the staging of massacres of civilians in Bucha, Zelenskyi’s video message to Ukrainians allegedly intoxicated, and the flight of the Ukrainian military from the front line. All this news was first published in the Russian propaganda media, and after a few hours such videos appeared on Yala News.

The analysts also said that the Yala Group (the parent company of Yala News) is registered in central London at an address shared with more than 65,000 other firms. There are no physical offices or Yala Group employees there.

With the help of geolocation tools, the BBC team was able to find photos of employees and offices of the Yala Group on Facebook. They are located in the suburbs of Damascus. Most of the employees' social media profiles also show they are based in the Syrian capital. This information was confirmed by one of the former employees of the company.

The founder and CEO of Yala Group, Syrian businessman Ahmad Moemna, lives in Dubai. When asked by the BBC team about the presence of pro-Russian videos on Yala News, he replied that the content provided on this news resource is objective and impartial.

However, specialists in the study of Russian disinformation told the BBC that the timing of the distribution of news videos and their similarity to the Kremlin theses may indicate that Yala News is likely serving as a tool for disseminating Russian propaganda through foreign media, so as not to look like these theses come directly from the Kremlin.

Russia often tries to spread misinformation to international audiences. For example, Detector Media investigated what kind of disinformation narratives Russia is spreading in Eastern Europe in order to achieve political goals.

Finland is a neutral state, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it radically changed its status and became the 31st member of the largest military-political alliance. Now Russia borders NATO on the entire western border (except for Ukraine and puppet Belarus) and the Alliance controls the vast majority of the coast of the Baltic Sea. If Ukraine's desire to join NATO supposedly forced Russia to launch a preemptive strike through an invasion (first in 2014, then in 2022), then the real accession of neighboring Finland to the Alliance caused a much weaker reaction. Putin said that Moscow does not have such problems with Helsinki as with Kyiv. That is, there are no territorial disputes or other types of confrontations, which is why the reaction to Finland's entry into NATO is so soft. Such statements by the Kremlin sound like attempts to justify themselves and smooth things over. Russia reacted to Finland's accession to NATO with a number of propaganda messages, we have highlighted some of them.

1. Russian propagandists made a number of “strict remarks”. Allegedly, Finland has become a state unfriendly to Russia, so the Kremlin will “take military-technical measures” in response to NATO expansion. This message is intended to assure the domestic audience that Russia is ready for different scenarios. Allegedly, Russia is making a symmetrical (actually rather symbolic) retaliatory step. And although the border between NATO and Russia has doubled, if necessary, the Kremlin can fight back. But does a change in the geopolitical vector really mean an “anti-Russian turn”? Joining NATO is about own security and the security of the region, and not about hostility towards Russia.

2. Propagandists claim that Finland's membership in NATO means the loss of Finnish sovereignty and geopolitical weight. According to them, Finland has become one of the weak world players, which does not decide anything in international affairs. In fact, joining NATO means strengthening the defense capability, and collective security only reinforces the synergy and complementarity of the forces of the allies. Such remarks on the part of the Kremlin propagandists are an attempt to shift the attention and present the biggest problem of Moscow: the entry of a neighboring state into an unfriendly (according to Russia) military-political union is a problem of Finland itself.

3. Joining the Alliance will be costly for Finland. The key indicator of allied military spending reaches 2% of GDP, so the state’s economy will barely “pull” the defense budget, this will hit the pockets of ordinary Finns, Russian propaganda assures. After the start of Russian military aggression against Ukraine, NATO countries faced the need to increase defense spending, so the next summit in Vilnius may agree on a minimum level of defense spending for NATO members at the level of 2%, which was previously considered a desirable indicator. In fact, in 2022, Finland’s defense budget has almost reached the coveted mark of 1.96%, so the manipulation of the Russians looks unconvincing. Rather, this is another attempt to divert attention from the main issue - the fact of entry - from the topic of economics.

4. NATO does not plan to deploy its troops in Finland. Propaganda is trying to reassure that Russia has everything under control, and the actions of the Alliance on its eastern flank will be coordinated with the Kremlin. Again, this is a game for the domestic audience and an attempt to reassure the discouraged Russians, who were told that the next wave of NATO expansion to the east was unacceptable, but when it took place, the propaganda began to assure that nothing terrible had happened, because NATO soldiers in Scandinavia will not approach the Russian border.

