Spilnota Detector Media

Fake The World Economic Forum aims to reduce the number of people on Earth, including because of the war in Ukraine

This is the message propagandists use on social networks and telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. It states that the goal of the World economic forum is to reduce the number of people to 1 billion of “chosen ones” because there is not enough space and sources in the world for everyone. For this, WEF members, according to propagandists, have developed a special plan, which is already underway due to the war in Ukraine and the pandemic. It's a lie.

As Eu vs Disinfo experts explain, this is a propaganda stuffing built on conspiracy theories. The World economic forum is a well-known independent international organization. As noted in the program of the Annual meeting of the forum 2023, the current event is dedicated to various situations, in particular, the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic. The agenda of the Forum “focuses on solutions to tackle the world’s most pressing challenges”.

When propagandists spread such fakes and use conspiracy theories, they want to achieve a distortion of reality that is beneficial for Russian propaganda to spread their narratives. They say that the war in Ukraine has long been planned by third parties, and Russia has nothing to do with it. So, Russia blurs the borders and justifies itself, creating the appearance that people in Ukraine are dying not because of its aggression, but because of the collusion of large organizations.

Fake During a visit to the United States, Zelenskyi signed an act of surrender

This is the message propagandists use on social networks and telegram channels that broadcast pro-Russian rhetoric to the Polish audience. It says that Zelenskyi signed the act of surrender during his visit to the United States. Like, one of the officials took an autograph from the president, but in fact it was not just a piece of paper with a signature, but a real act of surrender. Thus, Volodymyr Zelenskyi signed it without even knowing it, and at the same time admitted defeat in the war. It seems that the president will soon stand down. The authors of the messages add a probable act of surrender to the publication. However, this is not true.

In fact, not a single act of surrender was signed. Ever since the start of the full-scale invasion, Volodymyr Zelenskyi has been saying that Ukraine will not capitulate. At the same time, a series of talks held between the Ukrainian and Russian sides in February-March 2022 convinced the Ukrainian leadership that Russia wanted one thing, namely, a quick surrender of Ukraine and recognition of the Russian victory. However, Ukraine disagreed and called for an immediate Russian ceasefire. The so-called document, attached by the propagandists, contains spelling and lexical errors, indicating that it was compiled.

By spreading this fake, propagandists are trying to nourish the narrative that America wants to get rid of Zelenskyi and is ready even for such tricks. It seems that this is all a secret plan, a conspiracy against the president, and he does not even suspect how, as they say, his most devoted partners actually support him.

Fake EU and NATO plan to unleash a world war

Such a message is being broadcast by propagandists on social networks and in telegram channels with pro-Kremlin rhetoric. It says that the EU and NATO want to unleash a world war. The Declaration of cooperation recently signed between the EU and NATO clearly shows that NATO leads the European Union. Propagandists claim that the leaders of these organizations want to unleash a large-scale war aimed at aggression against Russia. However, this is not true.

According to EU vs Disinfo analysts, on January 10, 2023, the EU and NATO signed a Joint declaration of cooperation that emphasized the strategic partnership between NATO and the EU, condemned Russian aggression against Ukraine, and presented NATO as the backbone of European and American collective defense. The EU-NATO cooperation declaration is aimed at strengthening the mechanism of collective defense, this document does not provide for any aggressive actions against Russia.

Since Russia began aggressive actions against Ukraine, Russian officials have accused NATO of a series of threats and hostilities. NATO is a defense alliance whose main objectives are to maintain peace and protect the independence, security and territorial integrity of its members.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists are trying to demonize Western partners and at the same time nourish the narrative that Russia is fighting not only against Ukraine, but also against NATO or the EU. Like, these organizations are the center of war and devastation, and Russia is only defending itself from the armed aggression of the West. However, the real aggressors are Russia and the Russian military, who unleashed a war on the territory of Ukraine and daily commit terrorist crimes against peaceful Ukrainians.

Fake Ukraine uses banned Italian-made mines

Photos from the exhibition of “captured” weapons in Moscow's Patriot park, including allegedly banned Italian-made mines, are being circulated on social networks. Propagandists say that they were neutralized by Russian sappers in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine. The original source of the photos is the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in Italy. It's fake.

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto denies any allegations by Italy of supplying banned weapons to Ukraine. According to Stop Fake, the Italian Ministry of Defense reported that the objects in the photo are not of Italian origin. This is indicated by the corresponding marking. The production of such mines in Italy was stopped 28 years ago, after a moratorium was introduced in accordance with the Ottawa Convention. The signatories are obliged to get rid of stockpiles of these weapons, it is forbidden to transfer anti-personnel mines to third parties. Ukraine ratified the Ottawa Convention in 2005, unlike Russia.

