The Ministry of Defense of Russia once again boasted of a contrived "success," allegedly by Russian air defense means over the settlement of Bilyary in the Odesa region shot down one MiG-29 aircraft of the Air Force of Ukraine. It is a lie. On May 28, YuzhneMayor Volodymyr Novatsky denied information about a downed Ukrainian plane over the town of Novi Biliary in the Odesa region.
Russian propaganda, including Vladimir Solovyov's telegram channel, spreads the fake that 80% of Kherson residents want a Russian passport. Firstly, this figure is taken from the ceiling: there is no independent sociology in the region, and no one has conducted any polls. Secondly, this figure was invented by collaborator Kirill Stremousov - he simply told the Russian media that he "thinks so." That was enough for the Russian media to spread the news with such headlines.
In addition to Soros, the Freemasons, and Bill Geist, conspiracy theorists and misinformers have another favorite character, the American banker David Rockefeller (and any Rockefeller in the Rockefeller family). And now, on social networks, in particular in the Georgian segment of Facebook, a fictional quote by David Rockefeller is being spread: "World processes must be organized in such a way that Arabs kill Arabs and Slavs kill Slavs. We must prevent third world countries from reaching the level of the United States because then America will be covered by the crisis " (quoted in an approximate and abbreviated version). This quote seems to explain that the war in Ukraine is a conspiracy of the "world government", and Russia is not an invader and aggressor, but a victim of Western manipulation. The posts also indicate precisely where Rockefeller allegedly said this - at a luncheon for UN ambassadors in 1994. But according to Myth detector, Rockefeller did not say these words or other words about the "organization of the world order" at the event.
It will be recalled that Rockefeller was indeed a supporter of the idea of globalization and world economic unification. But this is not proof of his involvement in the "secret world government" - he publicly voiced his views as many other influential financiers, politicians, and businessmen for many years. He died in 2017, donating nearly a billion to charity during his lifetime.
Russian propagandists are spreading a fake story about "small arms depots" that were allegedly sold during the war, and it was because of this sale that Artemsil was shut down. Fake was analyzed in detail by StopFake.
The only thing that is true in the report of Russian propagandists is that warehouses in the mines where salt was mined in Bakhmut (former Artemivsk) existed. Weapons from the First and Second World Wars during the Soviet era and then, already during independence, kept some guns from the disbanded Ukrainian units.
But back in 2014, 95% of these weapons from warehouses were transported to Western Ukraine when there were fierce battles around Bakhmut. First of all, modern weapons were exported, but old ones were also moved - for example, Maxim machine guns and other historical weapons. For instance, Yuri Biryukov, an adviser to President Petro Poroshenko, wrote about this in 2015 and inspected warehouses. From a military point of view, warehouse values don't matter. And one of the largest producers of salt in Europe - the company "Artemsil" can not work due to constant shelling. That is why salt has become so expensive in Ukraine, and there are interruptions in the supply of salt in Europe. "The company is not working, idle, according to the order, indefinitely. The shelling is constant; the administrative building is partially destroyed. There were direct hits in the mine, in the warehouse. The production process is impossible. We will not endanger people. Moreover, most of the residents of Soledar and employees of Artemsil have already been evacuated. Most of the employees of the administration, engineering, and technical workers are not on-site, " acting director of the enterprise Viktor Yurin told Radio Svoboda. That is why the "salt crisis artificially created by the Kyiv regime," which the propagandists write about. The sale of the "shooting failure to sell it to Africa" is a fiction of former Verkhovna Rada deputy Ilya Kiva, who was the first to spread this lie.
With the start of the war, Ukrainian anti-vaccination groups in Viber decreased Kremlin propaganda, but over time it returned. Texty.org.ua writes about this in their research.
Russian media reported that Lithuania allegedly intended to annex the Kaliningrad region; Lithuania is provoking Russia into a military conflict with NATO to achieve this goal. The Lithuanian newspaper Delfi noted that, in fact, Lithuania did not claim and did not claim the territory of Kaliningrad and the region. And the purpose of this fake story is to "cause a sense of threat and fear, to create a false picture of what is happening."
