Ukrainian users of the Signal application, popular among military personnel, receive messages calling for them to surrender. Allegedly, according to a certain frequency, the Ukrainian military can voluntarily choose life.

The case was studied by fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. Russian propaganda has monkeyed with the Ukrainian project ”I Want to Live”, which appeared in 2022 thanks to the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, where Russians can surrender. The Red Cross and the media have access to the prison camp in Ukraine, and it meets the standards of the Geneva Convention.

However, Ukrainians in captivity are tortured and subjected to psychological violence, and international organizations do not have access to their places of detention. The Russians also commit mass murder. As the Main Intelligence Directorate reported, “On July 28, a powerful explosion occurred on the territory of the former correctional colony No. 120 in the city of Olenivka in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, which is now used as a detention center for Ukrainian prisoners of war”. As a result, Ukrainian prisoners died. As of July 28, 2023, of the 59 returned bodies of dead people, 52 have been identified.

Rusian propaganda is trying to divert attention and deflect responsibility for the torture, mistreatment and murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war, saying that they created all the conditions for a safe surrender. Previously, we refuted the fake news that Azov commander Denis “Redis” Prokopenko was captured again.

On September 6, 2023, the Russian military launched a missile attack on a market in the city of Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region. As a result of the attack by the Russians, 16 people were killed, 28 more were injured, but the number of victims may vary. This was announced by Volodymyr Zelenskyi on the official page on the Telegram.

Russian propagandists and pro-Kremlin telegram channels accuse Ukraine of shelling the center of Kostiantynivka. Allegedly, during the operation of air defense, the rocket flew in an unplanned trajectory or shot down something in the sky that fell on the market. Russian propaganda uses the tactics of reflection and transfers responsibility to the victim of the crimes of the Russians. After the attack on the house in Dnipro on January 14, 2023, Russian propagandists also tried to whitewash the Russians and blamed the Ukrainian military for the tragedy.

On the fact of the shelling by Russian troops, the prosecutor's office opened criminal proceedings under article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war).

A Guardian journalist published material about how Russian propaganda is seeping into the Italian media space and why local TV channels indulge it. In support of the thesis about the spread of misinformation among Italian television viewers, the mediaman cites the results of a study: almost 50% of Italians choose not to support either side in the Russian-Ukrainian war. It seems that “not everything is so simple”. In the end, this situation arises because the Italians launch typical pro-Russian guests, representatives of the Russian “authorities” into their media space. Which, in turn, spread narratives that benefit them. For example, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, such Russians have become invited guests on Italian television: among them Russian Foreign Minister Serhii Lavrov and his press secretary Mariia Zakharova, who at one time explained the supposed desire of the Ukrainians to have their state led by Putin. Russian ideologist Oleksander Duhin, who has repeatedly called for the destruction of Ukraine and its division. Find the full list of Russian guests here. The analysis also noted that compared to other Western European countries, Italy is more susceptible to Russian disinformation simply because media professionals allow Russians into the most popular TV shows to provide commentary. Consequently, the more freedom Italian journalists give to opponents of freedom of speech (after all, so are Russian propagandists), the more society becomes vulnerable to any Kremlin narratives. With propagandists it is impossible to maintain a balance of opinions.

Such actions lead to the fact that the public does not become interested in helping Ukraine, and especially may deny the existence of the war, the deaths of Ukrainian civilians and the shelling of civilian infrastructure by the Russians. And in people’s minds there may be an opinion that if Russian propagandists are invited as experts, then they are worthy of attention or, at least, they should also be listened to. Which, of course, is wrong. The journalist cited another study, which explains that Italy is among the EU countries where people trust Zelenskyi the least. According to the European Council on Foreign Relations, Italians were the most sympathetic to Russia among the member states surveyed, and 27% of them also blamed Ukraine and the United States for the war. Such results indicate that Italy’s policy is too liberal towards Russians, who take advantage of this for their own selfish purposes.

In the American segment of Facebook and the social network X, formerly known as Twitter, in the Ukrainian and Russian segments of TikTok, a video is being distributed, which allegedly records the moment of the downing of an Embraer aircraft belonging to the leader of the Wagner group Yevhenii Pryhozhyn. The plane crashed on August 23, 2023 near the village of Kuzhenkino, Bolohivskyi district, Tver region, and group commander Dmytro Utkin was on board with it. It is not true.

Reuters fact-checkers investigated the case. The video recorded the crash of another aircraft, which occurred 2 months before August 23. This video first appeared on June 24, 2023, depicting a plane crash in the Voronezh region of Russia during the end of the Wagner protest. The video shows the fall of the Il-22 near Kantemyrivka.

Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that a Wagner group fighter posted a photo proving that he was at the Polish border.

Detector Media has prepared a selection of messages about Russia's strike on the center of Chernihiv, which Russian propaganda has been distributing since August 19.

On August 19, the Russian army hit the center of Chernihiv. At the time of the strike on the drama theater, the building was hosting an announced drone exhibition. As a result of the attack by the Russians, 7 people were killed, 144 people, including 15 children, were injured  as a result of a strike on the center of Chernihiv, Volodymyr Zelenskyi said in a video message. On August 21, the chairman of the Chernihiv Regional Military Administration, Viacheslav Chaus, wrote in his telegram channel that the liquidation of the consequences of the Russian missile attack continues, and damage to 10 administrative and 66 residential premises (53 were examined) has been established to date.

Russia reacted to the missile attack on Chernihiv with a number of messages. The authors of the telegram channel of the Digital Army of Russia gave instructions to subscribers from Russia on how they should comment on messages in Ukrainian telegram channels. We have highlighted some of them.

All air defense systems were installed in Kyiv, so Chernihiv and other cities of Ukraine are unprotected.

“Who is going to defend our cities or is it not a pity for the periphery?”, “When will air defense begin to protect not only Kyiv? (...) Our people are dying while you bitches are robbing us”, such messages were supposed to be sent out by the Russian Digital Army troops.

This is not the first time propagandists have been spreading this message. The message that all air defense systems exclusively protect the capital of Ukraine is promoted from time to time in the telegram channels of the Mykolaiv, Odesa and Kharkiv regions. Allegedly for the authorities there are “more strategically important” cities that are better protected. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to intimidate Ukrainians, cause distrust in the authorities and split society. However, this statement is incorrect.

Earlier, the speaker of the Air Force, Yurii Ihnat, denied the message that the entire air defense was installed in Kyiv: “The capital is attacked most often, so this city obviously needs more protection”. He also added about “the eastern and northern regions – there is also a very serious vector of work and air defense is also working there. Therefore, we distribute our forces where it is most needed”.

Authorities talk about successful counteroffensive while civilians die.

“The authorities have no time to protect us from shelling, they need to draw counteroffensive maps”, is another message that Russians should promote in the Ukrainian segment of social networks after the shelling of Chernihiv.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to convince Ukrainians that the counteroffensive is unsuccessful - that is why the authorities come up with victories on the battlefield, and besides that, to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine and create a false impression of Russia's advantage.

Only a stupid person could hold a drone exhibition 30 km from Russia.

According to the co-organizer of the drone exhibition, volunteer Mariia Berlinska, “the announcement that there would be an event was in the public domain. But the specific location was reported only to registered verified participants (!) a few hours before the event”.

The responsibility for the missile attack on the center of Chernihiv lies solely with the Russian army. As reported in the Office of the Prosecutor General, they are identifying the people who made the decision on the missile strike and delivered it. Also, all the circumstances related to the organization of the exhibition in the drama theater are being studied, and the version of the strike by Russian agents on the territory of Ukraine is being worked out separately.

The shelling in Chernihiv occurred due to the fact that competitors wanted to let down the curator of the exhibition Mykhailo Fedorov.

“The exhibition was supervised by Mykhailo Fedorov (not the last person in the Information and Psychological Operations Center, by the way), who is now a candidate to replace Prime Minister Shmyhal. Competitors could try to let him down. Now Fedorov has questions from people from the SBU, and the post of prime minister will not be there for him in the near future. This is a move quite in the spirit of the Ukrainian “snakes”, it is another message promoted by Russian propaganda.

So far, the curator of the exhibition, Mykhailo Fedorov, was being framed by competitors - a conspiracy theory by Russian propagandists. Ukrainian law enforcement officers did not voice such a version and are not considering it.

Rocket attack on Chernihiv is a staging.

“The Chernihiv theater is still completely intact, and the man is walking, smiling, supposedly covered in blood. What was it?”, “The place of arrival suddenly became possible to shoot, although usually the Ukrainian state punishes it very severely for this. A large number of photos and videos suggests that this was done on purpose so that the frames were taken away by all the media, the woman herself holds the bag at ease)”, such messages are  promoted by Russian propaganda.

