Spilnota Detector Media

Message Foreign "observers" confirmed the "transparency" of Russian pseudo-referendums in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine

Russian media report that "official delegations from all over the world" allegedly arrived in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to observe the so-called referendums. Like, it is these "international observers" who prove the "legitimacy" and "transparency" of holding illegal pseudo-referendums.

According to StopFake, instead of "independent observers", specially trained actors and fans of the Kremlin were brought to the occupied territories, posing as official delegations of foreign countries. They have no real political and diplomatic weight.

According to the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, many foreign correspondents of Russian state media were found among foreigners who, in violation of Ukrainian legislation and international humanitarian law, took part in holding pseudo-referendums in the occupied territories.

The “Italian journalist” Eliseo Bertolazi, who was presented as an “official international observer” by propagandists, is a correspondent for a Russian propaganda resource. "Official observer" from Latvia Alina Herlinei works as the editor-in-chief of a Russian state publication in Latvia. “UK watcher” Vanessa Wiley is the editor of a pro-Russian and anti-Western publication that frequently publishes conspiracy theories. Syria, Venezuela and Afghanistan, which also sent "observers" to the pseudo-referendum, are under sanctions for authoritarianism, abuse of power, violation of the rights of their own people.

Message Residents of Zaporozhye were "declared" Ukrainians without their knowledge, "in fact" they "have always been Russians"

Like, they were simply “handed Ukrainian passports”, so now they only want to return “to their roots”.

This message is spread by the Russian media in the context of holding illegal referendums in the occupied territories and the narrative about primordially Russian territories.

According to the fact-checkers of The Insider project, in 2001 almost 1 million 927 thousand inhabitants lived in the Zaporizhzhia region, of which 70.1% were Ukrainians and 24.7% were Russians. Ukrainian was named as their native language by 73.6% of the respondents, and Russian - only 24.6%.

This is not the first time Russian propaganda has manipulated ethno-national issues. Previously, they said that Ukraine does not have "historical rights" to the "Northern Black Sea" or that the Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region have the right to self-determination under the UN Charter. Thus, they are trying to justify the invasion of Ukraine

Message Ukraine is involved in the shooting in Russian Izhevsk and the arson of military registration and enlistment offices

Russian telegram channels write about such assumptions.

Allegedly, the Ukrainian special services will shake up the situation in Russia not only because of the protests, but also because of "working with mentally unstable elements."

Propagandists immediately drew parallels between the shooter from Izhevsk and Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The man who caused the shooting at the Izhevsk school was wearing a T-shirt with Nazi symbols.

Also, the man who set fire to the recruiting office in Uriupynsk, Volhograd region, was called an ardent Nazi.

Like, Nazism is always evil, Nazism kills, Nazism is the same everywhere, so Russia is forced to conduct a military-political operation against the Nazis in Ukraine.

Message Medvedchuk was exchanged for the sake of “referendums”

The authors of many “patriotic” telegram channels in Russia were outraged not only by the exchange of the leadership of the Azov Regiment, which the Russian authorities promised to give to the tribunal and generally ruled out the possibility of their exchange, but also by the fact that Viktor Medvedchuk was among those who surrendered to Russia.

The military or political leadership of the Russian Federation has not yet commented on the exchange because of the indignation of the “patriots” who consider it a defeat, real and informational. But Russian propagandists and PR people are making significant efforts to distance the leadership of the Russian Federation in the information field from any defeats and shift the responsibility to someone else. Therefore, commenting on the exchange of more than 200 Ukrainian military and foreigners who fought on the side of Ukraine was instructed to Denys Pushylin, the leader of the “DNR”.

He stated that he “signed the order himself” on the exchange, which is surprising since the exchange was coordinated by the efforts of a group of negotiators, including the Turkish president, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, representatives of President Zelenskyi’s office – and none of these countries, of course, recognized the “DNR” as “a part of the conflict”, and Pushylin as a person who can decide at least something. Still, Erdohan thanked the efforts of “Zelenskyi and Putin” for creating the possibility of an exchange.

