Russian media are actively spreading the news that the Americans have accused the United States and Ukraine of stealing $ 40 billion in military aid. In particular, RIA-Novosti wrote about it. Do reports say that under the news of allocating a new tranche of aid, Americans ask the authorities where the previously given money went? Also, Americans under this post seem to be concerned about the use of taxpayers' funds and financial responsibility for government actions. Russian propaganda turned the comments of anonymous users into loud headlines such as: "Where did the money go?", "Ukrainians spent the previous 40 billion too quickly!" etc. However, all this is manipulation. According to StopFake, the news was made based on the comments of seven anonymous users of the social network Twitter. Their authors are not opinion leaders, experts, or analysts. In addition, comments were added almost simultaneously, which is a sign of the activity of bots. Therefore, it is evident that such an opinion cannot reliably reflect Americans' views. Russian media often use this technique to create news and mislead readers artificially. It is not the first time Russian propaganda has tried to discredit US aid to Ukraine. Earlier, we wrote about how similar attempts were made based on extracted citations from an article published in The Wall Street Journal. Similarly, during the week, propaganda used comments from individual social media users from France and Germany to spread the idea that citizens of these countries did not support and "dislike" Ukraine.

Such messages were spread by Russian telegram channels and the media on the eve of the visit of EU leaders to Ukraine. Russian propagandist Vladimir Solovyov quoted French President Emmanuel Macron to support his thesis, saying that Ukraine should negotiate with Russia on its own. We should notice that Russia has repeatedly used manipulation to pressure the world to change the situation in its favor. These manipulations are refuted by statements made at a joint press conference of Germany, France, Italy, and Romania leaders after they visited Ukraine. "We always support the dialogue because one day the conflict will end, and negotiations must begin. But the terms of the talks must be determined by Ukraine: France and Germany will never be mediators behind Ukraine and will never demand conditions from Ukraine," he said. President of France Emmanuel Macron. "Russia is trying to force the borders inside Europe. And this is unacceptable. Therefore, Germany and other countries have sided with Ukraine from day one," said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. "Italy wants to see Ukraine as part of the European Union. So, it will support Ukraine's status as a candidate and in the future accession to the EU. This path involves deep reforms," ​​said Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. "Today in Kyiv with my European colleagues - Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President Emmanuel Macron, and Prime Minister Mario Draghi - to show our strong support and full solidarity with President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian people," said President Ioannis. It should be noted that after such statements by EU leaders, the Russian media again began to actively threaten Russia's use of nuclear weapons, which is also an element of pressure and intimidation.

The Russian newspaper Izvestia published an article stating that more than 100,000 Zaporizhzhia residents had already applied for Russian citizenship, and thousands had prepared the necessary documents. The publication refers to the statement of the collaborator Vladimir Rogov, appointed by the occupiers as the head of the so-called council of the military-civil administration of the Zaporizhzhia region, on the air of the Russian propaganda TV channel "Solovyov Live."

"There are already more than 100 thousand people - this is 100% who are now in queues. And thousands of people who have already prepared packages of documents," Rogov said. The article also mentions the following: "In the first three days, the city's passport office [Berdyansk] processed 25 applications for Russian citizenship. There are 70 more people on the list… Several residents of Melitopol have also already been given Russian identity cards, Rogov said on June 11. On the same day, Vladimir Saldo, the head of the Kherson region's Military-Civil Administration (MCA), received Russian citizenship. In addition to him, the first passports of the Russian Federation that day were handed over to 25 more residents of the region."

The high-profile title of the article is another fake propaganda machine. First, Zaporizhzhia is not occupied but is part of Ukraine. Therefore, mentioning Zaporizhzhia in the title is already a manipulation to attract attention. Secondly, in addition to the actual regional center, there are two large cities in the region - Berdyansk (population - of 109 thousand people as of 2020) and Melitopol (almost 150 thousand people as of 2021), which are now temporarily occupied. That is, when the occupiers talk about 100 thousand inhabitants of Zaporizhzhia, it is rather about the number of Ukrainians who remained in the temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region for various reasons.

