Russian propagandists are spreading information that the Ukrainian Armed Forces allegedly used Western chemical weapons in Sudzha (Kursk region) in August 2024 under the guise of smoke shells. In reporting this, the propagandists refer to the words of the head of the NBC protection troops Kyryllov.

However, this information is fake, as the Center for Countering Disinformation writes. The Russian side has not provided any real evidence to support its statements. In addition, Ukraine, as a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention, strictly complies with its obligations. Also, it is the Russian military and war correspondents who periodically publish videos showing the use of chemical weapons against Ukrainian soldiers, which is a war crime and a violation of international law.

In this case, Russia resorts to the tactics of “reflection” propaganda, accusing Ukraine of a crime that it has repeatedly committed itself. That is, propagandists make the same accusations against Ukraine/USA/EU/the collective West that they make against Russia.

We have previously recorded a number of similar fakes concerning chemical weapons. For example, disinformation that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are allegedly preparing a chemical weapons strike in the Donetsk and Kherson directions.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels are distributing a video claiming that a cemetery worker at the funeral of a Ukrainian soldier allegedly stole a PS5 gaming console from the coffin that the deceased soldier's relatives had placed there. The relatives of the Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier allegedly saw the gaming console on the OLX marketplace, recognizing it by the stickers on it. The seller allegedly turned out to be the cemetery worker who buried the soldier's coffin.

In fact, this video is another fake of Russian propaganda. The video itself is of low quality. For example, at first it says that the deceased soldier, whose PS5 was allegedly stolen, is Valerii Shpyrko, but later in the video he is mistakenly called Vitalii. In addition, there is no information in reliable and verified Ukrainian media that such an incident actually occurred. In the end, it is unclear how a cemetery worker could steal a game console measuring 39x26x10.4 cm (i.e. quite large) while burying a coffin so that it would remain unnoticed.

With this fake, the Russians are trying to sow distrust and discord among Ukrainian society. Moreover, by claiming that this serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly participated in the Kursk operation, “during which he stole the console and subsequently died”, Russian propagandists are fueling the narrative about the alleged looting of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region. Earlier, we analyzed a similar video fake, which consisted of the fact that the Territorial center of procurement and social support workers allegedly killed a student from Lviv, and then threw his body into the Tysa.

Anonymous Telegram channels write that the Angel Cherkasy funeral agency in its advertisement with the slogan “Take care of your husband in advance” offers city residents discounts on burial services.

However, Ukrinform journalists established that such a booklet was forged, since there is no funeral agency called Angel in Cherkasy or the Cherkasy region.

“The template for the so-called announcement can be found on the website of a Russian school for studying the Serbian language. The only thing the propagandists changed was that they drew over one of the elements of the ornament using a graphic editor”, the fact-checkers add.

Read also: Lies on how Ukrainians destroyed the grave of a soldier killed in Mariupol.

Anonymous Telegram channels are spreading a Spanish-language story about how the body of fallen Colombian International Legion soldier Michael Ramirezi Fino was returned to his family “without internal organs”. In the video, the soldier’s mother allegedly claims that she asked the International Legion leadership for an explanation and was told that her son’s organs were transplanted to wounded comrades, but the woman doubts this.

But this story is made up, and the video was fabricated by propagandists. Firstly, it was not possible to find a Spanish-language media outlet called Ahora online - the propagandists probably drew the logo of the fictitious publication themselves. Secondly, no other authoritative source reported on this story. Mentions of this story are published only in social networks of the Russian segment.

Black transplantology in Ukraine is a conspiracy theory that Russians have been developing for a decade. The constant return to the topic testifies to its importance for Russia. These messages are promoted to both domestic and international audiences. However, their refutation in foreign and Ukrainian media prevents the campaign from having the desired effect. Among the goals pursued by Russian propaganda within the framework of this topic are discrediting the military-political leadership of Ukraine and reducing trust in it, creating a negative image of the state in the eyes of the international community, and justifying a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Read also: How and why Russia uses the topic of “black transplantology” in Ukraine

Collaborators, representatives of the occupation authorities, claim that the Ukrainian leadership is “preparing” to use chemical and bacteriological weapons to contaminate the water bodies of the Kherson region. And they are supposedly blaming the Russians for this.