The speaker of the Air Force, Yurii Ihnat, stated that it was impossible to photograph the wreckage of missiles falling after being sold by air defense forces, because the enemy understands what type of weapon they worked out in one place or another. However, the recording of Russia's war crimes is necessary for the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

The Office of the Prosecutor General, together with Ukrainian and international partners, created a special resource War Crimes to properly document war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Russian army in Ukraine. Damaging or destroying civilian infrastructure, destroying cultural and educational institutions, injuring or killing civilians are war crimes that need to be recorded.

Also, Russian propaganda calls the crimes against peaceful Ukrainians a staging. By using this term, propagandists want to cover up their terrorist activities and absolve themselves of responsibility.

The strike was not done by Iskander.

“In this case, the roof of the drama theater was damaged. Usually, Iskander demolishes the building to the foundation”, this is the message the Russians are promoting as well.

Yurii Belousov, head of the Department for Combating Crimes Committed in the Conditions of Armed Conflict of the Office of the Prosecutor General, said on the air of United News that Russian troops hit the drama theater in the center of Chernihiv with an Iskander-M ballistic missile configured to detonate in the air, and not inside.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to remove the responsibility for the crime committed from itself to the victim.

Anonymous telegrams broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric, as well as a number of Ukrainian mass media, spread the information that Russian President Volodymyr Putin had allegedly decided to blow up the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and determined the dates of the terrorist attack. This is not true.

The Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine stated: “As for the possible provocation of the Russians at the ZNPP, there is no danger now. The Russian IPSO is actively working, they are trying to sow panic and scare Ukrainians. Of course, in the event of an increase in the probability of provocations, the Main Directorate of Intelligence, the President and other special services will always warn. But now there's no need to worry”.

Later, the manager of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, Yurii Malashko, also denied this information in the Telegram channel. “Currently, the information that is being circulated in the mass media about any planned terrorist attack by the Russian occupiers at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is not confirmed. It does not correspond to reality”, Malashko noted.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to create chaos and sow panic among the Ukrainian population. They systematically spread fakes about ZNPP for these purposes. Earlier, we refuted the fake that all potassium iodide was bought up in Kyiv after Zelenskyi's statement about the mining of the Zaporizhzhia NPP.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that on the night of August 14, they attacked Odesa “at the places of production and storage of unmanned boats of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. It is not true.

The case was studied by the fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications. The agency, headed by Serhii Shoihu, circulates similar phrases in reports of attacks on Odesa and the Odesa region, which have intensified since Russia's withdrawal from the “grain agreement”. In fact, the Russians did not fire at “places of production and storage of unmanned boats”, but a supermarket, a hostel, a gym for a local youth sports school, apartment buildings, pharmacies and cars.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to convince the whole world that the Russians are not shelling civilian targets, but only hitting military infrastructure. So they are trying to hide the genocide of Ukrainians. Earlier, we talked about the message that Ukrainian officials pass off military facilities as civilian ones.

On the Facebook of the Operational Command “South” they said that somebody is allegedly distributing information about their official pages and channels on telegram, Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube. And they explained that unknown people use the authoritative name of the official source and create fake pages in order to spread their agenda first of all.

In the message, the communication specialists noted their official pages in social networks. We also add links to them:

Facebook

Youtube

Telegram

American journalist Ann Garrison, who writes for The Grayzone and is known for her publications with anti-Ukrainian rhetoric and conspiracy theories, actively maintains her account on the X social network (formerly Twitter). These messages were analyzed by specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation.

They found out that the journalist actively criticizes US military assistance to Ukraine and distributes Russian propaganda in the Western media. In particular, in 2022 she wrote that the no-fly zone is equal to the “air war” between the US and Russia. In 2023, Garrison spoke about the alleged presence of the CIA on the territory of Ukraine and attributed the bias to the American edition of Newsweek due to its coverage of this topic in an insufficiently condemning form. Ann constantly repeats Russian propaganda clichés, such as US “willingness” to fight to the last Ukrainian, the abduction and sale of Western weapons by Ukrainians, and the “high threat” of nuclear war. Garrison blames the Ukrainian government and the United States for everything, without calling Russia the aggressor. She also does not add links and evidence to her publications.

The journalist is one of the “useful foreigners” for Russian propaganda. Using their comments, publications and statements, Russian propagandists nourish the false impression that the whole world really believes that they are right, and that Russia is not really to blame. By discrediting Ukraine and its Western partners, they want to create skepticism about support for Ukraine and stop it.

Such information was disseminated in social networks and propaganda media. The reports say that the commander of the Kherson military unit A3056 allegedly issued an order to detain all male persons. The order notes that the military will create checkpoints where they will patrol around the clock and inspect personal belongings and documents. All men passing through checkpoints (in the direction of Kherson) will allegedly be detained and handed over to the SBU.