But it is Pushylin who is spread by Russian propaganda where he explains that Medvedchuk was “liberated from Ukrainian captivity”. Although Medvedchuk was in custody and is a citizen of Ukraine, therefore he cannot be captured and thanks to his previous “merits” he cannot be involved in organizing the exchange of prisoners. And it seems that the absence of Medvedchuk in Russia “complicated the referendum and support for this referendum”. Consequently, the detained Medvedchuk complicated the process of “expression of will” in the occupied parts of Ukraine, and how come “free Medvedchuk” could help the “referendums” that would begin tomorrow, Pushylin, of course, did not explain.

All these incomprehensible statements are another proof that in any defeats, Russian propaganda is trying to shift the responsibility to the “people of Donbas”. For example, during the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kharkiv region, it was the Russian propaganda who blamed the defeat on those mobilized from the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Message The advantage of “referendums” is that Russia will “get” additional territories rich in minerals

Russian propaganda telegram channels began to distribute a video that should “explain” to the Russians what the Russian Federation will “receive” as a result of the so-called “referendums” in the occupied territory of Ukraine.

Oddly enough, there is no mention in the video of the “liberation of Russian-speaking brothers from the Nazis, or their “protection” from ghostly “oppressions”. At the same time, they focus only on the fact that Russia has seized more than 100 thousand square kilometers of land, the territory of Ukraine “will decrease by 20%”, and the population - “by 21%”.

The video tells how much grain can be grown in the occupied territories of the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions and reports on the same grain that the Russians stole this year in Ukraine. Since it is also impossible to boast of the “benefit” from the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, because the industry of the occupied Donbass was destroyed during the 8 years of the war, the video reminded that “the USSR in the Donetsk region produced 30 million tons of coal annually”, and “before the Maidan, GDP of Donetsk region accounted for 16% of the total gross domestic product of Ukraine”. The propagandists decided not to specify anything about the Luhansk region, they only indicated that “it has huge mineral reserves”.

The video also shows a map of Ukraine, which demonstrates all these calculations for the territory of all regions within their administrative boundaries but none of these four regions is completely occupied.

Message The exchange of “Azov” members is part of the agreement to “freeze the conflict” and may lead to a mass capture of AFU fighters

Telegram channels controlled by the the main office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation such as Lehitymnyi (Дegitimate), Resident and others began to manipulate the topic of the exchange of Ukrainian prisoners of war in order to reduce another defeat for Russia in particular on the information front.

For the sake of this, they distribute several theses at once. The first is that prisoners of war, in particular, the commanders of the Azov regiment, were exchanged as part of a “grand agreement” that provides for “freezing the conflict” and ceding Ukraine to Russia. For example, stopping the offensive or recognizing Crimea as Russian or recognizing the results of so-called referendums. Probably, a rather narrow circle of people who were negotiators in the process of exchanging the Ukrainian military for Viktor Medvedchuk and the Russian military know the terms of this exchange. But this is definitely not a cessation of hostilities or consent to the loss of territories. After all, it is known that President Zelenskyi offered to export Russian ammonia through the territory of Ukraine in order to exchange the Ukrainian military and return them home. That is, it was about economic, not military-political issues.

The second thesis, spread by telegram channels, has no rational explanation at all: the authors of the messages insist that now that “even the Azov people” have been exchanged, that is, those whom Russian propagandists proposed to publicly condemn and execute, the Ukrainian military will surrender en masse, because that "they will understand that nothing threatens them in captivity." And this, it would seem, is “a side, but negative, consequence of such an exchange for Ukraine”. Why the fighters of the army leading the offensive and knowing how they shoot, torture, burn Ukrainian prisoners alive, should “surrender en masse”, the network of the main office of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation channels does not explain.

Message The EU is committing geopolitical “suicide” by supporting Ukraine in the war

The Kremlin media is spreading this message using international affairs specialist Mark Gaziq, political commentator Rachel Marsden, and Professor John Laughland.