But there is no evidence that Ukraine has used or is going to use chemical or biological weapons in the combat zone or in the temporarily occupied territories. Moreover, such reports are accompanied by a number of similar comments on social networks, which allegedly indicate that Ukrainian troops are poisoning the water in wells in various settlements. All this may indicate a coordinated disinformation operation.

Moreover, the Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has not yet found any evidence of Ukraine using chemical weapons during the war. In May 2024, the United States announced the use of chemical weapons by the Russian Federation against Ukraine, namely chloropicrin, a chemical substance included in Schedule 3 of the Convention, as well as riot control agents.

In this way, propagandists promote the classic narrative about the existence of the so-called dirty bomb - that is, that Ukraine is ready to contaminate not only its own territories, but also others with all sorts of chemicals, including radiation. In fact, Ukraine has never developed the so-called dirty bomb, and all the statements of propagandists on this topic are fake. The explanation of Russian propaganda as to why Ukraine would detonate a dirty bomb on its territory is unfounded. Russia claims that Ukraine allegedly wanted to increase the number of Ukrainian refugees abroad (for an unknown reason), and also to pass off the dirty bomb as the explosion of a tactical nuclear charge of Russia itself, in order to accuse the latter of using nuclear weapons. Then the international community should have condemned such actions of the Kremlin and introduced new sanctions, perhaps even expelled Russia from the UN Security Council, and also increased arms supplies to Ukraine.

By the way, the report of the American Institute for the Study of War says that the propaganda statements about the development of a dirty bomb are needed to slow down the process of arms supplies to Ukraine. At the same time, analysts believe that Russia is unlikely to detonate the so-called dirty bomb itself: this is just another attempt to “feel out” the international community to find out the possible reaction to Russia's use of nuclear weapons.

Photos of products allegedly from the Kursk region, which were “looted” by the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade, have been distributed in Russian Telegram channels. Servicemen of this unit allegedly transfer products from Russian territory through volunteers to fighters of the same brigade located in the Kharkiv region.

However, this is not true, the VoxCheck project writes. On the contrary, in the corresponding message, the volunteers indicate that the products are sent to the military in the Kursk region, and not from it. In addition, the products have Ukrainian names, and some of them are fresh baked goods, which would hardly be made in a combat zone. Also visible in the photo are various canned goods - they were prepared by Ukrainian volunteers who are helping the 82nd Airborne Assault Brigade.

With this fake, the Russians are trying to discredit Ukrainian volunteers once again. Earlier, we refuted the information that Ukrainian volunteers allegedly handed over an exploded trench candle to the military.

Pro-Russian telegram channels spread information that almost no one came to see President Zelenskyi speak from the UN rostrum at the 79th General Assembly of the organization. The hall was allegedly almost empty, only a few people came. The propagandists explained this by saying that everyone was simply tired of the “Ukrainian crisis”.

However, this information is fake. If one watches the broadcast of the speech of the President of Ukraine, one can see the opposite. Representatives of delegations of many countries were present in the hall. In particular, this is clearly noticeable at 2:21 and 14:23 minutes of the video.

This disinformation was spread as part of a campaign to discredit Zelenskyi, also feeding the narrative of his “illegitimacy” after May 21, 2024. The propagandists fear the all-round support of Ukraine by its partners, so they claim that in reality everyone is already fed up with the “Ukrainian crisis”.

Read also: Show-off against the backdrop of global problems: how Russian propaganda portrays Zelenskyi’s visit to the US – MediaSapiens.

Russian propaganda is once again spreading information that Ukrainian instructors, together with the US, are allegedly training international terrorists in Syria. Now Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has joined in spreading this message.

However, this is a fake, writes the Center for Countering Disinformation. This disinformation has already been spread more than once by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, without providing any evidence.

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, an officer of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, Andrii Kovalenko, believes that the main focus of this campaign is directed at the Middle East, the countries of the Global South, and the American information field. He added that this is the key information threat at the international level.