The case was noticed by the fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project; they found out that this “document” was false. In particular, the following errors indicate the fakeness of the document:

The “document” misspelled the name of the head of the military unit. For example, in a false document it says “KUZMYCH”, although the real name is “KUZMICH”.

The fake document also does not comply with the formatting rules. So the last name and first name are written on the right, and the last name is in capital letters. These requirements in the “document” are not met.

Military unit A3056 is subordinate to the National Guard. And the fake makers indicated the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine in the document.

Russian propagandists are distributing a video containing a fragment of a social survey, where Ukrainians say that they allegedly listen to Russian music: Instasamka, Hryhorii Leps, Artik & Asti, Basta. When the interviewer told one of the poll participants that Hryhorii Leps supported the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he got angry and called the interviewer a provocateur.

The case was investigated by the VoxCheck fact-checker. In fact, the video distributed by Russian propagandists is a humorous sketch of members of the Ukrainian group Kurgan and Agregat, Ievhen Volodchenko and twin brothers Amil and Ramil Nasirov. They themselves starred as an interviewer and a few “passers-by”. At the end of the video, these “passers-by” apologize and promise not to listen to Russian music anymore.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to show that Ukrainians actually listen to Russian songs, and music is out of politics. And the Ukrainian government and some Ukrainians allegedly infringe on the rights of other people. Earlier we wrote about how Russian sport serves the Russian state propaganda system.

On August 1, 2023, the American publication Politico published an article that talks about Ukraine's plan in the event of the death of Volodymyr Zelenskyi. In this case, the “governing council” will supposedly include the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Ruslan Stefanchuk, the head of the Office of the President Andrii Yermak, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov. At the same time, Valerii Zaluzhnyi will remain the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The publication refers to the comments of the Ukrainian MP from the opposition party “European Solidarity” Mykola Kniazhytskyi and senior researcher at the Eurasian Center of the Atlantic Council Adrian Karatnytskyi. Ukrainian businessman Yaroslav Azhniuk ruled out the possibility of a Russian assassination as “the realm of alternative history”.

The case was studied by the Center for Strategic Communications. On August 1, on the air of the telethon, NSDC Secretary Oleksii Danilov commented on Politico's article and called it nonsense and stuffing. “We have a Constitution, we have laws, we know how to do it. But why do some representatives of our country do such information stuffing providing [journalists] with absolutely non-validated information, this is a question”, Danilov said.

Oleksii Danilov also noted that recently Russia has stepped up information attacks, and it can use Western media to spread lies.

On July 27-28, St. Petersburg will host an economic forum within the framework of the Russia-Africa summit. The mention of the economic forum in the media began to appear a few days before the summit and only after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Agreement. Moreover, at first only niche media reported on the summit.

Brand Ukraine analyzed such world media as New York Times, Associated Press, The Washington Post, Politico, Independent, Newsweek, Voice of America, Financial Times, The Guardian and highlighted the main messages about this event.

Putin has a precarious position in relations with African countries.

The fact that Russia is under great pressure, writes Politico and Voice of America. According to them, Russia's shaky position in relations with African countries is due to three events that occurred the day before: Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Agreement, an attempted rebellion by the Wagner group, and the decision of the Supreme Court of South Africa to arrest Volodymyr Putin if he appears at the summit in Johannesburg .

Russia does not play an important economic role for Africa.

Despite the Kremlin's statements and high status in Africa, Russia invests little in this country and does not provide humanitarian assistance. And according to Steven Gruzd, an analyst at the South African Institute of International Affairs in Johannesburg, “China and the European Union are much bigger trading partners with Africa” than Russia. This was written by the Associated Press and Voice of America.

African countries strive to be full-fledged players in the political arena.

African leaders “cannot afford to look like they are sitting on the sidelines”, despite the fact that they have no leverage over Moscow or Kyiv. “They [African countries] should be seen as proactive”. This was stated by Priyal Singh, a senior fellow at the South African Institute for Security Studies, to the Financial Times. And analyst Cameron Hudson of the American Center for Strategic and International Studies told the Associated Press that “the continent of 1.3 billion people is becoming more confident on the world stage”, so if African countries leave the summit with the feeling that Russia does not hear them, they can distance themselves from it.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is using the summit to advance the peace plan.

The Financial Times wrote that “South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is using his presence at the summit to advance the peace plan”. It was this plan that Ramaphosa, along with three other African presidents, presented during his visits to Kyiv and Moscow. It implies not only free trade in the Black Sea, but also the importance of territorial sovereignty.