The publication emphasized that Lithuania, unlike Russia, firmly adheres to the 1975 Helsinki Final Act provisions and does not take any aggressive action against its neighbors. In particular, the country's Foreign Ministry reminded me of this. It stated the absence of territorial claims in 2017 when Russia once again began to talk about the alleged "encroachment on its territory." "The thoughts of both Russian media and pro-Russian bloggers that the Lithuanian government may decide to block transit through its territory to Kaliningrad. Therefore, the Lithuanian issue must be resolved: misinformation and an attempt to find a reason to pressure Lithuania. The transit from Russia through the territory of Lithuania to Kaliningrad is the subject of an agreement (signed on November 11, 2002) between Russia and the European Community, so Lithuania cannot unilaterally terminate it. The decision to block transit to Kaliningrad or not can be made only by the European Union, which, unlike Russia, adheres to the norms of international law and therefore continues to refrain from such a radical decision, " Delfi writes.
Russian propaganda often uses the message that Western countries are allegedly "encroaching on the territorial integrity" of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, etc. In fact, despite the Kremlin's spread of such messages and conspiracy theories, Russia occupied parts of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Japan, and Chechnya. Read more about the Russian-occupied territories in Transparency International Ukraine. You can also read more about the armed conflicts and wars Russia has participated in during the last 30 years in the Ukraїner article.
Russian propaganda is spreading information that the administration of the Zaporizhzhia region has allegedly announced that the region will not return to Kyiv's control, saying that it is "historically Russian territory." The StopFake project drew attention to this.
In fact, Russian media do not cite the position of the Ukrainian government or the position of local residents of the region, but the words of the protege of the occupying power in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region Vladimir Rohov, who is not the first year a mouthpiece of Russian propaganda. Back in March 2022, the National Police of Ukraine opened a criminal case against him for collaborating. "Zaporizhzhia region is the territory of Ukraine both legally (enshrined in the Constitution of Ukraine) and historically. On these lands, the Zaporozhian Cossacks were formed, and the Zaporozhian Sich was created. Even after the region became part of the Russian Empire, the largest number of Ukrainians lived in the region, ” StopFake reminded, adding that part of the Zaporizhzhia region is currently under temporary occupation.
The video of the US ambassador in Georgia, Kelly C. Degnan, broadcast in Georgian, has spread on social networks. In this video, she allegedly says that Georgia needs to open a so-called second front against Russia. The video quotes Degnan as saying: "To make sure that the armed forces are on high alert and that the United States is supporting Georgia in its steps towards NATO membership. It is an incredible opportunity for Georgia, and time cannot be wasted. " These words are followed by footage of the explosion, which gives the impression that Degnan talked about hostilities.
Russian media are spreading the statement of one of the pro-Russian officials that the Sea of Azov has allegedly changed its status, and now the water area allegedly "belongs" to Russia and the occupation administration of Donetsk. This statement is part of Russia's narrative of "inland seas." "This is how propaganda began to call the Black and Azov Seas after the beginning of the armed aggression against Ukraine in 2014 and the Kremlin's temporary occupation of Ukrainian Crimea by the Kremlin. The narratives that Ukraine allegedly "lost" its rights to the peninsula and the adjacent Black and Azov Seas in 2014 are disinformation, " StopFake explained.
In fact, according to all international norms, in particular, the central UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ukraine has the full right to use the Black and Azov Seas. This right is not affected by the status of Ukrainian Crimea as "temporarily occupied" or by the Russian armed blockade of the Azov Sea coast and local ports.
Along with the fake about "changing in the status of the Sea of Azov," Russian propaganda is spreading information that it has "succeeded in ruining NATO's plans to consolidate and build military bases in the region." Russia is constantly exploiting the topic of "NATO aggression" to justify its illegal actions, such as the occupation of Crimea or a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Fake of NATO's intention to dominate the Black Sea has been circulating for at least 20 years and was actively used in early 2014. StopFake noted that Russian propaganda has now shifted the message from the Black Sea to the Azov coast. However, the North Atlantic Alliance forces did not declare their intention to "build military bases" on the coast of the Sea of Azov.