In addition, the occupiers are actively spreading information that obtaining Russian passports has also begun in Kherson. However, for Kherson (a regional center with a population of almost 280 thousand as of January 2022), they show much more modest figures - there only 1.5 thousand people "expressed a desire to change citizenship."

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian president, gave an interview to the Russian newspaper RIA Novosti, in which he accused the United States of deliberately prolonging Ukraine's predicament. "The United States is prolonging the troubles of Ukraine. The United States is prolonging this bad period for Ukraine, for the people of Ukraine," Peskov said. The statement was widely circulated in the Russian media. For example, RT wrote that the press secretary of the President of Russia, Dmitry Peskov announced that America was prolonging Ukraine's troubles and delaying the process of arms supply, which was terrible for the country. In fact, Peskov's words are manipulation and an emotional reaction to the unprecedented assistance the United States provides to Ukraine. It is almost 54 billion dollars allocated by the US Congress. The total amount of aid includes the cost of weapons that the United States supplies to Ukraine. Also, in his statement, Peskov "forgot" to say that it was because of Russia that "all the troubles" and the "bad period" arose in Ukraine. Silencing the root causes and shifting one's responsibility for war crimes against Ukraine to anyone else (Ukraine, the United States, the collective West) is part of the information policy of the occupiers. Of course, it is more advantageous for Russia to leave Ukraine without help and support because, unfortunately, we will not be able to resist such an enemy on our own. Also, in this way, Peskov is somewhat intimidating, saying that even Ukraine's partners in this war are only harming it. Hinting that as long as the United States sends weapons, the war will continue. However, the war in Ukraine began not because of actions but because of an attack by Russia, which, in particular, with the help of American weapons, Ukraine is resisting.

The Russian propaganda media spread this thesis. In their articles, they refer to pro-Russian comments published under the material of the German public television ZDF on Twitter. Propagandists claim that the Germans are choosing Russia, thus reacting to one of Volodymyr Zelensky's statements. The German public television ZDF tweeted an interview with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, in which he said that Ukraine needed confidence that the German government, including Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, supported Ukraine. Russian media called these words of the Ukrainian president an ultimatum. According to StopFake, pro-Russian comments quoted by the Kremlin media can be found under the ZDF publication. Still, it is impossible to say, given them, that all Germans choose Russia. It is manipulation. According to fact-checkers, a poll conducted in April 2022 showed that 89% of Germans fully support or are inclined to support Ukraine, and about 82% of Germans fully support or tend to believe that the Russian authorities are to blame for what is happening.

This message was spread by the Russian media and social networks concerning an article in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), published on June 13. Russian propaganda has traditionally exaggerated information and speaks of "ordinary sawing" and "expected theft." However, the quotes announced by the Russian media are taken out of context and distort the opinion expressed in the original source. The fact-checkers from StopFake drew attention to the manipulation. The WSJ published an article about how much money the United States spends daily on military aid to Ukraine under the headline: "Since billions go to Ukraine, officials are concerned about the possibility of fraud and waste." It reports that the United States sends about $ 130 million a day in aid to Ukraine (including the cost of weapons, not just money as such). The US Congress has also allocated nearly $ 54 billion to Ukraine, exceeding annual aid to any other country, including aid sent to Afghanistan at the peak of US military involvement there. The article's authors, referring to the opinion of American politicians, draw attention to the need to establish an effective mechanism for controlling the allocated funds, which did not happen at the beginning of the war due to the need to respond quickly to challenges. That is, Americans want to be sure that the money allocated goes to their goals. And this is natural, given the amount of funding.