After withdrawing from the grain deal, Russia may be under criticism from African countries due to rising food prices.

Due to the withdrawal from the grain deal, world food prices will rise, so African leaders may begin to criticize Russia for this move. Also thanks to this, some African countries are becoming even more dependent on Russia. Politico wrote about it. The Guardian also wrote about the Russia-Africa summit and noted that Volodymyr Putin is afraid of public criticism.

On July 11-12, a NATO summit was held in Vilnius, as a result of which Ukrainian officials received assurances from NATO leaders that Ukraine would become a member of the Alliance after the victory. However, Ukraine has not yet received an official invitation to NATO membership. Also, as a result, Ukraine received a new weapon, a program for training pilots on the F-16, a new body - the Ukraine-NATO Council, coordinating relations between Ukraine and NATO. Fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News” found out that during the summit, pro-Russian activists distributed brochures with the “peace plan of the Ukrainian people” through bookcrossing boxes. This, they say, was organized by the “representation of the Ukrainian people”, which acts on the “name of the Ukrainian people”, who do not agree with the policy of the current government. However, such an organization does not exist, it is fake. As experts explained, the theses written in a brochure repeat the pro-Kremlin agenda. That is, all of them are propaganda. So they gave an example of “harassment of the Russian-speaking population” or the so-called legal referendums in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Among other things, the brochure broadcast the following messages:

In the last 9 years, a totalitarian regime has been formed in Ukraine. Ukraine does not take into account the opinion of the people, but follows its own separate path.

Russian propaganda hints that Ukrainians allegedly did not choose the path of Europeanization, and the Revolution of Dignity and its political consequences were the work of nationalists. Publicity and free-thinking reign in Ukraine, Ukrainians declare their national identity, moreover, they often emphasize this, for which propagandists equate Ukrainians with the so-called “nationalists”. The latter (their minority) allegedly monopolized the right to publicly express their civil position and oppress the opinions of others. Fact-checkers add that since 2014, many independent publications and investigative journalism centers have appeared in Ukraine, and cooperation with European media has intensified. In the world ranking of freedom of speech, Ukraine took 79th place among 180 countries. And, for example, Russia took 164th place this year.

The Ukrainian authorities are destroying the “Russian-speaking population” and are engaged in linguocide. 

Knowing the state language as the language of one's citizenship is the duty of every citizen of Ukraine. At the same time, every citizen of Ukraine is free to choose the language or languages for private communication. Propagandists systematically speculate on the language issue, arguing that Ukraine discriminates against the Russian language. Although it has the same rights as other minority languages. Ukrainian is the main one in public communication. But the law “On ensuring the functioning of the Ukrainian language as the state language” provides an opportunity to serve customers in other languages at their request.

“Russian-speaking population” is just a political term used by Russia to achieve its own goals. In particular, to destroy Ukraine as a state, and Ukrainians as a nation. According to a sociological survey of the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology, 84% of Ukrainians believe that there are no problems with the use of the Russian language in Ukraine and Russian-speaking citizens do not experience harassment and persecution, only 8% are convinced of the opposite. A slice of public opinion proves that the reproaches about linguocide are propaganda speculation.

The referendums held in Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions are absolutely legitimate. 

Russia is positioning the referenda as the key to the return of historical justice. However, the Russians substitute the concept, calling “reunification” the annexation of the territories of another, sovereign state. In fact, Russia is holding illegitimate referendums, seizing land, destroying cities.

The fictitious referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine are not the will of the Ukrainians, but only try to give legitimacy to Russia's attempts to seize part of another state, the UN says. Their results, except for Russia itself, recognize other “brother states” of Russia as the DPRK. A decision on the issue of changing the territory of Ukraine can only be taken on the basis of an all-Ukrainian referendum. In general, the issue submitted to the referendum cannot call into question the territorial integrity of Ukraine. That is, changing the territory of Ukraine in an illegal way. It is no less important that voting should take place voluntarily, and not at gunpoint (when the armed occupiers, together with members of the “electoral commissions”, collected votes from apartments).

Ukrainians have always been in favor of an alliance with Russia and against Euro-Atlantic integration.