Information, that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station captured by Russian troops held 30,000 kilograms of plutonium and 40,000 kilograms of enriched uranium, was first spread by a Wall Street Journal journalist on social networks; from where it was picked up and disseminated by the Russian media. Russia can use this fake to spread the message that Ukraine is allegedly preparing to "resume nuclear weapons production" because enriched uranium and plutonium could potentially be used as raw materials for nuclear weapons.
Russian media have spread a distorted quote from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who allegedly said that Turkey did not want to get involved in the "show about Ukraine," saying that Ankara would not join sanctions against Moscow, and Russian companies could do business in the country.
StopFake writes that the quote of the President of Turkey was distorted, and words about the show were taken out of context. In fact, Erdogan said that Turkey opposes encroachments on Ukraine's territorial integrity and is trying to do everything possible to bring the parties to a peace agreement. Regarding the "show", according to the Turkish leader aa.com.tr: "President Erdogan emphasized that instead of participating in shows that do not contribute to resolving the crisis, Turkey is making every effort to cease fire in the region and then sign a permanent peace agreement, maintaining political and humanitarian relations with Russia. "
Russian media and pro-Kremlin telegram channels reported that two battalions of Poles had allegedly arrived in Ukraine and would soon be sent to fight in the Donbas. This fake began to spread against President Volodymyr Zelensky's statement about the bill on the special legal status of Polish citizens in Ukraine, which should become a "mirror respect" for Poland, which passed a law on support for Ukrainian citizens. It came into force on March 13 and regulated the legality of Ukrainians' stay in Poland and provided them with comprehensive support.
Despite this, StopFake writes, Russian propaganda spreads the thesis that the Ukrainian bill aims to " legalize Poles who want to take part in hostilities against Russia." In fact, for this purpose, the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine was created in Ukraine, where citizens of other countries serve. It includes Poles and volunteers from the Netherlands, USA, Sweden, Denmark, Great Britain, Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries. But there are no separate Polish battalions in Ukraine. Only Belarusians have their battalion named after Kastus Kalinowski, recently enlarged to the regiment. The Polish Government Security Center also denied allegations that Polish troops had arrived in Ukraine.
A pro-Russian resource published photos of documents allegedly belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which reportedly "surrendered to Russia." Borova village council reported that one of the photos showed a resident of their community who does not serve in the Armed Forces and at the time of the occupation was in the village and working at one of the local farms. "The occupiers came to him and took him away, but the boy returned home three days later. Therefore, we can assume that other photos of the documents from this post were obtained similarly and have nothing to do with reality, " the Borova village council said.
Russian media spread a fake that the United States allegedly "developed viruses in Ukrainian biolaboratories, including monkeypox," and lay it in Europe "Ukrainian refugees." In fact, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine has officially stated that no cases of monkeypox have been reported in Ukraine.
At the same time, an anonymous telegram channel administered by Russia's intelligence services, «Spletnytsa, is spreading conspiracy theories, drawing parallels between an outbreak of monkeypox and a coronavirus pandemic, saying it was an artificial disease that was allegedly launched on purpose. Smallpox was first detected in humans in 1970 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since then, cases have been reported in 11 African countries. According to the WHO (World Health Organization), the disease occurs mainly in the rainforests of Central and West Africa and is sometimes exported to other regions.
A fake is being spread on social networks that Viber messenger will allegedly be paid "next Saturday." The message also says that this information should be "sent to your ten friends so that it remains free." In fact, messaging on Viber, like Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp, is free. The fake about the alleged "paid Viber" was spread at least since 2018, and since then, the message's text has not changed. Such statements do not mention the date when the messenger is supposed to be paid, which indicates untruthfulness or manipulativeness. Also, this intrusion has other features of a fake: the lack of a primary source and a call to spread messages between your contacts.