According to the Center for Countering Disinformation, the Russian narratives are repeated by China Daily. They write that the EU will be in a situation of “the greatest loser, regardless of how the conflict between Russia and Ukraine unfolds”. At the same time, the authors of the material note that the dependence of most countries on Russian gas is not very high, but in general, the future of the EU as an independent political pole in the global geopolitical arena “looks unattainable” precisely because of the support of Ukraine.

Russian propagandists systematically put pressure on the EU leadership, individual member states and citizens through assistance to Ukraine. Russia resorts to outright gas blackmail, saying that without Russian gas Europe will slide into the Middle Ages, as if the US is pushing Europe into the abyss. They also wrote earlier that allegedly in the EU they started talking about the gradual lifting of sanctions against Russia.

Message Exhumation of bodies in mass graves in Izium - desecration of the remains of the dead

Such a message is spread by anonymous pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, Ukraine treats the graves of the fallen without due respect.

After the liberation of the Kharkiv region in Izium, the bodies of the dead are being exhumed. According to the head of the Kharkiv regional administration Oleh Syniehubov, most of the exhumed are civilians, including children. Some of the dead have signs of violent death, there are bodies with their hands tied and signs of torture. The deceased were also found to have mine-explosive injuries, shrapnel and stab wounds. According to law enforcement officers, 11 dungeons have already been found in the territories of the Kharkiv region liberated from the Russians, six of them in the city of Izium. So the exhumation will make it possible to legally record the crimes committed by Russian soldiers and subsequently bring the perpetrators to justice.

In this way propagandists try to emotionally influence the exposure of their war crimes. Previously, they were proactive in asserting that Ukraine staged a genocide in Izium, and now they are digging up graves and blaming the Russians in order to get help from the West. The propagandists also prepared the Russians in advance for the fake “Bucha-2” in the Kharkiv direction.

Message Disconnecting Crimea from electricity and water supply by Ukraine is a war crime

Propaganda media write about this by comparing the interruption of the supply of water and electricity to the temporarily occupied Crimea with Russian missile strikes on the critical infrastructure of Ukraine, as a result of which Ukrainians were left without electricity and water. Allegedly, the West professes a policy of "double standards", they say: in 2014 no one said that Ukraine was committing crimes against Crimea. And as soon as Russia struck back, it was accused of violating humanitarian law and condemned such actions.

According to StopFake, the supply of electricity to the temporarily occupied peninsula was stopped due to Russia's unwillingness to comply with the terms of the contract. A similar situation with water supply through the North Crimean Canal - Russia refused to pay for the services provided, so Ukraine stopped the water supply. After that, Russia began to promote the narrative of “water ecocide” in Crimea.

In accordance with international law, Russia, as an occupying country, is obliged to provide Crimeans with everything they need. This has been repeatedly confirmed by the UN monitoring mission in Ukraine. However, Russia is known to be violating its obligations, moreover, it transfers its responsibility to Ukraine.

Message Temporarily occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Luhansk and Donetsk regions declared their “accession to Russia”

Russian media disseminate information that in all the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, a voluntary decision was simultaneously made to immediately join Russia. Moreover, the invaders are already spreading information about how many residents are ready to take part in the “referendum” and what (positive) decision will be: in the occupied parts of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, 80% of residents will vote “for”, in Luhansk - 90%, and in Donetsk - 91%. The occupiers are trying to imitate "democracy" and, according to the results of "polls", they assume that in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson region, part of the inhabitants will "vote" for "remaining part of Ukraine".

Recently, due to the successful counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army, as well as due to partisan resistance in the temporarily occupied territories, collaborators reported about the "postponement of referendums for security reasons". However, on September 20, the self-proclaimed authorities in all the temporarily occupied territories simultaneously announced the "immediate holding of a referendum" during September 23-27.