5. Finland is in NATO, and Ukraine is led by the nose with promises. Like, Finland easily joined the Alliance, while Ukraine is on a thorny path because of the war, huge losses and unpopular reforms. Thus, Russian propaganda wants to devalue the Euro-Atlantic course of Ukraine and convince that Kyiv's hopes of joining NATO are useless. In reality, a state that is at war cannot be accepted into the organization, because this will automatically mean the activation of the fifth article of the Washington Treaty (an attack on any ally is regarded as an attack on the entire Alliance). In 2018, Ukraine was recognized as an aspiring country (a state intending to become a member of the Alliance). And in 2022, Ukraine announced that it was applying to join NATO, however, this document is purely political and has no legal significance. Despite this, Ukraine is a candidate for membership, and we have every chance to realize our intention after the final victory of Ukraine in the war.

Against the backdrop of news about the visit of Volodymyr Zelenskyi to Poland, disinformation messages appeared in the information space, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, with the help of which propaganda is trying to advance its agenda. A team of analysts of Detector Media has identified the most common of them.

1. Zelenskyi dreams of uniting part of the territory of Ukraine with Poland

Pro-Russian telegram channels spread the message that the main purpose of Zelenskyi’s visit to Poland is to “bring together state institutions”, because “Zelenskyi wants to assimilate with Poland”. The authors of the messages convince readers that the Polish leadership “does not cease to be interested in the western part of Ukraine”, and Zelenskyi will gladly help them and give up the territory.

This is not a new message of Russian propaganda as they systematically claims that they want to tear Ukraine apart and cut off its territories. Like, first of all, Poland wants to seize the West of Ukraine, because it is important for the Poles to restore “historical justice”. Russian propaganda spread a number of fakes and manipulations on this topic. For example, about the recruitment of Poles into the Ukrainian army or about Poland building up its military force to seize the territories of Ukraine.

In fact, the head of the international policy bureau at the Office of the Polish President, Marcin Przydacz, said that the negotiations between Zelenskyi and Duda would cover “the entire spectrum of Polish-Ukrainian relations, starting with security policy”. He even assured that historical issues would be raised during the talks.

However, propagandists need such messages in order to expose Poland as an aggressor and level the assistance that Poland provides to Ukraine in the conditions of war. Allegedly, in fact, Poland is helping Ukraine not because of good intentions.

2. Zelenskyi’s arrival in Poland means the formation of an “anti-Russian coalition”

This thesis was propagated by propagandists to feed the narrative of the existence of a “collective West”. Allegedly, all the actions taken by the Ukrainian leadership are aimed at discrediting Russia. According to the authors of the messages, during the meeting with Andrzej Duda, there were “mentions of Russia”.

It is not about any “anti-Russian coalition”. Of course, the leaders of Poland and Ukraine probably gathered to discuss security issues first of all. However, such negotiations are caused by unprovoked Russian aggression. The so-called anti-Russian coalition is a response to Russia's criminal actions against Ukraine and its civilians. Russian propaganda claims that Zelenskyi is only looking for a reason to convince the whole world that Russia and Russians are bad, but in fact “Western countries are sick with Russophobia”. However, global condemnation and sanctions against the aggressor are the consequences of Russia's criminal actions, and not vice versa, as Moscow wants to present it.

3. Zelenskyi's words should be interpreted as “preparation for the surrender of Bakhmut”

Anonymous telegram channels spread the thesis about the so-called “surrender of Bakhmut by Zelenskyi”. Like, Volodymyr Zelenskyi deliberately left for Poland in order to divert the attention of Ukrainians and the rest of the world from the “situation” with Bakhmut. According to propagandists, Zelenskyi does not want to receive a stream of negativity in his direction, so he “runs away to Poland”.

As proof, the propagandists quote Zelenskyi from a joint press conference with the President of Poland that “if there are even hotter events and the danger of personnel losses due to the encircling of the city, the appropriate correct decisions will be made on the spot”. However, these words do not indicate that the President of Ukraine is running away from problems. Volodymyr Zelenskyi assesses all the risks and does not talk about the alleged withdrawal of troops from Bakhmut.

