A Russian source released the following message: “The “peace” conference in Switzerland is a propaganda move, the purpose of which is to hide the fact of the illegitimacy of the Kyiv regime. Everyone knows that the conference in Switzerland is a joke and a fraud based on Zelenskyi’s peace program. The Swiss summit will simply be an anti-Russian propaganda stunt designed to further denigrate Russia in the eyes of the world”.

However, this information is not true, writes the EUvsDisinfo project. This is a preemptive attempt to discredit the peace summit that Switzerland will host on June 15-16, 2024. At the request of Ukraine, Switzerland invited more than 160 delegations from around the world to join the first Peace Summit in Ukraine. Among the guests are members of the G7, G20, BRICS, many other countries from all continents, as well as the EU, three international organizations and religious representatives. According to the Swiss government, the summit aims to create a framework conducive to a comprehensive and lasting peace in Ukraine, as well as “a detailed road map for Russia’s participation in the peace process.”

Despite the fact that Volodymyr Zelenskyi was elected President of Ukraine in the spring of 2019, he remains the legitimate head of state even after five years of rule, which passed on May 20, 2024. Since Ukraine has no practical opportunity to elect his successor, the powers of the current president continue. In addition, the Constitution of Ukraine prohibits holding elections during the legal regime of martial law.

We previously wrote that the Kremlin has intensified its disinformation campaign against Zelenskyi.

Polish-speaking Facebook users posted a picture about Ukraine. It says: “How can a country engulfed in “war”: export goods, participate in Eurovision, participate in sports competitions, trade with the whole world, have fun in Kyiv and other places where cowards hide? Something doesn’t add up here, and at the same time it requires help from all over the world. It’s a lie, do you agree?” Polish fact-checkers from the Demagog project drew attention to this case.

In response to the question “How can a country engulfed in “war”: export goods, [...] trade with the whole world?”, they cite research by Dr. Maria Greenberg of MIT. She argues that the relationship between trade and armed conflict is complex and ambiguous. War destroys trade ties between countries, but does not eliminate them completely. Ukraine exports metals, machinery, chemicals, but mainly agricultural products. The war led to a decrease in exports of these goods and an increase in their prices. Exports of goods and services to Ukraine fell significantly in 2022, according to the World Bank. However, in 2023, Ukraine achieved some stabilization, although exports decreased by about 20% due to lower prices on world markets, not due to lower sales volumes.

Regarding participation in sports and music competitions, there are many examples of countries that sent their teams to various tournaments during armed conflicts. For example, the Syrian team took part in the 2012 Olympics in London, where the civil war continued. In 2016, teams from Iraq and Libya competed at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. In 2020 (which actually took place in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), the Tokyo Olympics featured teams from Myanmar and Somalia.

Ukraine is also not the first country to participate in Eurovision during the war. For example, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina - in the first half of the 90s during the wars in Yugoslavia. In 2022, the winner of the competition was the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra, but due to the war it was held in Liverpool (UK) in 2023.

Photos of Ukrainians walking the streets of Kyiv are not proof of the absence of war. For example, during World War II, people also continued to go about their business, as archival photographs show.

The war in Ukraine remains a real threat for many people. During the two years of war, more than 10,000 civilian deaths were confirmed as a result of Russian attacks, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. The heaviest fighting is taking place in the east of the country, but attacks are also taking place in other regions.

Propagandists use this message to create skepticism among Poles about aid and support for Ukraine and its citizens.

Russian propaganda continues to spread disinformation in an attempt to interfere with the democratic processes of the European Union. Russians claim that the European Parliament elections held in June will allegedly lead to a situation similar to the collapse of the USSR. They say that regardless of which parties win them, the new schedule of forces, according to them, will lead to the collapse of the EU, since it has long gone beyond the scope of the “club of interests”. “Does this mean that the victory of the globalists will bring stability to Europe? Not at all. Everything will be the other way around. If the “Euro-heretics” simply collapse the EU, then the “European Inquisition” will destroy Europe, turning it into an economic and political periphery, thrown to the margins of global historical processes”, write propagandists.