Such decisions have no legal force: neither Ukraine nor the world recognizes the results of the so-called voting. According to the Constitution of Ukraine, "the territory of Ukraine within the existing border is integral and inviolable" and questions about changing the territory of Ukraine are resolved exclusively by an all-Ukrainian referendum.

Message IAEA hides that Ukrainians are shelling ZNPP for political reasons

This thesis is spread by Russian propagandists. In their messages, they refer to the head of Rosatom, Lykhachov, who said that IAEA specialists understand who is really shelling the Zaporizhzhia NPP. They say that the experts of the organization who visited the Zaporizhzhia NPP know who exactly is shelling the plant, but the statements do not mention attacks on the Zaporizhzhia NPP allegedly by Ukrainians because of the political component.

In fact, the experts of the IAEA mission in the report do not mention shelling by Ukrainian troops because they do not consider Ukrainians to be guilty of the situation there. The Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council notes that the IAEA resolution, following the results of the mission at the Zaporizhzhia NPP, calls for “immediately stopping all actions against and in relation to the Zaporizhzhia NPP and any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine”.

The Ukrainian side has repeatedly recorded shelling from the Russian side. There is a proof of this, but there is no confirmation that the shelling came from Ukraine.

Message Ukraine needs control over ZNPP to create a nuclear bomb

This message is spread by Russian propagandists. They say that the withdrawal of the Russian military from the territory of the station will allow Ukraine to bring its troops there and, under their weapons, implement repressions against the local population as well as take out spent nuclear fuel and from which create a nuclear bomb.

However, the Zaporizhzhia NPP occupies a leading place in the energy system of Ukraine, so control over it is needed not to create a bomb but to prevent a catastrophe. After all, the Russian military repeatedly shelled the territory of the ZNPP causing emergency conditions and disconnecting it from the power grid. Also, according to Enerhoatom, the plant personnel work in improper conditions, which increases the likelihood of an accident. In addition, control over the station will provide electricity to the entire south of the country.

Ukraine in the early 1990s voluntarily renounced its nuclear status (https://ms.detector.media/trendi/post/27933/2021-08-05-ukraina-mogla-zalyshyty-sobi-yadernu-zbroyu-i-shantazhuvaty-svit-pravda-chy-ni/.) The creation of a nuclear bomb is a lengthy and expensive process, and its beginning will spoil relations with Ukraine's partners among nuclear states. Ukraine is not a terrorist state, therefore it is not working on the creation of a nuclear bomb. Ukrainian officials have also commented on this more than once.

Message If the United States supplies longer-range missiles to Ukraine, they will become a party to the conflict

This message is spread by Russian officials who are quoted by pro-Russian telegram channels. According to them, the supply of missiles with a longer range than now is a critical border. Like, in this case Russia reserves the right to defend “its” territory.

This message is part of a larger Russian propaganda narrative that Russia is indeed at war not with Ukraine, but with the US, the EU or NATO. Propagandists are constantly trying to draw another side into the war and every time they create new red lines. Like, if a country gives Ukraine weapons, it can be considered a party to the conflict and guilty of the fact that the war is still ongoing. In fact, Russia is solely to blame for the war that continues in Ukraine, and the partner countries send weapons to Ukraine so that we can defend ourselves from the invaders and recapture the occupied territories.

Message Ukraine staged a genocide in Izium, and now it is digging up graves and blaming the Russians in order to get help from the West

After the liberation of the Kharkiv region from Russian invaders, Russian propagandists increasingly draw parallels between the tragedy in Bucha and the mass graves in Izium.

In telegram channels, they spread theses that everything is not so simple and that one should not believe the Ukrainian authorities, who are promoting themselves on dug up graves, because the Russians have nothing to do with the murders in Izium.

We explain the messages about the burials in Izium which the propagandists came up with:

1. The leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine refused to take the bodies of the dead Ukrainian soldiers from the morgue from Izium. The Russians with the locals buried them in the local cemetery.

If the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine delayed the operation to transfer the bodies of the dead soldiers from the occupied Izium, there could be only one reason for this - the constant shelling of the city by the Russians.