Thus, the Russians are trying to claim that Ukraine is a “terrorist state”. However, in reality, it is Russia that supports militants in Syria, who have used, in particular, chemical weapons. Moscow also maintains relations with the Taliban, Hezbollah, Hamas, and ISIS.

We previously refuted information that Ukraine and NATO are preparing provocations in Syria.

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

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

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

A number of pro-Russian internet users have spread the “news” that the newly elected Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum allegedly explained her refusal to visit Ukraine by saying that if she wanted to see a “drug addict” (allegedly referring to Zelenskyi), she would have taken a walk in the Mexican city of Tijuana.

However, this information is not true. This is reported by journalists from the StopFake project. The original source of the disinformation is social network user X Olha Bazova. She publishes and distributes pro-Russian messages, although the description of this profile in English states: “I specialize in humorous political analysis, exposing hypocrisy and satire”. In response to her post, the author of the account even noted that this was a joke and the President of Mexico did not make such statements. However, part of the audience perceived the statement as true (as was intended), and distributed the “news” without specifying that it was fake.

It should be noted that the newly elected Mexican president did indeed decline an invitation to visit Ukraine. However, she explained this by saying that she wanted to focus on the domestic political situation, and not “unwillingness to meet with drug addict Zelenskyi”. Claudia Sheinbaum does not plan to travel much in office, and therefore will only attend the most important international events. The president also added that she will continue her predecessor's policy of non-interference in the affairs of other countries and will support the peaceful resolution of all conflicts.

Recently, the Mexican Foreign Ministry sent Putin an invitation to the inauguration of the new president, but another Russian representative will attend the ceremony instead. Ukraine has called on the state to arrest the Russian president if he arrives, since Mexico recognizes the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, which issued an arrest warrant for Putin in 2023, but the Mexican side has rejected this request as well.

With this fake news, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit Zelenskyi and claim that international leaders are neglecting the Ukrainian president. We previously wrote about the fake news that Zelenskyi was invited to speak at a drug rehabilitation center because he is a “good role model”.

Propagandists claim on anonymous Telegram channels that the Ukrainian government is allegedly spending 72 million hryvnias on printing and sending out 900 thousand draft notices for mobilization by the end of 2024, while the amount spent on draft notices is supposedly only 18 million hryvnias. The remaining 54 million hryvnias, according to the propagandists, will be used in a non-transparent manner or stolen, hinting at corruption in the Ukrainian government. Propagandists use this fake to manipulate figures, claiming that the cost of printing one draft notice is about 20 hryvnias. However, this is a fake.

As can be seen from the screenshot of the news on Ukrainska Pravda, which is referred to by propagandists in some publications with this fake, 72 million hryvnia is the total amount, which includes expenses not only for printing the draft notices, but also for organizing delivery via postal services. This includes payment for printing, packaging, mailing, as well as overhead costs associated with centralization and ensuring the process. In addition, the cost of one draft notices includes not only the costs of paper and printing, but also related elements, such as confirmation of receipt and other logistical procedures that ensure the efficiency and accuracy of delivery.

The fake is aimed at creating an image of a corrupt government that allegedly mismanages budget funds. Propagandists are trying to destroy citizens’ trust in the Ukrainian authorities and to bolster support for mobilization processes. Russian propagandists are trying to influence the population of Ukraine by creating a feeling that the state is inefficiently using resources during the war. By spreading false claims about excessive spending and corruption, propagandists are trying to cause discontent among the population, especially in the context of economic and social tension caused by the war. Creating an image of a corrupt Ukraine can also influence the international community that provides support to Ukraine. Propaganda is trying to undermine the confidence of international partners in the effectiveness of governance in Ukraine and the appropriateness of providing further assistance.

Russian propaganda anonymous Telegram channels are distributing photos with lists of “debtors”, claiming that children are allegedly suspended from classes due to failure to pay a fee for the purchase of a generator, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes.