However, this is another lie of the Russians. The head of the city department of education and science, Olena Buynevych, said that currently only the security guards, teachers, and the directorate, which are preparing for the end of the school year, are in the mentioned educational institutions Suvorov district mentioned by the Russians.
"Russia's Ministry of Defense is lying. Well, not for the first time. They do not get used to it. I understand and share the concerns of the residents of densely populated neighborhoods of schools № 40 (was in previous reports), 14, and 71. There around the skyscraper. Typical sleeping areas are private sector islands and large "Czech" and " Khrushchev. There are no "firing positions, armored vehicles, and artillery." There is a watchman, a principal, and teachers. People fill out magazines, go online lessons, prepare for the end of the school year, "the official added.
Under her post on Facebook, residents of Odessa confirmed in comments that there are no military or armored vehicles near schools.
The network is spreading a fake about the "order" to remove bayraktars from the hotspots of the front. A document with "Head of the President's Office" is attached to such posts. This document is allegedly a scan of a letter from the President's Office to Valeriy Zaluzhny. However, the fake authors broke through and indicated his position incorrectly, calling him the Chief of the General Staff, not the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. Instead, the Chief of the General Staff in Ukraine is Lieutenant General Serhiy Shaptala.
The Russian media disseminate such information regarding the statement of the Center for Defense Management of the Russian Federation. The reports say that the Ukrainian military, in particular soldiers of the Azov, allegedly forcibly detained civilians with children in a kindergarten in the village of Borova, Kharkiv region. There, the Ukrainian military allegedly equipped barracks and placed heavy military equipment, artillery, and multiple launch rocket systems on the institution's territory. According to StopFake, despite loud statements from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the information that the Ukrainian military forcibly keeps civilians in Borova kindergarten is not valid. This was stated by the local authorities of the village on their official Facebook page, "Borivska selyschchna rada."
There are now a lot of myths and speculations about life in Russian-occupied Kherson. In particular, the myth is spreading that in Kherson it is necessary to pay in Russian rubles for all goods and services. However, this is not the case. The myth was refuted by a Kherson journalist who is currently living in the occupation. She shared true information with the fact-checkers of the project "On the other side of the news". According to her, the Ukrainian financial system continues to operate in Kherson and payment in rubles is simply impossible. In the Kherson region, in particular in Genichesk, the Russians are trying to introduce cash payments in rubles, but these are just attempts, and not very successful. Although if you try hard, you can still get cash, in particular on a bank card. Be that as it may, Kherson residents are very hopeful that they will not be able to pay in rubles.
Such information is spread on social networks. In particular, the Russian-speaking and Georgian-speaking segments of Facebook. Such reports say that the Russian military captured American Admiral Eric Olson at the Azovstal plant. A photo of prisoners of war is attached to the posts. According to users, one of the militaries depicted is Eric Olson. However, according to the fact-checkers of the Myth Detector project, the allegation that US General Eric Olson was taken prisoner at Azovstal is unsubstantiated, and the photo related to his alleged arrest was actually taken on April 14 in Luhansk; therefore, Olson, in the post which the photograph was added is not mentioned at all. According to fact-checkers, a widespread photo, allegedly taken at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol and showing captured US General Eric Olson, was actually published by the Kremlin-controlled Sputnik on April 14. The photo shows Ukrainian prisoners of war. Fact-checkers add that any official open-source does not confirm the information about the arrest of Eric Olson at Azovstal. The circulated photo was also checked by the Italian organization FACTA.