Moreover, the authors do not add any evidence confirming the thesis about the “surrender of Bakhmut” in their publications. Thus, they shift the responsibility for what is happening in the city from the Russian army to the Ukrainian president. It was Russia that attacked Ukraine, and it is precisely because of the actions of the enemy army that the situation in individual Ukrainian cities and villages is difficult. However, Russian propaganda whitewashes itself and demonizes the Ukrainian president, who allegedly is not interested in events in his country.

According to the latest data, as of April 4, the Russian army continues to storm the city and concentrate its main efforts for the offensive, in particular in the Bakhmut direction.

4. Most Western leaders meet with Xi Jinping, while Zelenskyi is “only” going to Poland

In this case, the authors of the messages contrast the meeting between the leaders of China and Russia with today's event. Like, Zelensky’s meeting with Andrzej Duda is “window dressing”, and Xi Jinping “meets only influential politicians”, attributing such a title to Putin in particular. So, Zelenskyi “only took advantage of the possible option”.

China expressed its position on Russia's war against Ukraine when, on February 24, 2023, their Foreign Ministry presented a plan to resolve the war. The document contains 12 points, which, according to Beijing, will contribute to the end of the war. Among them are a ceasefire and hostilities, the start of peace talks, and an end to unilateral sanctions.

At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was skeptical about China's plan, arguing that Beijing “does not deserve much credibility” because it “failed to condemn the illegal invasion of Ukraine”.

China formally recognizes the territorial integrity of Ukraine and has never declared Russian recognition of Crimea or other Ukrainian regions that Russia wants to seize. However, for example, China is at the time of voting for the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, which provide for the recognition of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. And on the eve of his visit to Moscow, in an article for “Rossiiskaya Gazeta” (Russian Article), Xi Jinping called the war “a total aggravation of the Ukrainian crisis”. In addition, China can supply Russia with weapons to help it continue the war against Ukraine.

However, by spreading such a message, propagandists want to devalue the role of the President of Ukraine and show who really “leads the agenda”: Xi Jinping and Putin. Allegedly, Zelenskyi is not so “influential” to meet such “politicians”.

On April 4, former US President Donald Trump was formally arrested in order to be charged in court on 34 paragraphs in criminal proceedings for financial fraud. They are talking about the manipulation of funds intended for the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. The case was the first in history criminal proceedings opened against the President of the United States. This information drive interested the authors of anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric. Detector Media singled out the main theses from their messages.

Trump's arrest should be regarded as US interference in the presidential election

Propagandists claim that the arrest of Donald Trump is a trick of the Democrats in power. They say that the opponents are afraid of a stronger competitor, and it is no coincidence that the process fell precisely at the beginning of his new election campaign.

Thus, the authors of such messages play along with the message of Trump himself that the results of the American presidential elections are easy to rig. This he claimed during his loss in the 2020 elections, calling them rigged. As of 2021, Donald Trump appeared in a number of criminal cases not only as a witness, so the new criminal proceedings against him cannot be called sudden. In particular, we are talking about cases of financial fraud in the Trump Organization fund, fraud with tax documents, neglection of the US Constitution during the presidency, abuse of power, sexual harassment and fraud during the distribution of family heritage. However, American law does not prohibit campaigning even with suspicion in a criminal case, which Donald Trump is now using.

If Trump wins the next election, Joe Biden should be arrested for his son's machinations in Ukraine and sanctions should be lifted against Derkach and Dubinskyi.

Propagandists claim that current US President Joe Biden has many more sins than Trump. An example of this is the situation with the Ukrainian company Burisma, which was led by Hunter Biden, the son of the American president. Moreover, according to propagandists, Trump, subject to his return to the White House, must lift sanctions from Ukrainian ex-people's deputies Andrii Derkach and Oleksandr Dubinskyi, because allegedly they were right and tried to expose Biden's deals.

Thus, propagandists substitute concepts and divert attention from Trump's actions. Like, Trump is bad, but others are even worse. The details of the Burisma scandal were already actively discussed during the impeachment of Donald Trump in 2019, when he tried to put pressure on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. Trump has demanded a speedy investigation into the Burisma case in exchange for military and financial assistance.