Ukraine entered into relations with NATO as early as 1992 when it joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (later to become the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council). In 1994, Ukraine became the first among the post-Soviet states to sign a framework agreement with NATO as part of the Partnership for Peace initiative. Ukraine first declared its desire to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance in 2002. Then, according to a poll by the Razumkov Center, 32% of Ukrainians supported Ukraine's entry into NATO and 32.2% were against it. Over the years, attitudes towards joining the Alliance have changed dynamically. Russia's aggression in 2014 had a significant impact on public opinion: since then, the level of support for membership has stabilized and has not been below 40%. According to the May 2023 NDI poll, more than 90% of respondents support Ukraine's accession to the EU. And 89% would like to see Ukraine in NATO. That is, the thesis that Ukrainians support Russia and strive to “reunite” with it is not true.

Ukrainians have chosen their path since 2014.

This document was recorded by specialists from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council. It says that due to the high “non-combat capability” of the Ukrainian army, military units are recommended to carry out preventive work on the so-called “non-traditional sexual orientation”. The authors add that the military, belonging to the LGBTQIAplus community, “undermine” the combat capability of the army.

Fact-checkers explain that such a document is fake. This was confirmed to specialists by the head of the National Agency of Ukraine for Civil Service Nataliia Aliushyna. Since a “probable” document is discriminating, it cannot a priori exist. Moreover, the authors made many spelling and stylistic errors.

For example, the term “non-traditional sexual orientation” does not exist; it stigmatizes members of the LGBTQIAPlus community. Instead, the term homosexual orientation is recommended to be used.

Users of the Russian segment of Facebook and TikTok are spreading a video in which a man in a shiny suit dances a belly dance and claims that this is Volodymyr Zelenskyi. One user put an emoji with the flag of Ukraine and wrote: “Every time you need more money… you should put on a good show for them!”, alluding to Western partners. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Reuters media drew attention to the case. In fact, it is not Volodymyr Zelenskyi who is dancing in this video, but belly dancer Pablo Acosta. The dancer posted similar videos on his Instagram on July 1.

Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to humiliate and laugh at Volodymyr Zelenskyi, saying that the President of Ukraine has to go even to such extremes in order to get weapons from Western partners. Earlier, we wrote that the Spanish magazine El jueves published a cover on which the Ukrainian military allegedly abandoned the counteroffensive and refuted the fake that the official Twitter account of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine wrote that Zelenskyi was a “naked clown”.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric have circulated a video showing a man posing as a priest trying to obstruct Volodymyr Zelenskyi's motorcade during his visit to Bulgaria. He said: “anathema” and “fascist Ukraine”, and also rushed at other officials getting out of the car. The video shows how this “priest” is detained by the police.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project investigated the case. They note that the Bulgarian media Telegraph wrote an article about the man. The video shows Atanas Stefanov posing as a priest. In fact, he is the head of the public association “Friends of Russia” and a supporter of Patriarch Kiril.

Earlier in March 2023, during a visit to Yordanka Fandakova, mayor of Sofia, Atanas Stefanov dropped the Ukrainian flag. Such actions discredit Bulgaria, as if it supports Russia and is against Ukraine. It may be concluded that Ukraine is not welcome in the West, and the country itself is considered Nazi.

Earlier, we refuted the fake that during a visit to Bulgaria, Volodymyr Zelenskyi was denied the supply of weapons.

This was recorded by the fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Liar) project. They explained that in the Ukrainian segment of social networks, in particular, in the local Volyn telegram channels, they disseminate information about the payment to Ukrainians in the amount of 6,600 hryvnias. As the authors note, one only needs to have a Ukrainian passport to receive a reward. The posts also contain a number of references allegedly to regional banks, while at the same time, the authors urge people to follow their links.

Fact-checkers assured that such information is not true. There are no payments “to all Ukrainians”. The links themselves in the publications lead to random telegram channels that have nothing to do with this or that regional bank. It is most likely that in this way channel administrators seek to artificially recruit and increase the audience.

The fact-checkers also found out that the Ukrainian Government and the UN International Organization for Migration will pay a one-time assistance in the amount of 6,600 hryvnias. This will apply to people affected by the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP made by Russians. Perhaps the authors manipulated precisely this information, luring people into their telegram channels. However, channel administrators did not provide any official information on such an initiative.

The propagandists devalued and manipulated news stories to increase Ukraine's mistrust of its partners.

On July 12, a two-day NATO summit ended in Vilnius. The summit adopted a package of decisions of three elements on Ukraine. In particular, the allies confirmed that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance and agreed to remove the requirement to fulfill the Membership Action Plan (MAP) from the entry procedure. According to them, this will change Ukraine's path from a two-step process to a one-step process. Propagandists could not get around such a large information drive. Detector Media prepared a selection of their messages.