Russia systematically accuses Ukraine of using prohibited weapons. Earlier propagandists wrote that Turkey supplies Ukraine with cluster munitions; they wrote that Ukraine used chemical weapons against the Russian military in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian propaganda also said that allegedly Russia does not have banned chemical weapons.

Fake Polish TV channel used a map of Poland with Ukrainian territories

Pro-Russian and occupational telegram channels are spreading reports that allegedly a Polish TV channel used a map in which the western regions of Ukraine are depicted as part of Poland when forecasting the weather. A screenshot is supposedly added to the messages. It's fake.

The Polish TV channel denied the information. The picture was created using digital photo editors. As StopFake writes, in fact, the weather forecast studio on the Polish TV channel looks different. The propagandists also used the emblem of one TV channel, and the photo of the presenter from another TV channel. Russian propagandists are systematically spreading the message that Poland wants to seize part of Ukraine.

The government commissioner for the security of the Polish information space, Stanisław Żaryn, reacted to the fake. He noted that Russian propaganda in Poland is mainly aimed at portraying Ukraine and Ukrainians as disgusting and helping Ukraine as an escalation of events, and intimidating Poland into the war.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has used modified maps to promote its own interests. Earlier they wrote that allegedly on the Ukrainian TV channel they showed a map of Ukraine without temporarily occupied territories; allegedly at the G20 summit they placed a banner with a map of the Russian Federation, covering the temporarily occupied regions of Ukraine; allegedly, a map of Russia with Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and the occupied territory of Donbas appeared in Spanish textbooks; allegedly the German TV channel ZDF showed a map of Ukraine without the territories occupied by Russia.

Fake In Ukraine, Slovaks are to be mobilized

Slovak social media circulated reports that allegedly the district administration in Banská Bystrica (probably other district administrations) was given the task of conducting “comprehensive exercises to carry out tasks after the declaration of martial law and orders to mobilize the armed forces of the Slovak Republic”. In particular, such a message was published by the Bádatel resource. This is manipulation.

According to Infopost.Media, the Slovak police denied the information. Usually, mobilization exercises are organized twice a year to test the defense capability of Slovakia. They have nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.

According to the police, the fake news about the mobilization in Slovakia is being spread by Russian propaganda as they are trying to cause panic in countries that support Ukraine with the alleged threat of being drawn into the war. Also, these fakes are spread in order to create a general information chaos and distrust of law enforcement agencies among the population.

In Ukraine, propagandists systematically manipulate the topic of mobilization, in particular, they talk about the forced mobilization of women, children, and even dogs.

Fake Pregnant Ukrainian women launched a “patriotic” flash mob

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels spread information about the flash mob “Meet me on the battlefield”, which was allegedly launched by pregnant Ukrainian women. Photos and videos are circulating on the net, in which women write “meet me on the battlefield” on their stomachs. Like, this is how Ukrainian women demonstrate that they are ready to educate future military men. According to another version, supposedly this is how unborn children talk to warring parents. It's fake.

Russian propaganda came up with this flash mob. According to StopFake, a photo of an  allegedly pregnant woman who left for Italy due to a full-scale invasion is in the public domain. It first appeared on the Russian social network back in 2021. There are no inscriptions on the woman's stomach, they were made later to create a fake photo.

The video, allegedly from the Italian publication Il resto del Carlino, also uses editing. This footage is taken from the documentary “Mother Ukraine / Pregnant during the war”. The film tells the story of a girl who is going through pregnancy, and her husband is a soldier of APU.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to show the international community that Ukrainians are an aggressive nation. Previously, propagandists manipulated the topic of mobilizing women and children, and also said that pregnant Ukrainian women are given draft notices.

Fake In Ukraine, dogs are being mobilized

Russian media and pro-Russian telegram channels spread the news that allegedly “after the mobilization of women” in Ukraine, they began to mobilize dogs. Allegedly, dog owners must put them on military registration from February 1, 2023. This applies to Shepherds, Labradors, Boxers, Rottweilers and other “big, strong” dogs. In case of violation of this requirement, the alleged owner of the dog will be punished. It's fake.