Trump trial judge is incompetent

In their messages, propagandists refer to Politico materials that the judge conducting the current proceedings against the ex-president of the United States is biased, therefore the consideration of the case is unfair and cannot be recognized as legitimate. The authors of the messages draw such conclusions on the basis of the fact that the judge issued sentences that are disappointing for Trump in a number of other cases related to the finances of the ex-president and his institutions. However, they are far-fetched, since they are made purely on the basis of the above statements.

By spreading such messages, propagandists want to show that the American judiciary is corrupt and cannot be trusted. Like, the United States teaches us, but they themselves have a lot of problems. However, propagandists once again take specific statements out of context. The original materials on this topic say that the judge is not biased. On the contrary, it is said that he is better suited to the case due to significant experience with cases involving Trump.

Now the US will forget about the war in Ukraine

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric claim that the Donald Trump case will attract attention in the information space of the United States, so Ukrainians can already forget about support from the United States. Like, everyone will now think about the elections of 2024 and the fate of Trump.

Thus, the authors of the messages seek to show that the United States is gradually distancing itself from the war in Ukraine. However, the next face-to-face meeting on this Trump case will take place in December this year. Accordingly, Trump will continue to attract the attention of the world only as part of his presidential campaign. The war in Ukraine is one of the main issues among the programs of potential candidates, and even Trump does not bypass it.

Even if Trump is found guilty, the maximum he will receive is a fine.

Propagandists say: no one will jail Trump, they don’t give prisoners for financial fraud, so one shouldn’t worry.

In this case, they play down the problem and leave hope for Trump's return to the White House. During the first days of Russia's full-scale invasion, the ex-president praised Putin, and now, during his election campaign, he repeats that he would end the war in 24 hours. Numerous investigations during his presidency proved Trump's ties to Russia, which influenced his political decisions. This explains the hopes of the Russians - Trump can isolate the United States from the war in Ukraine and play in favor of Russia. However, the current proceedings are criminal, not administrative, and as a result, the ex-president can really be put behind bars. However, American law does not prohibit campaigning even from there.

On the anniversary of the annexation of Crimea, Russian institutions of public diplomacy in Poland, namely the “Russian houses” in Gdansk and Warsaw, distributed propaganda rhetoric on their official pages on social networks.

Analysts of the Polish project Demagog drew attention to this. In particular, they found reposts of a mini-rally on the occasion of congratulations for Russia on the “reunification of Crimea” from the Polish people on the Facebook pages of “Dom” (House). They say that the Poles really support Russia and have long recognized Crimea as part of Russia. However, the video that was distributed on these pages shows that only a few people can be found at the “rally”.

“Russian houses” is an institution aimed at spreading Russian culture and language abroad. However, since it is directly subordinate to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, its rhetoric coincides with that of the department. The case involving the annexation of Crimea is not alone. Specialists from the same Demagog project also talked about how the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine were called Russian ones on the official accounts of “Russian houses” in social networks. Thus, the propagandists want to try to legitimize the violation of international law, which is in fact the temporary occupation of Ukrainian lands.

The full-scale invasion of Ukraine has placed a number of Russian financial institutions under international sanctions, making it more difficult to receive or send funds from Russia. This issue is especially relevant for Russians living in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. However, Telegram helps them bypass financial restrictions by providing a platform for money transfers from and to Russia without the participation of banks under sanctions.

Analysts of the site investigaci.cz found out how this scheme works in the Czech Republic. According to their findings, there are anonymous channels on Telegram, where people who have crypto wallets offer their services as live intermediaries and at the same time exchangers. After an agreement with the sender and a transaction through a crypto wallet, a special person receives the funds, exchanges them for the desired currency and personally gives this money to the recipient only after he or she says a special password. The transfer fee is low as intermediaries earn funds on the scheme due to the special exchange rate. According to Transparency International, about $400,000 was withdrawn this way.

All participants in this scheme choose Telegram because of its anonymity and the lack of strict monitoring of financial transactions. This scheme is not the only one on Telegram that helps Russians bypass sanctions. For example, in the messenger one can find a bot that helps Russians buy a subscription to Spotify, which stopped working in Russia in response to the outbreak of a full-scale war against Ukraine.