Its specialists found out that the distributed image is a fake. Firstly, portraits of presidents are not hung above the boards in Ukrainian schools, with the exception of the offices of the school administration. Secondly, the names on the list in the photo look implausible - they are all exclusively of Ukrainian origin, although in the classrooms one can usually find children with surnames of different origins. Also, in the surnames Lisenko, Petrichenko and Sidorenko there are mistakes typical for the Russian language - instead of the Ukrainian letter “и” “i” is used. According to the response of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine to a request from hromadske, more than 80% of schools in Ukraine are already provided with generators, and local governments continue to purchase them.

Propagandists are trying to create a negative image of schools in Ukraine, showing them as institutions that force children and their parents to bear additional financial burdens. This is aimed at undermining trust in the school system and the government. Russian propaganda is trying to sow hostility and mistrust among Ukrainians by portraying schools as corrupt structures that unfairly put pressure on children and their families. Such a fake can contribute to the demoralization of the population, especially in the conditions of war, when there are already energy difficulties due to attacks on infrastructure. The goal is to create a sense of hopelessness among citizens. These fakes can also be aimed at an international audience to portray Ukraine as a country that cannot provide for the basic needs of its citizens and thus reduce the level of support from the international community. Thus, this fake is another attempt by Russian propaganda to manipulate public opinion and undermine the unity of Ukrainian society and its international support.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service claims that the special services of NATO countries and Ukraine are allegedly preparing a provocation using chemical weapons in Syria together with local armed groups. They are allegedly going to blame Russia for this.

In fact, these accusations against the Ukrainian special services and NATO are groundless and unsubstantiated. Moreover, such theses are not the first time that Russian propagandists have made them. The Center for Countering Disinformation writes that this is one of the strategies of the information war waged by Russia.

In fact, Russia is one of the causes of instability in the Middle East and may commit a provocation in Syria, the Center for Countering Disinformation adds. Previously, Russian propaganda justified the use of chemical weapons in Syria by Bashar al-Assad's allied forces. That is, Moscow provides political support to authoritarian regimes that have killed thousands of civilians, which further undermines global security.

Against the backdrop of tensions in the Middle East, Kremlin propaganda is trying to use this situation to create a negative context around Ukraine. Thus, Russia continues to promote the narrative of “Ukrainian terrorism” to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community.

Russian propagandists are spreading information that there is an energy collapse in Kharkiv “due to the Kursk adventure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. They add that all thermal power plants have been destroyed, “the city is completely left without electricity and heat”, and local residents “will not survive the winter and will freeze”. That is, propagandists assure that the destruction of power generation facilities in the Kharkiv region is allegedly a consequence of the Kursk breakthrough of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, for which Russia is “taking revenge”.

In fact, this is disinformation, writes the StopFake project. Indeed, according to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, the Russians have actually completely destroyed all thermal power plants in the Kharkiv region. At the same time, Shmyhal assured that the government focused on the problems of the region and sent mobile units to the Kharkiv region. Also, as the Prime Minister reported, Ukraine has created a reserve of sustainability for the generation of electricity and heat. International partners, within the framework of the Energy Support Fund, financed the purchase of distribution generation equipment with a capacity of 170 MW. In addition, Ukraine is waiting for the delivery of another 291 units and 101 block-modular boiler houses.

To get through the autumn-winter period, the Kharkiv region received 35 cogeneration units. Of these, 21 have been put into operation, and another 13 will be put into operation by the end of this year. In the end, the region managed to decentralize heat and power generation, as well as reconstruct some of the facilities - that is why the city has almost uninterrupted electricity and water, despite constant Russian attacks.

Boiler houses, central heating points and heating networks of the Kharkiv region as of September 2024 are more than 90% ready for the heating season. Social facilities are more than 98% ready. Also, most institutions have generators and full autonomy in the field of water and heat supply.

StopFake journalists add that the 2023-2024 heating season in the Kharkiv region was as successful as it was possible under the conditions of constant Russian shelling. There were 518 boiler houses in the region and the city, heat was supplied to 7.6 thousand apartment buildings out of 8.2 thousand - that is, more than 90% of subscribers had heating in their apartments.