On one of the crosses in the forest is written: "AFU, 17 people, the city of Izium, from the morgue". At the same time, some of the graves are without crosses.

In addition, burials of about 20 Ukrainian servicemen with their hands tied were found nearby. This may indicate that they were in captivity, said the Commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada for Human Rights Dmitro Lubinets in his Telegram.

2. Civilians of Izium died from Ukrainian shells arriving in the private sector. The Russians fought only on the outskirts of the city.

Since the beginning of March, people have died daily in Izium as a result of Russian airstrikes and bombings. Already on March 6, the Russian military was in the villages near Izium and tried to capture the city, and when they failed to shell the residential areas. And so it went on until April 1, until the Russians captured Izium.

3. Ukrainian authorities tear up the graves in the cemetery to show as many victims as possible.

In the forest near the cemetery, a mass grave of about 500 people who died during the occupation was discovered. Many crosses are knocked down from boards. Some have inscriptions - the surname and date of death, and mostly the serial number is indicated on the crosses. Judging by the date of death, at least some of the civilians died during the shelling of Izium by the Russian army. Currently, search groups are exhuming unmarked and mass graves.

4. Journalists were called to the cemetery to create a huge news story.

During the exhumation, Ukrainian and foreign journalists are indeed present but not to evoke emotions, but to show the world Russian crimes in the cities where the occupiers enter.

5. Zelenskyi will use the Izium case to get the West to tighten sanctions and Ukraine to receive more financial and military assistance.

It was the Russian military who attacked Izium and occupied the city, killing and torturing the locals. The world needs to know what war crimes and genocide Russia has committed in Ukraine.

6. Ukrainian authorities are using the mass graves in Izium as an explanation for why Zelenskyi is not negotiating with Putin. Like, Putin is ready for negotiations and the completion of the military operation can positively affect the lives of ordinary Europeans.

Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that negotiations with Russia are possible only if Russian troops leave the illegally occupied territory of Ukraine. Mass graves in Izium do not affect his decision.

7. Yermak published a photo of the graves from Izium where the date of death is March 9. That is, these people were tortured and executed by the Ukrainians themselves.

The head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andrii Yermak published a photo of the graves of an entire family who died on March 9 in a house as a result of a Russian air bomb. At least 44 people died under the rubble of the house.

Daria Herasymchuk, an adviser to the President's Office for Children's Rights and Child Rehabilitation, said that the Russians killed six members of the same family of three generations - Olena and Dmitro Stolpakov, little Sasha and Lesia, and Olena's parents Tetiana and Oleksandr. “Lesia Stolpakova, five years old. The Russians killed her on March 9, along with her mother, father and eight-year-old sister Sasha. Lesia's parents died very young. Mom Olena Stolpakova turned only 31 on February 1, and dad Dmytro - 33. Private entrepreneurs sold children's clothes and owned an online gift store. They raised two daughters. The family lived a happy, peaceful life until Russian troops came to kill Ukrainian civilians”, added Daria Herasymchuk.

8. The picture of the bones with yellow-blue ribbons was drawn even before the excavations, so it coincided and the artist guessed right.

A body with a yellow-blue bracelet on its arm was found in a mass grave.

Message IAEA is an anti-Russian organization

This thesis is spread by propaganda media, in particular, it was voiced at the Permanent Mission of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna. The report says that the IAEA is an anti-Russian organization that panders to Ukraine and has shown its pro-Ukrainian nature in the resolution. However, this is not true.

According to Reuters, the text of the resolution states that the IAEA board calls on Russia to “immediately cease all actions against and in relation to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and any other nuclear facilities in Ukraine”. 26 countries voted for the approval of the resolution, two voted against (Russia and China). The resolution entered into force on September 15, 2022.

Message The successful counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is the merit of the direct participation of the Pentagon in the development of the plan

This thesis is circulating in the pro-Russian media, in particular, it was mentioned by the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatolii Antonov. He argues that significant successes on the Ukrainian fronts were achieved thanks to the participation of the Pentagon in developing a plan for the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As a result, they say that the United States is another side in this war.