These statements of Russian propaganda are untrue and aimed at undermining citizens' trust in national institutions. StopFake project specialists refuted them using statistical data. They found that according to research by the international Eurobarometer project, which regularly conducts public opinion polls on behalf of European institutions, the positive image of the EU among citizens of member countries has reached its highest historical level. This happened against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the April 2024 study.

According to the survey, almost three-quarters of EU citizens (73%) say that EU actions have a direct impact on their daily lives. In addition, the majority of Europeans agree that their country would benefit from EU membership (71%). These results remain high across the EU, the study authors note.

The Eurobarometer survey also recorded significant interest among EU citizens in the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. In particular, Europeans want to see the fight against poverty and social exclusion (33%), as well as support for public health (32%) among the main issues discussed during the election campaign. EU defense and security are in third place (31%) - the importance of this item for Europeans has increased significantly in light of Russian aggression against Ukraine, the study says.

Russian media write that “EU politicians have begun to aggressively suppress freedom of speech”, allegedly trying to suppress Russian “resistance movements”.

StopFake fact-checkers explained that the disinformation message is based on a number of measures and resolutions of the European Parliament aimed at limiting the scale of Russian influence ahead of the European elections on June 6-9, 2024.

Russian media are trying to denigrate two European Parliament resolutions of February 8 and April 25, 2024 - both documents report a number of identified cases of bribery of European officials by the Kremlin in order to interfere in democratic processes in the European Union.

Indeed, according to investigations, Moscow recruits some members of the European Parliament and other European institutions as “agents of influence”, and also finances certain European political parties, which then act as mouthpieces for Russian propaganda, promoting Russian interests in the EU.

Pro-Russian telegram channels promote the message that Kyrylo Budanov is a competitor of Volodymyr Zelenskyi, and for the Office of the President he is “like a bone in the throat”. The head of the Office of the President, Andrii Yermak, is allegedly so afraid of any competitor for Zelenskyi that “one should not be surprised at the poisoning of Budanov’s wife”.

In fact, this message is promoted exclusively by Russian propaganda and the anonymous telegram channels that relay it. The head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kyrylo Budanov, in an interview with the BBC on April 22, 2024, denied any possibility of a political career during the war.

The accusation of the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine in the poisoning of the wife of the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate is an attempt to transfer the blame for this crime from Russian intelligence to internal Ukrainian civil strife, the Center adds. In the end, such messages are disseminated in order to create a picture of a conflict that in fact does not exist between Ukrainian intelligence and the political leadership.

Propagandists have been speculating for quite some time on the topic of holding elections in Ukraine, since the term of Volodymyr Zelenskyi’s rule will supposedly expire, so his rule of the state will be illegal. They say that Western countries will soon bring this issue up for discussion.

Experts from StopFake found that this narrative intensified in the late spring of 2024, when elections would have been held if there had not been a full-scale war. Also, the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council emphasizes that this message is a construct of the Russian special services  disseminated with the help of bloggers who left Ukraine. This disinformation campaign, known as Maidan-3, is aimed at weakening Ukrainians' trust in the government and discrediting the current government, as well as strengthening distrust of Ukraine among its allies.

As for the EU's opinion in this case, there has not yet been any statement from Western politicians on this topic. However, the so-called presidential elections in Russia, held on April 15-17, were recognized by the European Parliament as a farce and adopted a resolution. “Since they were carried out in the illegally occupied territories of Ukraine and Russia, it was neither free nor fair”, the text of the resolution notes.

Russian propaganda uses this message to spread disinformation and create the impression that the Ukrainian authorities are false. This helps the Russian regime push the population towards internal strife and create conditions under which Ukraine can make concessions in the future.

Russian sources disseminate information that in 2022, during negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, the Ukrainian delegation allegedly could not “talk about itself” and was forced to coordinate its position with its allies. Representatives of Ukraine allegedly complained that they had “three bosses”. The negotiations themselves seemed to have been disrupted by Boris Johnson. In asserting this, propagandists refer to the statement of the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation Medynskyi.