It was stated during a so-called international economic forum held in Saint Petersburg, the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov. He spoke about his vision of the financial situation in the world. He assured that "everything will be restored on a new basis in the conditions of the absolutely unprecedented war that was declared and started against us." The fact-checkers of the project "Bez Brekhni" drew attention to the quote of Putin's press secretary. Peskov is probably referring to US and EU economic sanctions imposed on Russia over three months. Hundreds of international companies have also stopped cooperating with the country, causing the Russian economy to suffer. However, calling all these actions an unprecedented war, Peskov forgot to add that it happened as a result of the real war that Russia started on the territory of Ukraine. That is, the war is not going on against Russia, and if it were not for the military actions of this country, as a result of which hundreds of peaceful Ukrainians die and cities are destroyed, nothing would have happened.

Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan suggested that NATO declare that Putin's goal was the whole of Eastern Europe and that, thanks to NATO's actions, he did not achieve that goal, gaining only Ukraine. "NATO declares that Putin's goal was the whole of Eastern Europe. Or the whole of Europe. And he did not achieve this goal... In the end, Putin received only Ukraine. And no goals. And so, NATO prevented the escalation of the war. Take a good plan," the propagandist said.

In this way, she responded to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg's words: "We have a responsibility to ensure that Putin does not achieve his goal, that the war does not escalate. At the same time, NATO must consider how to be a strong player and prevent war from escalating. "

Simonyan resorted to one of the most common tactics of Russian propaganda - the substitution of concepts and artificial blurring of real goals by much broader ones, which no one planned to achieve. In fact, since February 24, 2022, the Kremlin has constantly been changing the purposes of the war in Ukraine, its rhetoric, and its timing. These "updates" of versions show that Russia has failed to achieve its goals either in Ukraine or abroad. Fighting continues in Ukraine, and Ukrainian defenders are resisting Russian invaders. Indeed, some Ukrainian territories are now temporarily occupied by Russia - but this is no reason to say that "Putin got Ukraine."

Russian media reported that the Ukrainian military allegedly refused to fight with weapons provided by Western partners. This thesis is disseminated concerning a CNN article. CNN does have a paragraph saying that "some units (AFUs) prefer to use commercial drones equipped with explosives" instead of the American Switchblade. In other words, it is already clear from this quote that this is not a mass renunciation of all Western weapons by the Armed Forces, and Russian propaganda has distorted CNN material. Another quote from the material confirms this: "In some cases, according to one of the sources familiar with American intelligence, Ukraine has simply decided not to use unfamiliar Western systems."

This manipulative thesis is spread on Facebook to foreign audiences. German-language reports claim that while "at home [German] pensioners are starving," the government has provided 22 billion euros to Ukraine and plans to pay even more.

Fact-checkers discovered this manipulation from the German publication Correctiv. According to a government spokesman, Germany has allocated about 1.83 billion euros to Ukraine since 2014, about 1.6 billion euros for various aid programs since February 2022, and about a billion euros for military purposes. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that since 2014, Germany had supported Ukraine for more than two billion euros. "Comparing assistance to Ukraine or refugees with the situation of pensioners in Germany, as they are presented in a Facebook post, is not new. It has only recently been rumored that Ukrainian refugees can receive a pension ten years earlier than Germans, which is not true," Correctiv added.

Russian mass media refer to an article by the French online publication AgoraVox. In the article, the author expresses the opinion that Russia has won the communication war and writes as one of the arguments: "More and more Westerners (starting with the "wise old" Kissinger) are calling for a "ceasefire," for "peace negotiations" with Putin, even if it means forcing Ukraine "to make territorial concessions...".

What is wrong:

1. The article's author is anonymous under the nickname "Nikopol." It is only stated that he is "an engineer by education, a development aid manager by profession, a traveler, like a history and philosophy..." etc.

2. Nikopol does not reference the statements of the "Westerners" he is talking about, except for the former US Secretary of State.

3. Besides reflections, the author's arguments are based on fakes and propaganda messages, which "Media Detector" has already reported. In particular, about the "neo-Nazi battalion "Azov" and how "former ombudsman of Ukraine Lyudmila Denisova admitted that she lied about sexual crimes by Russian soldiers on Ukrainian territory."