According to The New York Times, the Ukrainian side was really developing a plan for a counteroffensive with both Washington and London. However, the Armed Forces of Ukraine keep their military strategy and data on the state of the army in secret, so all parties were only consulting with each other.

Also, in the words of the publication, US Intelligence does not have the information about Ukrainian operations that it would really like. Washington even has a better idea of the Russian military, its planned operations, successes and failures.

Message Ukraine will send punishers to the liberated territories in the Kharkiv region, mocking civilians

Such a message is being spread by Russian propagandists against the backdrop of the liberation by the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Russian invaders of territories in the Kharkiv region. The reports say that for people living in the liberated territories of the Kharkiv region, a big problem will be that immediately after the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and maybe with them, real punishers will come. Like, they showed themselves perfectly in the fight against civilians even before the war: they fearlessly killed prisoners, fought against the flow of humanitarian aid, etc. The authors of such messages add that people in the liberated territories need to be careful. 

In addition, according to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, Russian propaganda accuses the Ukrainian authorities of plans to persecute traitors and collaborators among the residents of the territories of Ukraine de-occupied from the Russian occupiers. And Russia calls on international organizations to “force Kyiv to abandon punitive measures against civilians”; appeals to all UN states "to influence Kyiv in order to prevent severe humanitarian consequences for civilians"; accuses the Armed Forces of Ukraine of "looting, torture, beatings, in order to later shift the responsibility for their crimes to Russia".

In fact, the Armed Forces of Ukraine do not persecute the civilian population in the liberated Ukrainian territories. Since the liberation of cities and villages from Russian invaders, dozens of videos have appeared on the network, which show how civilians welcome the Ukrainian military with hugs and thank them for their struggle. However, Russia once again seeks to create the image of evil Ukrainians-punishers who mock their citizens; torture them, etc.

Thus, the propaganda wants to justify the war that Russia started in Ukraine. Like, the Russian army came precisely to liberate the Ukrainians from the captivity of the terrible Nazi punishers. In addition, the Kremlin seeks to create an alibi for itself regarding the possible discovery of war crimes by the Russian army in the liberated territories in order to avoid negative reputational consequences by analogy with the tragedy in Bucha.

Message Kyiv puts pressure on the leadership of Moldova

This thesis is spread by Russian propagandists. Like, the actions of Moldova are not independent, because they are completely controlled by the so-called external forces. In particular, Ukraine and Western countries. For example, propagandists claim that Kyiv encourages the Moldovan authorities to take active steps to destabilize the situation in Transnistria. 

According to EU vs Disinfo project analysts, Moldova suspended all flights to Russia in February 2022, after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, on September 9, 2022, the private company AIR Moldova announced that it would resume flights to Moscow on October 1, 2022. A few days later, the National Civil Aviation Administration announced a ban on all flights to Russia, citing "air navigation security".

Message Former NATO Secretary General Wesley Clark acknowledged that the Russian army is very competent and strong

This thesis is spread by Russian propaganda. According to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council, propagandists present their own disinformation interpretation of Clark's words as a fait accompli. In particular, they claim that he seemed to have "cooled the ardor of Ukrainians" against the background of the successful de-occupation of the territory in the Kharkiv region. Like, the former NATO Secretary General recognizes the high competence of the Russian army, which detracts from the joy of the Ukrainians.

However, Clark did not belittle Ukraine's achievements or claim that the Russian army is stronger. As the Center writes, in fact, Wesley Clark's rhetoric has remained unchanged since February 24, 2022. According to him, the only way to end the war in Ukraine is to defeat Russia. Clark is simply convinced that "you shouldn’t underestimate the enemy" as Ukraine continues to fight. However, Russian propaganda uses information manipulation to form new messages about the invincibility of the Russian army against the background of Russia's retreat under pressure from the armed forces of Ukraine. Propagandists seek to downplay the successes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, demonstrating that, despite the de-occupation, Western experts, including the NATO military, consider the Russian army to be more powerful.