1 The summit was a failure for Ukraine

Russian propagandists reacted to statements by Western leaders at the summit with cries of “Failure!” and blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi for this. Propagandists promoted the view that the NATO summit brought nothing to Ukraine. Like, they didn’t let them into NATO, didn’t give them new weapons, and Zelenskyi, with his harsh statements, alienated everyone so much that they didn’t even want to be photographed with him. Propagandists snatched from the stream of news only those pieces of news that were convenient for them.

Let us remind that although at the summit there were no specifics regarding when and according to what clear plan Ukraine can join NATO, however, our state was allowed to bypass the procedure of the Membership Action Plan. That is, theoretically speed up the flow. In addition, the summit adopted the Declaration of the G7 countries, which deals with security guarantees for Ukraine, to which the propagandists reacted with cries of “external control” and “surrender” of Ukraine to the West. We also received new types of weapons from a number of countries participating in the event.

2. Foreign press ignored the summit

The propagandists tried to show that the foreign press allegedly ignored the summit, which means they were tired of the topic of Ukraine as a whole.

They regularly use collections of fake and genuine covers from foreign media or distort materials from foreign publications. The main purpose of such collections is to confirm by allegedly independent sources that the picture of the world that the propagandists paint is true. On the eve of the NATO summit, for example, they quoted an article by the Finnish public broadcaster Yle about Ukrainian refugees who are being denied social assistance. At the same time, propagandists did not give links to the source. And the latest publications on the Yle website, in fact, were supportive of Ukrainians who received asylum in Finland.

In general, the topic of the NATO summit in foreign media has become a noticeable news drive. And they would write about it even if they did not talk about Ukraine there, since this is an international meeting of the highest level. In particular, the media actively wrote about him both in the United States and in European countries.

3. At the summit, Zelenskyi lobbied for the introduction of Polish and Lithuanian troops into Ukraine, but NATO did not agree to this

During the NATO summit, the traditional message of propagandists about Poland, which supposedly wants to take over Ukraine, took on a new shade. In particular, they frightened their audiences with the likely introduction of Polish and Lithuanian troops into Ukraine. Like, Zelenskyi demanded this from NATO, but he was refused.

This is another invention of propagandists. First, they are trying to convince Russia's supporters that Russia is not the only aggressor. Secondly, to emphasize that the Ukrainian Defense Forces no longer have the ability to confront Russia, which means that Russian victory is close. Thirdly, to play on the Ukrainians' fears of losing independence. Fourth, to devalue the help of Poland and Lithuania, which are one of the main partners of Ukraine in countering Russian aggression. Detector Media has written about this before.

4. NATO reduces funding for Ukraine as a result of the “failed counteroffensive”

Propagandists claimed that Western leaders, whose names they did not name, allegedly announced at the NATO summit that they planned to cut the amount of aid to Ukraine. Like, this is the result of a “failed counteroffensive” that began in February.

It's fake. Neither Ukrainian nor foreign media have any information about such statements. The topic of the counteroffensive was rarely heard in official speeches and publications of the NATO summit participants.

By spreading such fakes, their authors tried to undermine the confidence of Ukrainians in NATO.

5. Citizens of NATO countries do not want to see Ukraine in the Alliance

Propagandists spread the assertion that Ukraine did not receive guarantees of joining the Alliance, because the citizens of the countries-members of the Alliance do not want to see it there.

In such publications propagandists refer to the results of opinion polls. In this case, in particular, they manipulated a survey commissioned by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita. In the original article, 47% of respondents did not agree with the results of the survey that Ukraine should be immediately accepted into NATO. However, the infographic from the article in Rzeczpospolita is only an illustration of one question on a sociological survey. And the original article goes on to say that the Poles recognize the importance of Ukraine as part of the NATO security architecture and are not against Ukraine joining the Alliance later. This is quite in tune with the positions of the top officials of the NATO member states. At the summit in Vilnius, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that all NATO members and their allies are unanimous that Ukraine will sooner or later become a member of NATO.

This was recorded by the fact-checkers of the Beyond the News project. They say that fake fundraising ads are being created on Facebook, which are allegedly launched by Ukrainian commanders. Unknown individuals publish ads (in this case, an account with the nickname Nataliia Shumakova). They are accompanied by photographic evidence. And they are adding the “story” of the fighter, trying to play on the emotions of social network users.

The fact-checkers explained that in this way the scammers simply defrauded people of money by creating an emotional text about the Ukrainian military. After all, scammers play on feelings of compassion and guilt. Attackers often provide personal phones and bank cards in such cases. However, the absence of references to official representatives of volunteer communities may hint at the falsity of such an announcement.