4. AgoraVox is one of France's first citizen journalism sites, created in 2005 by volunteers and non-professional writers. Wikipedia wrote that in 2011, there were more than 70,000 volunteer authors on the site.

Georgian lawyer Irakli Zakareishvili published a post on Facebook claiming that "US President Joe Biden deceived Europe and forced it to give up Russian oil, while the United States buys twice as much oil from Russia as before the start of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict." The claim that the US doubled its oil purchases from Russia after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine is fake. Fact-checkers from Myth Detector refuted Zakareishvili's words. In fact, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US imposed an embargo on Russian oil, natural gas, and coal on March 8. Canada, Great Britain, and Australia joined the initiative. On May 30, the European Union banned seaborne imports of Russian oil with a six-month phase-in period for crude oil, accounting for 90% of the country's oil purchases. The volume of Russian oil sold in Europe in April increased significantly compared to March. According to The Wall Street Journal, Russia can sell increased volumes of oil by resorting to fraud — tankers loaded with Russian oil indicate in official documents: "Destination unknown." The oil is then loaded onto large ships in the middle of the sea, and as a result, its origin is concealed.

As for the USA, we can talk about the increased demand for Russian oil from Indian companies that process Russian crude oil into gasoline and diesel fuel, mixing it with products purchased in other countries. The US does buy some oil products from India, but it is impossible to determine which ones contain Russian oil. Experts claim that even in the case of Russian fraud, the volume of oil products of Russian origin on the market in the United States is insignificant.

The Russian media is constantly speculating on the food crisis, which all international organizations warn about. Most often, they write that Ukraine itself blocks ports and therefore does not export grain to countries that usually buy Ukrainian agricultural products. Are they claiming that Ukraine is selling its grain in exchange for weapons, or is it exporting grain to Europe to create an artificial famine in Ukraine itself? But there is a new thesis - there is not enough Ukrainian wheat at all, so the lack of exports can not affect most people worldwide.

For example, Soloviev and other propagandists write about it on telegram channels. In fact, it is a manipulation. First, the 16 million tons Russian propagandists write about is only an approximate level of wheat exports. But Ukraine does not only export wheat - in 2020/2021, the state exported almost 60 million tons of grain. And among them - barley, beans, corn, flour, and oil. And Ukraine cannot export all these products to Asia and Africa due to Russia's blockade of ports.

Secondly, Ukraine had convenient transport links with the countries it supplied grain, making it cheaper. Now, due to the impossibility of delivering them there from Ukraine, they are becoming more expensive - and therefore, countries are forced to buy less. Several countries, including Egypt and Lebanon, are a quarter dependent on grain supplies from Ukraine. The figures are as follows: 25 million tons of corn and wheat are equivalent to the annual consumption of all the world's least developed economies. And it was Ukraine that met the grain needs of these countries. In addition, recent years have been dry in many countries, so grain production has declined altogether - and this could lead to famine in the world's poorer countries. Ukrainian grain is now in dire need of Ukrainian grain.

The Russian media spread such a statement by the Commissioner for Human Rights in Russia, Tatiana Moskalkova. The relatives of the prisoners allegedly fear that their sons will either be sent back to the front or they will be repressed.

In April 2022, the Russian army captured a soldier of the National Guard of Ukraine. At first, the man was used in propaganda videos about the humane treatment of service members. And then they sent the mother a photo of her dead son. Can at least one mother ask Russia not to return her son to Ukraine after that?

We remind you the wives, sisters, and mothers of the Ukrainian military, who defended Mariupol, particularly the Azovstal plant, and are currently in captivity, founded an organization to protect the rights of Ukrainian prisoners of war. They call for adherence to the Geneva Convention, ask international organizations to help bring our boys home to their families and families, demand the return of the bodies of fallen soldiers, and settle the issue of missing persons. Instead, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, among Russian prisoners of war, some do not want to return to Russia and those who have already been buried there.