In the Law of Ukraine “On mobilization training and mobilization” there is not a word about the mobilization of animals. One of the sources of the fake is the telegram channel of the Zaporizhzhia collaborator Rohov. He writes that “dog draft notices” are allegedly carried by “dogs of the Zelenskyi regime”. Rohov also distributed a photo of the announcement, which was allegedly sent to him from the South of Ukraine. The Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center checked these reports. On fake leaflets, the abbreviation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was used in Russian language, not in Ukrainian. The phones given there are used by the National Police Department in the Transcarpathian and Rivne regions, although leaflets are allegedly distributed in the South. These contacts are freely available.

Obviously, such fakes are spread primarily through the occupant telegram channels (list is  here) in order to convince the residents of the temporarily occupied territories of the “hopeless” situation in Ukraine. Also, Russian propaganda is trying to ridicule the “absurdity” of the orders of the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and once again parasitizes on the topic of mobilization.

Fake The Armed Forces of Ukraine were preparing an offensive against Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog

Russian media and pro-Russian resources are spreading a video in which a Russian military man says that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were preparing an offensive in the summer of 2022 against Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog. This is allegedly evidenced by marks on maps found on abandoned Ukrainian positions near Avdiyivka. It's fake.

According to VoxCheck, the Russian military shows a Soviet, not a Ukrainian map. There are no marks in Ukrainian on it, only in Russian. Mariupol is designated as Zhdanov - this is how the city was called from 1948 to 1989. That is, the map was created no later than 1989. On it one can also notice the stamp “For official use only” in Russian language but not in Ukrainian. There is no information about who exactly and why put the marks on the map that the military demonstrates. Thus, Russia is trying to make Ukraine an aggressor, to undermine its authority in the international arena.

Earlier, Russian propaganda spread messages that Ukraine had become a laboratory for testing Western weapons, that Ukraine was a biological threat. The propagandists also spread messages that the United States allegedly conducted training and training in Ukraine with pathogens of especially dangerous diseases.

Fake Russia destroys four Bradley armored vehicles

Russian propaganda constantly lies about the “achievement” of its army, and therefore makes mistakes. This time, as TSN drew attention, the speaker of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Ihor Konashenkov, “reported” that the Russian army destroyed four Bradley infantry fighting vehicles manufactured by the United States. It's fake.

In fact, these machines have not yet been delivered to Ukraine, and only on January 16 it became known that the Ukrainian military began to learn how to operate them at training grounds in Germany.

We recall that earlier Russian propaganda constantly reported on the destruction of Haimars complexes and Bayraktar drones. If we calculate how much propaganda “destroyed” these complexes and UAVs in Ukraine, it turns out that the Russians shot down and destroyed several times more devices and complexes than they were in Ukraine at all.

Fake In New York, they created graffiti with Zelenskyi

A photo of graffiti allegedly taken in New York is being circulated on social networks. It depicts locusts, which allegedly symbolizes the President of Ukraine, who “feeds” at the expense of the American budget. It's fake.

In fact, there is no such graffiti. According to MythDetector, the photo was created using special programs. Eyewitnesses confirmed the absence of such graffiti as well. According to experts in 3D-drawing, even after erasing such graffiti, traces remain on the surface that are not in the place where the graffiti should be. Thus, Russian media and propaganda telegram channels are trying to discredit the Ukrainian president. Like, in the world he is considered a clown and is not taken seriously.

Previously, Russian propaganda spread fakes to associate Volodymyr Zelenskyi with Hitler. In addition, propagandists systematically spread messages about fake graffiti and covers of satarian magazines that make fun of Zelenskyi.

Fake In Ivano-Frankivsk, swastika tattoos are removed for half the price

This was written by anonymous pro-Kremlin telegram channels. Allegedly, in Ivano-Frankivsk, a local tattoo parlor offers a special promotion: the removal of a swastika for half the price. The proof is the “photo” of the banner with the announcement of such a “promotion”. This photo was also circulated on the Polish forum.

Fact-checkers of the StopFake project checked the shared photo using Google and Bing image search platforms and found that photos of the Tattooirograf tattoo studio, located in the Russian city of Biisk, Altai Territory, were used to create a fake.

In the announcement, the propagandists wrote the word “share” in Russian, not as it would be correct in Ukrainian. By spreading such fakes, Russian propaganda once again wants to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis. It arose back in 2014, Russian propaganda justified the invasion of the territory of two regions of Ukraine with the so-called Nazism, calling the Ukrainian authorities criminal and illegal. Ukrainians became Nazis allegedly because they “destroy the people of Donbas”, ban the Russian language, hate everything Russian, etc. And the so-called denazification became one of the fictional reasons for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Fake The Ukrainian army is preparing to use chemical weapons against Russian soldiers

On December 13, this information was circulated in English on Twitter by the Russian Embassy in London. This post was shared among the English-speaking sector on Twitter. Also, the Russian media published relevant news with reference to the embassy.