This fake news is part of the Russian disinformation campaign about a “hungry and cold” Ukraine, which Russia has once again started promoting ahead of the new heating season. Read more about what messages the Kremlin propaganda is spreading about the coming winter in the article by the Detector Media Research Center: Ukrainians are in for a terrible winter. What propagandists are writing on Telegram about the Ukrainian winter of 2024-2025

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

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

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

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

Propagandists are spreading information on social networks that 47% of Ukraine's territory belongs to BlackRock, and that company representatives came to Kyiv and asked not to bury the dead soldiers on their lands. However, this is a fake.

It was refuted by fact-checkers of the Lithuanian version of the Baltic media conglomerate Delfi. They found that the claim that BlackRock banned Ukraine from burying its military is wrong. According to the press service of the President of Ukraine, in late 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyi held a remote meeting with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, during which they discussed possible projects to help structure funds for the country's recovery. In 2023, the Ukrainian government signed an agreement with BlackRock and JPMorgan to create a fund designed to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in private investment to restore the Ukrainian economy, but this did not include restrictions on burying the military. In addition, about 70% of Ukraine's territory is agricultural land. As of 2020, about 31 million hectares, or 75%, were privately owned. The largest companies controlled only 16% of agricultural land, or about 6.45 million hectares. There are more than 10 foreign agricultural companies operating in the country, owning about 3-4 million hectares of land. The largest of these are the US-based Agroprosperis (300,000 hectares) and the Saudi Arabian Continental Farmers Group (195,000 hectares), but BlackRock has not invested in either company.

Georgian fact-checking portal Mythdetector found a recording from a Telegram channel that this claim is based on back in July. The author of the post claims that the CEO of BlackRock allegedly advised Ukraine not to pollute arable land with the bodies of dead soldiers and to use crematoriums. The description of the channel indicates that this information may be satirical or false.

This fake is intended to portray Ukraine as a country that has lost its sovereignty and is completely dependent on Western corporations. Successful partnerships between Ukraine and international companies, such as BlackRock, could become a tool for post-war reconstruction. The propaganda attempts to sow distrust in such investors, portraying them as a threat to sovereignty and national interests. By spreading such fakes, propagandists try to demoralize the population of Ukraine, creating the impression that even burying fallen defenders could become a problem due to the loss of control over national lands. Propagandists also use this fake to distract attention from their own failures and problems, in particular, Russia's crimes in the temporarily occupied territories, economic instability, and poor human rights situation.

Propaganda resources are spreading statements by Russian occupiers that the “Kyiv regime” is allegedly planning to use chemical and bacteriological weapons to poison reservoirs in the Kherson region. They say that the statement is based on the testimony of Ukrainian prisoners of war. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

These claims are yet another Russian fabrication aimed at continuing Russian disinformation about weapons of mass destruction that Ukraine is allegedly preparing to use. This narrative was used at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, when Moscow spread fakes about “American biolabs” to justify its aggressive actions. In the meantime, Russian intelligence services are generating new false claims about a “chemical” and “bacteriological” threat.

The so-called "testimonies" of Ukrainian prisoners of war, which Russian propaganda refers to, are usually either invented or obtained under pressure, a frequently used tool of Russia. The statements about water poisoning in the Kherson region have no evidence.

The purpose of spreading this fake is to discredit Ukraine in the international arena, create an imaginary “threat” from Kyiv and intimidate residents of the temporarily occupied territories. This is an attempt to undermine trust in Ukraine and its Western allies by presenting the Ukrainian authorities as an aggressor ready to use weapons of mass destruction.

Pro-Russian sources are spreading the “news” that one of the world's largest payment systems, Visa, is returning to the Russian market. As “proof” of this, the propagandists cite information provided by Visa to Rospatent (in Ukraine, Ukrpatent, an organization that registers intellectual property) requesting an update of its trademarks for banking services and cryptocurrency in Russia.

However, Visa is not returning to the Russian market. The company has not even announced such a decision on any of its official pages. And the payment system has no legal right to return to Russia due to the effect of American sanctions. Government sanctions require Visa to suspend access to its network for a number of Russian financial companies, including the country's central bank and the country's second-largest financial institution, VTB Bank.