On June 12, Russian Education Minister Serhiy Kravtsov arrived in the temporarily occupied territory of Zaporizhzhia Oblast and told reporters that "schools will allow us to learn Russian" and "we will not forget about the Ukrainian language." "I believe that the study of the Ukrainian language should be left in schools, as is the case in all national republics of Russia," he said.

According to him, the main thing is to "tell students the whole truth ... about our fraternal peoples, about common achievements, victories", and everything else can be solved. And this is the only thing about schools in the occupied territories that he did not manipulate. It has become the main educational process in schools in the formerly occupied territories.

It is known that linguocide is taking place in the territories of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts and the Crimea, occupied since 2014. However, the Ukrainian language has been left in schools. You can study Ukrainian only at the elective once a week, or even once every two weeks. In addition, the elective of the Ukrainian language should be supported by the majority of the class. If there are not enough votes, there will be no Ukrainian language classes, even in the form of an elective.

For example, in elementary school in the temporarily occupied territory of the Donetsk region, the subject "Ukrainian language" was renamed "Language of the peoples of Donbas" and "Ukrainian literature" to "Literary reading of the peoples of Donbas." They spend an hour a week together while Russian is taught every day, Osvitoria writes.

All textbooks are imported from Russia, lessons begin with the Russian national anthem, and teachers work according to Russian standards. Children are taught that they need to be defenders of Russia and that "Donbas is the heart of Russia."

At present, in the territories of Ukraine occupied in 2022, children could study online according to the Ukrainian program. Those teachers who remained in the occupied territories and had a pro-Ukrainian stance were threatened with physical violence, imprisonment, and the prosecutor's office and were eventually written "fired under the article" in a Ukrainian labor book.

When the Russian propaganda ends in fantasy, the British tabloids come to their aid. Today, the Russian media spread the news that Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and his wife had allegedly "quickly" left Sweden without even staying for the evening's cultural program with the Swedish royal family. It seems that the Finnish president flew home quickly because Russian President Vladimir Putin reminded him of the Russian Empire's and Peter I's successes in the war with the Swedes. He allegedly hinted at and threatened the countries now about to join NATO. All this "news" referred to an article in the Daily Mail.

Indeed, there is an article in the tabloid where "Putin's threats" are called "those who freeze the blood" of European politicians, and that it is because of these threats that "Putin is tickling the nerves" of his neighbors, the Finnish leader interrupted his visit. However, the article states that the Swedish side was warned about the possibility of the urgent return of the President of Finland. And Helsinki officially denies that the president returned home because of any statements by Putin. The British publication did not provide evidence other than its own opinion on why the visit was reduced. Furthermore, the Russian media even deleted from the article of the British tabloid the mention of refuting such speculations and the phrase that the possible reduction of the visit was known even before it began.

Russian propaganda media widely disseminate this thesis. In particular, this was stated by RIA Novosti concerning the statement of Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, made at a press conference in Ankara: "The situation with Ukrainian grain has nothing to do with the food crisis in the world, but the West portrays it as a 'global catastrophe,'" said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. "We have paid a lot of attention to the problem of Ukrainian grain exports, which our Western colleagues and Ukrainians are trying to classify as a global catastrophe, although the share of this Ukrainian grain in question is less than 1% of world wheat and other cereals."

A similar manipulation was spread by the Russian media, claiming that world hunger could be caused by sanctions against Russian fertilizers and not by the problem with Ukrainian grain, which arose as a result of the war unleashed by Russia. However, according to ING Economics, Ukraine accounts for 12% of world wheat exports and 17% of world corn exports; Ukraine is also the world's largest oil exporter and the largest supplier of fertilizers in the world, and Russia's war against Ukraine disrupted their exports and logistics. Also, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in 2021, the world produced 2776.9 million tons of grain. And according to the Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Roman Leshchenko, in 2021, the country harvested 32.4 million tons of wheat, 40 million tons of corn, and 10 million tons of barley, i.e., only these three crops together account for almost 3% of world grain production. According to The Insider fact-checkers, this indicator is not as important as Ukraine's share in world exports to assess the impact of the war in Ukraine on the world grain market.