On the embassy’s page, a video was circulated as evidence, in which the Ukrainian military is working with drones, attaching details with the inscription “OB” to them. Russian propagandists in the diplomatic mission believe that the Ukrainian military is apparently preparing to use chemical weapons, probably phosgene. Allegedly, the video shows gas cylinders with the inscription “OB”, which means “poisonous ammunition”.

In fact, the Russians distributed edited excerpts of a video published in a telegram by the Ukrainian military, the commander of the Madiar Birds aerial reconnaissance group with the call sign Madiar. He showed how Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance officers assemble the Molfar folk kamikaze drone with a warhead on their own. In another video, Madiar demonstrated how kamikaze drones work near Soledar at a Russian military point.

Russian propagandists are stuffing with fakes into the information space about the possible use of chemical weapons by the Ukrainian military in order to change the topic from their own failures near Bakhmut and Soledar, which they planned to capture before January 1, 2023.

Russia has repeatedly accused Ukraine of using and distributing banned weapons. Earlier, the Russian Defense Ministry recorded an alleged chemical attack on the Russian military from a Ukrainian drone and unmanned vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were found for spraying chemicals.

Ukraine ratified the international Chemical Weapons Convention, which includes phosphorus, in 1998. Then the entire chemical arsenal that Ukraine inherited from the USSR was destroyed. At the same time, Russia is using banned weapons in Ukraine.

Fake In Ukraine, they hide the real photo of Stepan Bandera with the German leadership

In social networks and enemy telegram channels, a message is spreading that a probable photo of Stepan Bandera along with the German Nazi leadership has got into the network. Like, he is dressed in the uniform of the Wehrmacht, and even the reward is visible on the bust - supposedly the Cross of military merit. The authors of the message add that this photo is prohibited in Ukraine. It is not true.

Analysts of the Lithuanian project “15min naujenos” say that in reality in the photograph is not Bandera, but Reinhad Hellen, a well-known figure in the army intelligence during the Second World War, and later the founder of the German federal intelligence service. Fact-checkers say that the photo appeared on the web after 2014, in Livejournal, a blogging platform that is popular in Russia.

Propagandists have repeatedly spread fake stories about Ukrainian figures, including Stepan Bandera. The purpose of the fake is to nourish the narrative that Ukrainians are Nazis and are aimed at creating an idea of Ukrainian historical figures as exclusively Nazis and collaborators, which at the same time undermines the image of modern Ukraine and its authorities.

Fake At the border, Ukraine and Poland carried out training to curb the massive flow of migrants

Pro-Russian telegram channels distributed information about allegedly secret training of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service, police and fire protection of the Lublin voivodeship of Poland. They reported that Kyiv is preparing for a humanitarian catastrophe and is conducting exercises aimed at “preventing a massive uncontrolled flow of migrants”. Allegedly, Poland is afraid of the flow of refugees from a neighboring country.

In fact, according to VoxCheck, the study was reported publicly. On December 16, they were reported on their official pages by the State Emergency Service of the Volyn region, the State Migration Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The local media also wrote about them. There was no secret in the conduct of the training.

The purpose of the event was to work out the main actions in case of crowding at the border. Also, interaction with Polish colleagues was worked out to help citizens temporarily located at checkpoints across the state border.

Since the beginning of the war, the Russian media have been constantly writing about Ukrainian and Polish relations. In particular, that allegedly in the near future Poland will begin the occupation of the west of Ukraine, or that the number of HIV-infected people in the country has increased due to Ukrainian refugees. Thus, Russia is trying to sow discord between Ukraine and Poland.

Fake In Ukraine, many seriously wounded soldiers are in dire need of donor blood

The network disseminates information about the allegedly arrived at the National Institute of Surgery and Transplantation named after Shalimov of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, seriously wounded soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The report claims that the military is sorely lacking in blood. However, this is fake.

The fact-checkers of the NotaYenota project drew attention to the case on the network. According to fact-checkers, the information quickly gained popularity and was shared more than two thousand times. Reposts were made by such famous personalities as, for example, Israel army officer Yigal Levin and Ukrainian TV presenter Natalia Moseichuk.