That is, returning to the Russian market would be a direct violation of US sanctions. And updating the trademarks, which Visa actually did in Russia, is standard practice to preserve the right to use certain technologies and its own brand and logo in the country. For example, in this way the company avoids reproduction or imitation of the brand by Russia.

Anonymous Telegram channels are spreading a photo of what appears to be a desecrated gravestone. It depicts Azov Brigade fighter Vitalii Oliinyk, who died in Mariupol.

But the burial place of Vitalii Oliinyk differs from what Russian sources are spreading. His grave was not actually destroyed.

Our colleagues,  VoxCheck fact-checkers, investigated that the fake photo depicts a tombstone with the name of Oliinyk Vitalii Ivanovych. The fact-checkers found information about him on the “Memorial” memory platform. It posts information about Ukrainian civilians and soldiers killed as a result of the full-scale Russian invasion.

With the help of Memorial, we managed to find out that Vitalii Oliinyk (call sign - Oscar) died on March 25, 2022 in Mariupol, Donetsk region. He was buried in a cemetery in Vinnytsia region. With the help of a reverse Google search, the fact-checkers determined the burial site which is different from the one that propagandists are spreading. In fact, no one ruined it, it's all a fiction of Russian propagandists.

In this way, Russian propaganda seeks to sow discord among Ukrainians, allegedly they do not honor soldiers at all and are ready to destroy the graves of the fallen.

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

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

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

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

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

The Russian segment of social networks writes that an ecological catastrophe is approaching Kyiv. The messages claim that the pollution, which began in the Seim river in Sumy region, has reached the Desna river in Kyiv region.

“Will Kyiv do something about this? We'll see. There's been no progress so far - just a statement”, the propagandists write.

However, the pollution of the Seim and Desna did not affect the state of the water in the Dnipro River; there is no threat to Kyiv and the more southern regions.

On August 14, 2024, pollution of the Seim river, which flows from the Kursk region of Russia to the Sumy and Chernihiv regions, was recorded. According to the official version, sewage entered the Seim from a sugar factory in the village of Tiotkino in the Kursk region. About 6 thousand tons of sugar processing products entered the water.

Acting Mayor of Chernihiv Oleksandr Lomako stated that the pollution was caused by Russia's destruction of treatment facilities in Kursk. And already on August 27, the pollution reached the Desna, where the Seim flows. In fact, 70% of Kyiv's drinking water comes from the Desna, so rumors began to spread online that Kyiv could be left without water. However, on September 15, pollution along the Desna reached the Kyiv region, but in a lower concentration.

In Kyiv, the Kyiv City Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports daily on the quality of drinking water. It has not detected any excess of harmful substances. As of September 26, 2024, the indicators are still within the normal range. There are also no threats to water intake in Chernihiv and Sumy regions, because water is obtained not from the river, but from artesian wells.

Swimming, fishing and using this water in the economy are prohibited on the Seim and Desna rivers in Chernihiv, Sumy and Kyiv regions. However, the environmental disaster in Kyiv predicted by Russian Telegram channels did not happen.

By spreading such a message, propagandists want to feed the narrative that Ukraine is allegedly uninhabitable due to the lack of electricity, high prices for utilities; or due to various diseases, pandemics that are spreading exclusively in Ukraine due to the war. In this way, the authors want to sow panic among Ukrainians in order to destabilize the mood and create a feeling that “nothing will change”.

An image of a postcard allegedly issued by the British Embassy in Ukraine is being circulated online, which advises British citizens to avoid meetings with representatives of the Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centre when visiting the country.

“In short: avoid the shopping mall. Cross the street if you see them. If you can't avoid them, don't give in to provocations, racism, pushing, don't look them in the eye. If you're shoved into a minibus, don't panic. Call and wait for help from the embassy. Don't sign anything”, the propagandists write.

The British Embassy in Ukraine reported that they did not print such a flyer, and information about it on the Internet is fake. The embassy also noted that the official recommendations of the British Foreign Office on travel to Ukraine can be found on the department's website.

Read also: Europe will mobilize and send Ukrainian refugees to the front

Pro-Kremlin media are distributing a photo from a student's school diary, in which the teacher allegedly drew the parents' attention to the fact that the child had failed to donate money to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the third time — and as a result, wrote comments in the diary. The teacher then threatens to contact the SBU if the parents do not pay attention to the lack of donations.