According to the Ukrainian agricultural portal Latyfundyst, in 2020, when the wheat harvest in Ukraine was significantly lower than a year later, out of 29.2 million tons exported, 21 million tons were shipped. Ukraine was in fifth place after the European Union, Russia, the United States, and Canada in the world's most extensive wheat exporters list.

Russian media spread the statement of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, that Ukraine allegedly does not consider the loss of territories a tragedy. However, these words were taken out of context. In fact, Danilov said that Ukrainian forces could retreat from Sievierodonetsk and other cities in the Donbas while regrouping. "Temporary loss of territories is not a tragedy. The tragedy would be the absence of the nation, " he said. It was noted that the temporary retreat of the Armed Forces with the loss of territories during hostilities was not a tragedy because the main thing was to save the country.

By manipulating Danilov's words, Russia tries to root the message that "the Ukrainian government has abandoned its own people." Earlier, Russian propaganda also spread manipulations about the evacuation of civilians and that Ukrainian officials and Volodymyr Zelensky left Ukraine. In this way, Russia seeks to provoke panic, despair, and hatred of power in society.

Russian media and pro-Kremlin telegram channels spread information that the Ukrainian authorities were lying about the cholera outbreak in Mariupol, saying that the WHO had already denied this information. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to undermine public confidence in the Ukrainian government and hide the actual situation in Mariupol.

In fact, on May 17, the WHO warned of a possible cholera outbreak in Mariupol due to problems with water shortages and water quality. WHO Incident Manager for Ukraine Dorit Nitzan said that the organization had received information from NGOs that sewage was mixed with drinking water in Mariupol: “This threatens the spread of many diseases, especially cholera. We are preparing for this; we are preparing vaccines; we cooperate with non-governmental organizations that can go there and support people. " On June 6, similar statements were made by Ukraine's chief state sanitary doctor, Ihor Kuzin, and the mayor's adviser, Petro Andryushchenko. They were talking about the threat of an outbreak of cholera.

At the same time, the Russian media spread the statement of the WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris, who allegedly denied the information about the cholera outbreak in Mariupol. In fact, Harris said the risk of a cholera outbreak in Mariupol was high, but the WHO could not confirm "whether there is a current outbreak in the absence of a systematic epidemiological investigation and confirmation of laboratory testing (PCR)." Margaret Garris also added that the WHO was looking for opportunities to get to Mariupol through partners, but it is still challenging.

 Russian media are spreading a statement by an associate professor at a Russian university who predicts world hunger allegedly due to sanctions against Russian fertilizers. He denies the facts and says that Ukraine cannot be called the leading exporter of grain globally, that "without Ukrainian grain, there will be no famine in the world," saying that "the shortage of Russian fertilizers threatens serious problems," StopFake reports. "Russian propaganda is again trying to present itself as a victim, not an aggressor in this war. To this end, Moscow is spreading the narrative that it is not the war against Ukraine and the blocking of grain supplies from Ukrainian ports that will cause famine. Still, sanctions against Russia and, consequently, cause the lack of Russian fertilizers on the world market, "the fact-checkers said. In fact, according to ING Economics, Ukraine accounts for 12% of world wheat exports and 17% of world corn exports; Ukraine is also the world's largest exporter of oil. Ukraine is also the world's largest supplier of fertilizers, and Russia's war against Ukraine has disrupted its exports and logistics. Russia has also temporarily occupied some parts of the region in the south and blocked Ukrainian ports, thus hindering grain exports to world markets. At the same time, Europe has not wholly abolished the import of fertilizers from Russia, only imposed restrictions on the import of some Russian fertilizers, allowing the import of 2.6 million tons per year. Also, some countries plan to reduce their dependence on imports and fertilizers over time. 