Message Without Russian gas, Europe will slide into the Middle Ages

Russian propaganda is increasing the energy blackmail of Europe and is trying to force Europe to abandon sanctions against Russia and stop supporting Ukraine. The Kremlin seeks to pressure and blackmail European governments and create public panic over energy insecurity or rising electricity costs.

According to the EUvsDISINFO fact checkers, the EU member states are preparing for winter and the heating season both at the national and at the EU level. In particular, they adopted a resolution on filling gas storage facilities and distributing them in a spirit of solidarity, using various sources of energy resources, and committed to reducing gas use by 15% this winter. Despite the cessation of Russian gas supplies via Nord Stream, Europe is ready for winter. Underground gas storage facilities in the EU were filled to 82.5% of their capacity well before the November 1 deadline set in the gas storage regulation.

Recently, the Russians made a video about a winter without gas in Europe, which was supposed to scare the Europeans. However, the “powerful gas country” used winter footage from the hitherto non-gasified Russian city of Krasnoyarsk to shoot the film. Propagandists also claimed that 60% of British factories would stop working due to rising electricity prices provoked by anti-Russian sanctions. They tried to scare and fake that the United States is killing Europe, since it is beneficial for them to refuse Europeans from Russian gas.

Message If it were not for NATO troops, the Russians would definitely have won in the Kharkiv region

In pro-Russian public pages, messages are circulating with testimonies of alleged eyewitnesses who saw dark-skinned, heavily armed foreign mercenaries in Izium. And in Kozacha Lopan, they allegedly speak only English.

According to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, the propaganda narrative “Western weapons are only prolonging the conflict in Ukraine” gradually grew into “NATO has come, otherwise we would have piled on the Ukrainians.” There is no evidence that NATO troops are in Ukraine. In Ukrainian public and social networks, videos are being distributed from cities and villages liberated from Russian infidels, where it is clear that it is the Ukrainian army that is repelling Russian invaders.

Previously, propaganda attributed the dismissal of Vovchansk to NATO troops. By spreading fakes about NATO or US troops in Ukraine, the Russians are trying to justify their defeat and hide their shame, because at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the propagandists devalued and ridiculed the Ukrainian military and planned to “take Kyiv in three days.”

Message Poland started the “economic capture” of Ukraine

Such a thesis is being circulated on social media as a continuation of the Kremlin’s narrative that Poland intends to annex Ukraine. To promote the message, they used the news that Ukraine and Poland intend to build a pipeline to transport Ukrainian sunflower oil to the Polish port of Hdansk.

The construction of such a pipeline is, first of all, beneficial to Ukraine, since it will contribute to the partial unblocking of Ukrainian exports in the face of Russian aggression. It was previously reported about the construction of an oil pipeline 600 km long and with a capacity of up to 2 million tons of oil per year. The pipeline will be laid from Yahodyn (Volyn region) to Hdansk.

The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine explains that the start of a full-scale military aggression by Russia and the blocking of Ukrainian seaports forced the government to look for new routes for the transportation of Ukrainian agro-food products. Ukraine is a major world producer and exporter of grain and vegetable oils, and by the beginning of the war, more than 90% of these products were exported through ports located on the Black Sea.

Poland believes that in addition to partial unblocking of Ukrainian exports, the implementation of the memorandum will also contribute to improving the food security of countries facing famine. As a consequence, this should reduce migration pressure on Europe.

We are not talking about any capture of Ukraine by Poland. It was Ukraine that initiated the project to build a pipeline to the Polish port of Hdansk as Russia continues to threaten exports from Ukrainian seaports.

Russia is constantly spreading fakes that Poland intends to seize part of Ukraine. In July, propagandists wrote that two Polish brigades would take control of Western Ukraine in August. They also wrote that Ukraine is a “dying donor”, each country wants a “piece” for itself, and Poland takes the most. Thus, the propagandists are trying to destroy the partnership between Ukraine and Poland. 