Such information was spread by Belarusian propagandists, particularly Ksenia Lebedeva, on Belarus 1 TV channel. The plot said that the "Bandera" planned to capture Belarus's Brest and Gomel regions. According to the propagandist, the Bandera dream of adding to Ukraine part of the Brest and Gomel regions and from Russia such lands that passed into “their” composition in the XVIII century. "Why is the south of Belarus so important for Ukrainian nationalists? Because back in 2018, almost five years ago, they planned that this territory could become a strategical base for the introduction of Russian troops into Ukraine just in case, ” Lebedeva said. According to the fact-checkers of the project Brekhunets, the propagandist Lebedeva added that under such conditions she expressed the opinion of "the same nationalists" who allegedly believed that Ukraine would be in the circle of unfriendly states, including the West. However, this is not true. Ukraine is a peaceful country that has not carried out any attacks on any sovereign states and does not seek and did not seek to seize new territory. Instead, Russia seeks to seize Ukrainian territory, which in 2014 annexed Ukrainian Crimea and attacked Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and in 2022 started a full-scale war.
The Borova community in the Kharkiv region has denied a fake spread by Russian propagandists about the placement of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in a local school - the Kharkiv Anti-Corruption Center reported.
Russian propagandists, citing the head of Russia's National Defense Management Center, Mikhail Mizintsev, said Azov National Battalion fighters were holding hostages children and civilians in the basement of a school in the village Borova in the Kharkiv region. The fake report said that in the kindergarten "Berizka," Ukrainian defenders equipped barracks and deployed military equipment in the area. Propagandists are spreading lies that the Ukrainian military keeps civilians not only in the basements of the garden but also in the school. According to the Russian side, the hostages include women and children.
Russian propagandists are spreading this message, the Center for Disinformation Protection said.
According to Russian propagandists, "neutral Finland has decided to exchange available Russian gas for NATO membership. Residents of Finland refused to pay for Russian gas in rubles. Finland will buy more gas from the United States at an inflated price to cover the deficit. "
Russian media spread another disinformation statement by Maria Zakharova about "the activities of American bio laboratories in Ukraine," which allegedly "engaged in activities aimed at enhancing the pathogenic properties of plague, anthrax, tularemia, cholera and other deadly diseases using synthetic biology." That is why Ukrainian citizens are allegedly being "massively tested" for tuberculosis at the entrance to the European Union.
According to StopFake, this Russian fake is designed to frighten and sow distrust of Ukrainian citizens in European countries. After arriving in the EU, Ukrainian citizens do not undergo any medical tests, including tests for the presence of tuberculosis. Due to Russia's aggression, European countries have lifted all restrictions on Ukrainians entering the European Union. The European Commission explains that "the absence of travel or medical documents (e.g., vaccination certificate, COVID-19 test) will not prevent you from entering the EU". The European Union has also weakened customs and veterinary controls for Ukrainians: “Ukrainian citizens are free to enter the EU with their belongings and pets.”
The European Commission's information bulletin states explicitly that even with the absence of a biometric passport for travel abroad, a regular passport, or any other identity document, Ukrainians have the right to enter the European Union on humanitarian grounds. In this case, the undocumented Ukrainian should remain available to local authorities in a safe place in the EU. Learn more about "biological weapons" from fleas, mosquitoes, and lizards.
Russian media took the adviser's phrase out of context to the head of the Office of President Mikhailo Podolyak to convince their audience of the "correctness" of his narratives about the "genocide of Russians in Donbas." According to StopFake, the agitprop, namely, the pro-Kremlin channel "Tsargrad TV" used Podolyak`s quote, in which he said during the national telethon: "Adviser to the head of Zelensky's office Podolyak wanted to organize a total genocide in Kharkiv region, as well as in LNR and DPR. Until the word 'Russian' is forgotten here at all".
In fact, Podolyak, commenting on the probable course of events in Ukraine, replied that the Ukrainian Armed Forces would talk about how the counterattack would occur. For him, it is a principle "to liberate the Kherson region and the Zaporizhzhia region, and it is not even discussed. We must also be tough on collaborators and Russian troops in those areas. We definitely need the aquatorium of the Azov Sea. I support the word "Russians" being forgotten in the Kharkiv region, and I am for the word "Russians" to be forgotten in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. And that all these criminal elements, who call themselves some kind of "power" there, will not exist anymore, even physically. Because they are ordinary bandits. "