This thesis is spread by referring to Spiegel's German newspaper, which published the article "Why is Germany so slow to supply weapons?". One paragraph in this text is currently being actively discussed on social networks and the media. Namely, Spiegel, citing unnamed sources "close to the German government" (i.e., not in the German government), writes: "There is concern that Ukraine may become overconfident if it wins a series of victories on the battlefield and decides to invade Russia, which will mean that German tanks will be inside Russia again. This concern underscores Berlin's distrust of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. And this is also the reason why Germany's defense industry is not allowed to supply battle tanks. "

However, in another part of the article, the German publication criticizes Chancellor Olaf Scholz for "a mixture of incompetence and reluctance" for "the desire to hide behind his allies." "It seems that Scholz would never have laid down any weapons without massive pressure from abroad and within his governing coalition," the paper said. "And this even though Kyiv needs all the help it can get."

At the same time, the thesis of "provoking Russia" is not new to Western politicians. For example, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, when explaining why NATO cannot close the skies over Ukraine, also said that it would "mean NATO's direct involvement in the conflict and carry the risk of a full-scale war for the whole of Europe." Or US President Joe Biden, who, on the day of the announcement of new military aid to Ukraine, in fact, asked: "not to shoot at Russia." "We do not call on Ukraine to strike outside its borders, and we do not give it such an opportunity with our decisions. We do not want to continue the war just to harm Russia, " he wrote in The New York Times. However, their statements are a precaution not to provoke an escalation rather than distrusting the Ukrainian government.

It is not the first time Spiegel has emerged alongside pro-Russian propaganda. Previously, the publication published a "study on Ukrainian tax evasion schemes" without methodology and other data. It was commissioned by the European United Left and Left-Green Greens, known for its pro-Russian stance. The Ukrainian media later republished this information concerning Spiegel. Read more about this in the article "How the Ukrainian media fell into the hands of Russian propaganda." The Cardiff University Institute for Crime and Security Research has also published research on how manipulations of leading Western media, including Spiegel, are used to spread anti-Western disinformation and promote Russia's pro-Kremlin ideas and geopolitical interests.

Russian media have reported that Pentagon officials are studying Russian equipment seized in Ukraine, including the Dagger missile, to "copy and get something for themselves." Russian propaganda refers to an article in The New York Times in these reports.

According to StopFake, the American publication did write that researchers from the Pentagon came to Ukraine to analyze Russian technology. However, their trip explores how Russia's military-industrial complex uses Western technology. "Researchers have found that ammunition and equipment, including missile guidance systems and laser rangefinders, contain microchips, printed circuit boards, motors, and antennas manufactured in the United States and the European Union," the statement said. "Currently, several countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, are investigating how components of their production entered Russia's weapons systems to circumvent the arms embargo."

Fact-checkers recalled that back in 2014, after Russia's occupation of Crimea, the United States and other EU countries imposed the first restrictions on supplying weapons and selling high-performance computer chips to Russian companies. After the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, an embargo was imposed on the supply of advanced technologies to Russia, such as the export of semiconductors, computers, lasers, telecommunications equipment, etc. At the same time, the NYT material refers to X-101 cruise missiles, Azart radio stations, and reconnaissance drones, but there are no Dagger missiles among them.

Read more.

Zelensky gave instructions to the mayors of American cities. On June 4, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a video address to the Conference of Mayors of the United States, urging American cities to renounce "brotherhood" with Russian ones. Of course, Russian propagandists did not miss this speech and distorted the words in their way, giving Zelensky "anger" and the power to instruct American mayors.

In his address to the 90th Annual Conference of Mayors, which unites more than 1,400 American mayors, the President of Ukraine said: "Chicago and Moscow. Jacksonville and Murmansk. San Diego - Vladivostok. Albany and Tula. What do these connections give you? Probably nothing. But they allow Russia to say that it is not isolated even after such a war. Each of you sees how the Russian army is at war and what it is doing with the peaceful cities of Ukraine. Her cruelty is no different from the tyrannies of the past. "

He stressed that 3,620 settlements of Ukraine came under Russian occupation, many of which are no longer suitable for civilized life.