In fact, this information is false. On the official pages of the National Institute of Surgery and Transplantation named after Shalimov of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine there is no information about the arrival of the seriously wounded. It should also be added that since February 24, 2022, there has never been a shortage of blood and its components in Ukraine. More than 100,000 volunteers have already been registered on the DonorUA platform, making it possible to meet all the needs of blood, both military and civilian.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists seek to sow panic and show that the situation at the front is very bad, because there are many wounded and they are critically lacking blood.

Fake In Ukraine, there are certain places where draft notice will be handed out by regions

Telegram channels massively disseminate information that there is a list of places where draft notices will be handed out in each of the regions. Like, from January 11, 2023, draft notices will be handed out anywhere in Ukraine, because the law does not regulate the place of their delivery. Anyone can view the list of places where this will take place in order to avoid serving the draft notices.

In fact, information about clearly defined territories where draft notices will be handed out is fake. Local recruitment and social support centers did not report this either on their official pages in social networks or on official websites. So, there is no reason to believe this information. As the fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Liar) project, the message about the delivery of draft notices dated January 11, is also not true. In Ukraine, mobilization has been going on for 10 months, starting on February 24, 2022. Every man of military age can get a draft notice.

According to fact-checkers, public administrators on social networks disseminate such messages deliberately, realizing that they are manipulating socially important information. Such manipulations help the authors of telegram channels to increase their audience. In addition, such messages also shake the situation in society.

Fake The cartoon character Cheburashka was recognized as an occupier in Ukrainian schools

In social networks and enemy telegram channels, reports are spreading that Cheburashka is banned in Kyiv schools. Like, because of the successful distribution of the new Russian film, Ukrainian teachers banned the hero and recognized him as an occupier. The probable announcement depicts the hero himself and the inscription: “If you like Cheburashka, go to your Russia”. However, this is fake.

Analysts at The Insider project say that in fact there is no such announcement. Moreover, no publications about Cheburashka were found in the Ukrainian segment of social networks. A photo of the announcement featured in all pro-Kremlin media publications is with metadata erased. The photo was published many times, but exclusively on pro-Kremlin resources.

Propagandists have repeatedly spread fakes about Ukrainian schools and their organization. Consequently, they are trying to distort the impression of Ukrainian education and represent the educational institutions of Ukraine as a center of hatred and propaganda.

Fake In Berlin, they made a graffiti with Zelenskyi in the form of a pimple

A photo of graffiti allegedly from Berlin is circulating on the network, in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi is depicted as a pimple that needs to be squeezed out. The reports say that the graffiti was allegedly painted by artists from the Polish group Typicaloptical. It's fake.

The MythDetector project fact-checkers checked the information about the graffiti and found that it doesn't actually exist. The place shown in the photo is indeed in Zurich, not in Berlin.

The fact-checkers then contacted the communication manager of the Department of Civil Engineering and Waste Management of the city of Zurich, who confirmed to the specialists that there were no drawings or traces of paint on the square.

By spreading this fake, propagandists are trying to discredit the Ukrainian president and create the appearance that the world community does not support Zelenskyi. Allegedly, if not only Russian propaganda talks about the absurdity of the Ukrainian leadership, but also others, including activists who make caricatured graffiti, then this is true.

In addition, Russian propaganda regularly spreads fake graffiti or, for example, covers with Zelenskyi to humiliate and distort reality as if he is not fully supported.

Fake The Orthodox Church of Ukraine is going to canonize the President of the United States

Social networks and anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels spread information that Ukrainians will allegedly canonize US President Joe Biden as a saint. Like, he made a huge contribution to the development of the state and helps in the fight against the aggressor. The authors of such messages add a screenshot, which depicts an alleged petition on the change.org website with a corresponding request to Epifanii, Metropolitan of Kyiv and all Ukraine. However, this is not true.

First, there is no such petition on change.org. Consequently, the propagandists created a pseudo-petition with the help of a graphical editor. Secondly, this statement is baseless since the Orthodox Church of Ukraine cannot list the President of the United States as a saint. To do this, at a minimum, Biden needs to profess Orthodoxy.

Fake Women and children should prepare to be conscripted

Social networks and enemy telegram channels spread information about Ukraine's preparations for the mobilization of women and children. Like, advertising with a call to join the territorial defense units contains hints that they will mobilize “everyone in a row”: both women and children. However, this is not true.

In fact, this is an unfounded statement. Such ads do exist and feature a crying baby and the slogan “Protect your children”. The advertising banner also featured the hotline number of the command of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Actually, volunteers from 18 to 60 years old, both women and men, can join the territorial defense. Everything happens on a voluntary basis. We are not even talking about general mobilization.