This was recorded by the fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Liar) project. They say that unknown persons are allegedly calling on behalf of the chairman of the Volyn Regional Military Administration, Yurii Pohuliaiko, and sending a fake letter to Viber with a request to send funds. The report says that the funds will allegedly be directed to equipment for the Ukrainian army.

The Volyn Regional Military Administration noted that they did not send such letters and did not make phone calls. Karina Marynevych, the head of the information policy department of the Volyn Regional Military Administration, assured that such fraudulent schemes do not appear for the first time, and they know how to deal with it. It also conveyed this information to the head of the Volyn RMA, and he will soon come out with a statement about the fake on his pages of social networks.

A subscriber to the NotaYenota project shared her own exposure of a fraudulent scheme aimed at missing and uncommunicative relatives of the Ukrainian military. The scheme is implemented in chats to search for relatives.

In particular, a person represented by the military is attached to them. She or he can give a name or numbers to a brigade on the basis that no one will check this information. According to legend, this man or woman came to a psycho-neurological dispensary in a certain Ukrainian city (different cities are called) and there they allegedly found a department with shell-shocked Ukrainian soldiers who were being held against their will without access to contact with their relatives. Like, he or she visits these chambers and gives bribes for their dismissal. This is preparing the ground for the fact that people in the chat will have to pay the “military” for the release of relatives.

Further, this person sends the names of the military, whom they allegedly found. People call this person, send photos of their relatives, hoping that they are off the list. In personal conversations, this person does not allow the interlocutor to speak and assures that he or she spoke with the soldiers and that they are in a terrible state. Allegedly, the doctors do not want to tell anything and demand a bribe because of the “order from above”. At the end of the first day, the military man assures that he will not leave this business, because he also has a mother and he does not want her to look for him the same way. After that, he sends a photo of the warriors in the ward. As it turned out, this is a photo taken many years ago in Pskov (Russia).

Further, the military sends new names and states that the chief doctor allegedly called the military prosecutor's office against him, but he will not leave this case unfinished. He subsequently sends a “legend” voicemail that has prison slang in the background. In addition, there are several “accomplices” in the chat who send messages of gratitude to the “military” for “saving” their relatives. And chat participants who have doubts and questions about its activities are encouraged to be removed from the chat.

This is a scam that plays on people's emotions. There is a Russian trace in it and coincidences with the messages of Russian propaganda. It was propagandists who repeatedly tried to discredit the Ukrainian military, deliberately exaggerating the scale of the problem and manipulating their mental state. Like, the authorities are silent about everything, and Ukraine leaves its military to the mercy of fate. Media Detector has already written about Russian fakes about the mental health of the Ukrainian military.

This was recorded by the experts of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation. They say that unknown people send SMS messages to Ukrainians on behalf of the Ministry of Health, allegedly about the outbreak of cholera in certain regions. However, this information is not true. The department of the Ministry of Health also stated that the information about the outbreak of cholera is a fake.

According to this, no messages from the Ministry of Health could be sent. Representatives of the Ministry of Health also added that currently in Ukraine, on the territory of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odesa regions, not a single confirmed case of cholera has been registered.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric have circulated a photo of journalist Roman Vintoniv, also known as Michael Shchur, with a chevron flag of Canada. But they wrote that French sources allegedly report that “in recent days, the Russian army has intensified its strikes against the International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine formed from foreign mercenaries in the territory of the Luhansk region”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. They found a photo of Roman Vintoniv on Twitter, he posted on May 8, 2022, thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the recent visit and tagged him in the message. Roman Vintoniv serves in the 112th brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is a citizen of Ukraine, not a foreign volunteer.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to create the appearance that Russia is fighting against the collective West. Previously, Detector Media explained how Russia blurs reality with the help of a newspeak calling foreign fighters “foreign mercenaries”.

Russian media broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric spread information that on June 27, the Russian military launched a missile attack on the residence of “NATO instructors” in Kramatorsk. It is not true.

According to experts from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, the Russians fired Iskander missiles at a café where there were a large number of civilians. The mayor of the city, Oleksandr Honcharenko, said that as of June 28, 11 people had died as a result of the strike, including three children.

Thus, propagandists are trying to shift the responsibility for yet another terrorist attack committed by the Russians onto the victim, that is, Ukraine. The Russians are also trying to prove that they “do not strike at civilian infrastructure”. Earlier, Detector Media talked about the exposure of how the Russians are spreading information that Ukraine is allegedly creating a “dirty nuclear bomb”.