"This is the reality that Russia has brought: when there is no connection in the cities, there is no electricity, there is simply no water. When bombs and missiles can destroy any building - even a kindergarten or university. When the whole city can just be burned, "the president said.

Zelensky invited the mayors of American cities to implement a project to rebuild Ukraine. As we can see, in his words, there is neither aggression nor a commanding tone on the part of Ukraine.

Due to the war, we remind that twinning ties with Russian cities were severed by several Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Odesa, Zhytomyr, and others. Also, on September 2, 2014, due to the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine, Prague severed twinning relations with Moscow and St. Petersburg.

After the ambassadors of the European Union approved the sixth package of sanctions against Russia on June 2, the pro-Kremlin media intensified the thesis that it would not affect Russia as much as the West. Russian propagandists write that the European Union has analyzed who is harmed by anti-Russian sanctions and decided to reconcile with Russia. Due to specific sanctions against Russia in the EU, inflation has been breaking all records recently, with grain and vegetable oil prices rising significantly. Therefore, the sanctions imposed by the European Union under the sixth package could lead to a "price shock," an increase in interest rates, and a decline in the population's purchasing power.

One of the sources of the manipulative idea of ​​reconciliation was a column by scholar William Moloney in the American publication The Hill entitled "Can Russia win a PR war against the West?". A writer citing the New York Times suggests that the United States and its allies are no longer staunch supporters of "victory" for Ukraine and harsh "punishment" for Russia as they were at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. And that now they are trying to find an acceptable way to compromise to end the war. But nowhere in the column does the author claim that the European Union has decided to reconcile with Russia. Even though the European Union has approved the sixth package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus in connection with Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine. In particular, the EU has decided to ban the purchase, import, or transit of crude oil and certain petroleum products from Russia. Excluding the use of Russian oil will take six months for crude oil and up to 8 months for other refined products.

If restrictive political and economic measures against Russia had not destroyed its economy, Putin would not have had to repeat as a mantra that "sanctions against Russia are largely provoking a global crisis." He has recently blackmailed the EU and the US by unblocking Ukrainian ports for grain exports after anti-Russian sanctions are lifted. And on June 4, he came up with another option, if Ukraine wants to export grain, it can do it, but not through ports, but through Belarus, and for this, the EU will need to lift sanctions from Minsk.

And if in Russia, an analog of McDonald's was invented, Russian companies have already faced a technological crisis due to Western sanctions. According to the Financial Times, they can not replace their electrical and computer equipment from global manufacturers who have completely stopped doing business in Russia.

In fact, Russia's real place is a lot of noise out of nowhere. All of Russia has less GDP than one state of California or Texas. The only valuable contribution of modern Russia to the world economy is oil and gas. 

Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has spread fake information that Ukraine will receive only 15% of the $ 40 billion allocated by the United States to help Ukraine. Most of the money will go to the United States and other countries - but Ukrainians will have to return all 40 billion US dollars.

In fact, it is not the case: indeed, $ 6 billion - or 15% of the total - will go directly to the Ukrainian army. And, for example, more than 8 billion - to restore weapons stockpiles for the US Army itself, which has already handed over a lot of equipment to Ukraine. But other programs for which the United States allocates 40 billion are humanitarian aid, including refugees from Ukraine to the United States and other European countries; these are funds for stabilizing inflation, economic recovery, etc. You can read in detail what the funds will be allocated for this assistance here. And all these programs, in different ways, help Ukraine and Ukrainians - both in the country and abroad. Another part will go to strengthening NATO troops in Europe.

Volodin's manipulation was spread by many Russian media simultaneously, claiming that this assistance would need to be returned. However, this is an aid, not a lend-lease - a program of a simplified system of purchasing weapons for Ukraine in the United States. It means that you will need to return the money - just later, not at the time of purchase and delivery.