Fake Turkey supplies Ukraine with cluster munitions

Russian media and pro-Russian resources are spreading information that Turkey is supplying Ukraine with Cold war-era cluster bombs. The primary source of the messages is an article in the American edition of Foreign Policy. Its authors refer to anonymous sources among US and EU officials. It's fake.

The message was denied by the Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Vasyl Bodnar. He noted that information about the supply of cluster bombs is deliberately disseminated in order to blow up Ukrainian-Turkish relations and create a bad image of Ukraine and Turkey in the world. According to StopFake, the Foreign Policy material “Turkey sends Cold War cluster bombs to Ukraine” contains value judgments without specific evidence provided by witnesses or participants in such shipments.

According to the Cluster Munition Coalition, an international group on combating the use of cluster munitions, the Russian army used them hundreds of times in 2022 in ten of Ukraine's 24 regions. This could have affected more than 600 civilians. Thus, Russian propaganda uses the tactics of reflection and tries to cover up its own crimes.

Previously, propagandists accused Ukraine of allegedly supplying Azerbaijan with banned phosphorus munitions; allegedly Ukraine used chemical weapons against the Russian military in the Zaporizhzhia region. Russian propaganda also said that supposedly Russia does not have banned chemical weapons.

Fake In Volyn, a church was set on fire, the rector of which refused to go to the Orthodox church of Ukraine (OCU)

Russian media and pro-Russian telegrams are spreading videos of church fires. Allegedly, a fire occurred in the Holy Ascension church in the village of Ovadne, Volodymyr district, Volyn region. They say that the church was set on fire, because in Ukraine there is a “struggle against Orthodoxy”, and the priest “refused to leave the Moscow Patriarchate”. It is not true.

Information about the fire was denied by both rescuers and local authorities. The fire was not registered in the regional department of the State emergency service. According to the head of the Ovadne community, Serhii Panasevych, the video does not show their church.

Fact-checkers of the “Brekhunets” (Lier) project found out that this is a video of a fire in the church of St. Theodosius of Chernihiv in the village of Novooleksandrivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region, which occurred on January 19, 2021.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages about “harassment” and “discrimination” against the Moscow Patriarchate Church in Ukraine. Previously, reports of an attack on a priest in a temple were used to nourish this message. They also wrote that the transfer of churches from the Church of the Moscow Patriarchate to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine is “a struggle for influence on the minds of people”; allegedly Ukraine is “destroying” the greatest religious denomination; and that allegedly Ukraine needs to be “desatanized” and “deshaitanized”.

Fake In Germany, Ukrainian refugees will receive five hundred euros as a “welcoming” bonus

Reports are circulating on social networks that allegedly the German Bundestag has urgently adopted a decision according to which Ukrainian refugees will receive a “welcoming” bonus of 500 euros at Caritas offices. Such assistance is allegedly funded by German taxes. The video gained thousands of views and caused discontent among the Germans. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the Correctiv project asked for clarification from the office of Caritas and the Bundestag and received confirmation that the video was fake. The Caritas Association does not pay or offer any “welcoming” payments. The Bundestag did not make such a decision; moreover, there was not even such a project. The fact-checker also notes that the primary source of the video is an account from which false information about financial assistance to Ukrainian refugees was also previously shared.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads fakes to discredit Ukrainian refugees. In particular, fakes were circulated earlier in Germany, allegedly social services pay for the services of a hairdresser instead of Ukrainian refugees; as if Ukrainians go to Germany, draw up social benefits and immediately return home; and as if Ukrainians resell items received in Germany as humanitarian aid.

Fake In Milan, they installed “Zelenskyi's nose” sculpture

Reports are circulating on social media that a sculpture in the shape of a nose has been installed in Milan, around which white powder is scattered. Like, the Italians called the sculpture “Zelenskyi's nose” because it reminds them of the Ukrainian president. This is not true.

In Milan, indeed, they placed a sculpture in the shape of a nose, but it has nothing to do with Volodymyr Zelenskyi. A sculpture with a nose and cocaine is located in the Corso Como shopping mall in Milan. It was created by the Italian activist and artist Christina Donati Meyer. The activist sought to use the sculpture to protest the increase in drug trafficking in Milan, especially cocaine. MythDetector fact checkers note that this sculpture is actually called Bianco Natale, Milano-Medellin (White Christmas, Milano-Medellin).

Russian propaganda systematically creates fakes to discredit Volodymyr Zelenskyi both in Ukraine and abroad. To do this, propagandists use cartoon graffiti and fake covers of satirical magazines.