Message The Ukrainian energy system is under self-attack

Russian media write about it.Like, the provocation was ordered by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi. It seems that the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine needs to expose Russia as an inhuman aggressor, which, due to failures at the front, hits peaceful targets. For this, the Armed Forces of Ukraine are allegedly beaten at power facilities with “Points U”.

Russia has not provided any evidence to support its claims. On September 11, the Russians launched a missile attack on CHP-5 in Kharkiv, leaving Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Dnipropetrovsk and partially Donetsk regions without electricity. In total, 11 missiles were fired at the facilities of the Ukrainian energy system.

After the beginning of the liberation of the Kharkiv region, Russian propagandists confirmed that it was their troops who had struck the critical infrastructure: “Glad to strike the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv regime because it is important for victory.” Moreover, they called on the Russian military to carry out new strikes, including against the Rivne and Khmelnitskyi nuclear power plants. In their opinion, “electricity is not a right, but a privilege”, which Ukrainians “do not deserve”.

Subsequently, the rhetoric of the pro-Kremlin media and propagandists changed, they accused Ukraine of “self-shelling” and “provocations”. Like, Ukraine will expose Russia as a “terrorist” and will again make false accusations. Among other things, allegedly Ukraine will launch messages that the Russians tortured civilians in the occupied Kharkiv region. Thus, propaganda is trying to justify the crimes committed in the temporarily occupied territories.

Message NATO warship exploded on a Ukrainian mine in the Black Sea

Russian media write that a military ship from Romania, which is a member of the North Atlantic Alliance, exploded in the Black Sea on a “Ukrainian” mine. Like, this is the first case after the start of the so-called special operation. Allegedly, the Ukrainians randomly installed mines in the Black Sea “in panic and fear”. This is not true.

In fact, according to StopFake, the Romanian minesweeper Locotenent Dimitrie Nicolescu exploded on a drifting mine which was being tried to neutralize in the Black Sea. The crew, consisting of 75 people, was not injured by the explosion and safely arrived at the military port of Konstantsa. The ship needs to be repaired at the shipyard.

There is no evidence that the mine on which the Romanian minesweeper blew up was left by the Ukrainian military. On the contrary, Ukraine, together with other countries, is engaged in clearing mines in the western part of the Black Sea. After the Russian invasion on February 24, Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Ukraine destroyed 28 such mines in the Black Sea.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported that these are sea mines, which at the beginning of 2022 were not registered with the Ukrainian Naval Forces. These mines were captured by the Russian armed forces in 2014 during the invasion and temporary occupation of Sevastopol.

Thus, Russia resorts to provocations and discrediting Ukraine in front of international partners. Previously, propagandists accused Ukraine of blocking foreign ships in ports.

Message The Ukrainian Armed Forces offensive was needed to convince the Western allies to give more weapons

This message follows from the publications of pro-Russian bloggers. They say that the need for an offensive by the Armed Forces of Ukraine followed from discussions about the supply of weapons to Ukraine in order to demonstrate to the allies that they should give even more weapons, even despite the depletion of their own stocks.

According to bloggers, we can talk about fighters, tanks and long-range ATACMS missiles capable of hitting targets in Russia. For this, according to the authors of the reports, shortly before the counteroffensive, an article was published by Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi and Lieutenant General Mykhailo Zabrodskyi, which deals with the possible spread of hostilities to other territories.

However, the supply of weapons to Ukraine began long before the counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, and the results of its use, in particular, could be seen in the Black Sea and the sinking of the Moskva cruiser. Also, the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, of course, is not a demonstration of the capabilities of Ukraine, but, above all, an operation to liberate the territories occupied by the enemy, and it was planned from this point of view. According to its results, we recall that more than 2 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory were freed.

The appearance of such messages is a way for pro-Russian bloggers to somehow explain the defeat of Russia on the battlefield and the loss of initiative in this direction, as well as an attempt to kill the wedge between Ukraine and the allies.