In fact, the Russians forged a photo of the diary and the inscription in it. Several errors indicate forgery. In particular, the propagandists write “native language” in the list of school subjects. While the correct name of the subject is “Ukrainian language”, the subject “Native language” simply does not exist in Ukrainian schools.

At the same time, the fakers write that if the parents ignore the “problem”, the teacher will contact the SBU. But all donations to the army in Ukraine are voluntary. Law enforcement officers can accept the application, but most likely will not consider it, because refusing to donate does not violate any law.

Read on Censor.NET: Refutation of the fake that children in Ukraine are forced to donate blood for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, photo evidence

Against the backdrop of the start of the school year in Ukrainian schools, propagandists have claimed that first-graders from families with military personnel were given pencils with the inscription “death to Russians”. As “proof”, the Russians are adding a photo of such a pencil.

However, the inscription on the pencil was edited. In the Ukrainian segment of social networks or media, they did not report that students were given similar pencils. Using the Forensically tool, it was possible to detect that the photo has signs of editing. For example, the ELA (Error Level Analysis) tool highlights in a brighter color the elements of the picture that could have been edited. On the pencil, the photo of which is being distributed by users, one can see the blue leaves and the inscription itself. Therefore, most likely, the fakers added these marks in a photo editor.

The mistake in the word “Russians” also points to the forgery. In fact, it would be correct to use the letter i and not e. In most cases, when creating a fake, Russians incorrectly translate words into Ukrainian, which is what gives away the forgery.

We have documented fakes many times, whether they involve fake graffiti, foreign magazine covers/newspaper columns, or advertising videos. In this way, propagandists aim to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. This may make readers think that the public is really unhappy with Ukraine. And especially when the authors use elements of popular culture, implying that people are laughing at the situation in Ukraine and that the Ukrainian agenda is a reason for Europe to laugh.

Russia presents Russophobia as a separate type of Nazism that originated in Ukraine and is spreading en masse around the world. Anyone who criticizes Russia is a Russophobe, and therefore a Nazi. At first, the disinformation message about “Russophobia” was aimed mainly at the Ukrainian audience, but after the world community supported Ukraine in the war, it spread to European countries. It even went as far as accusing Israel of Nazism.

It is reported in the Russian segment of social networks that the National Corps party is planning to create an educational center for young people in Kherson. The authors of the message indicate that they want to create in Ukraine an “analog of the Nazi youth organization Hitlerjugend, where they will conduct ideological education and pre-conscription training courses for high school students and students.

However, there is no information about the opening of the so-called “educational center for youth” aimed at supporting patriotic education in the Kherson region. Let us recall that the “National Corps” is a political party created in 2016 by former members of the Azov unit led by Andrii Biletskyi. In an interview in October 2023, Beletsky said that the party ceased its activities because after the full-scale invasion, most of its representatives joined the ranks of the Defense Forces.

Russian propagandists impose the opinion that the Azov fighters support ideas that the modern world sharply rejects: anti-Semitism, Nazism, and other types of xenophobia. The Azov fighters are shown as those who devalue people based on their origins. In Moscow’s vision, Azov is ready to kill for “Ukrainian blood”. This is not the first time that the Kremlin has presented Ukrainians in this way — as aggressive, ultra-nationalistic, and valuing only “Ukrainian blood”. For example, Russian propaganda has already spread fakes about Ukrainian fighters’ wives complaining that their men transfuse them with “Russian blood”; or that Ukrainians prohibit foreign citizens from becoming blood donors.

So Putin literally has his own “Hitler Youth”. It was the youth organization “Yunarmiya” (Youth Army), created in 2016 on the basis of the accompanying structures of the Russian army and serving to militarize the youth and prepare “cannon fodder” for Putin's wars of conquest. Structures of this movement began to be created in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in 2022. In 2023, it became known that the Russian regime was forming so-called Student Labor Brigades for propaganda in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. Most youth propaganda projects in Russia are guided by a special government agency - the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Russian Youth), created back in 2008.