This message is a component of the Russian narrative, saying that Ukraine is not a sovereign state, but just a “pawn” of the West, forcing Ukrainians to fight in the interests of NATO, the “Anglo-Saxons”, etc.

Ukraine is building partnerships with Western countries. And the format of these documents proves that Ukraine is an independent subject of international relations. In no country in the world does Ukraine have a subordination system in the “superior-subordinate” format, writes the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine.

The demonization of Boris Johnson is a Russian IPSO aimed at undermining Ukrainians’ trust in the West. It is for this reason that Russian propaganda came up with the myth that Johnson allegedly disrupted the negotiations in 2022. Thus, he allegedly plunged Ukraine into an “endless war” that will last “until the last Ukrainian”.

Russian resources are disseminating information that the rector of the Sviatohirska Lavra of the UOC of the Moscow Patriarchate, Arsenii, was arrested due to his religious beliefs.

In fact, this information is fake, as reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. The church rector Arsenii (Ihor Yakovenko) was taken into custody after he was accused of disclosing information about the deployment and movement of Ukrainian military personnel: “In September 2023, the rector of the Sviatohirska Holy Dormition Lavra of the UOC-MP disseminated information of a military nature. In particular, during his sermon, he told the believers about the location of checkpoints, as well as units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Security Service of Ukraine, the National Police of Ukraine and the Defense Forces of Ukraine on the territory of the Sviatohirsk community”, wrote the Donetsk regional prosecutor’s office.

The suspicion raised does not concern his “religious beliefs”. It is about his possible commission of specific actions, for which criminal liability in the form of eight years of imprisonment is provided, the Center adds.

At the beginning of a full-scale invasion, Patriarch Kyryl of the Russian Orthodox Church blessed Russian troops for a bloody war in Ukraine. The UOC-MP often carries out not only spiritual and cultural activities inherent in religious communities, but also carries out political actions that harm the interests and national security of Ukraine. How Russia blurs reality by resorting to rhetoric about “sinners” can be read here.

Propagandists quote Russian Defense Minister Serhii Shoihu, who at a meeting of the Russian Defense Collegium said that the Ukrainian military is fighting in the interests of the war between the United States and Russia. They say that during the full-scale invasion, almost half a million military personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces died. He also noted that during the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian military allegedly failed to achieve the goals that “NATO instructors” set for them, and thus were able to dispel the myth about the superiority of Western weapons. However, this is not true.

Now we do not have an accurately known number of dead, wounded and missing Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers for the entire time of the full-scale invasion. But on February 25 of this year, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, during a large press conference following the results of the forum “Ukraine. Year 2024” answered this question. According to him, “31 thousand Ukrainian soldiers died in this war”, not counting the fighters of volunteer battalions and the missing. But we see that this figure is significantly less than what the Russian Ministry of Defense states.

Russian propaganda has been promoting the narrative of Ukraine's war in the interests of the United States for long enough to neutralize the fact that Ukraine is defending its own territory, interests and cultural heritage. Claiming failures in the counteroffensive and dispelling the “myth” of the superiority of Western weapons does not reflect the full picture. Ukrainian forces carried out successful defensive actions, repelling attacks and inflicting significant losses on the enemy. For example, in the summer of 2022, an agreement was reached with Russia on a “safe corridor” in the Black Sea through the UN and Turkey. However, this agreement lasted only a year, after which Russia threatened to attack Ukrainian ports. Ukraine responded with naval drone and missile attacks on September 13, 2023, forcing Russia to reduce its ambitions in the Black Sea region.

Also, the “largest tank battle”, according to The New York Times, which the Ukrainian side won, took place on March 2, 2023 and proves the opposite of Shoihu’s claims. The Russian army launched powerful offensive operations after defeats in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Despite successful actions at Bakhmut and Soledar, they were defeated at Vuhledar due to the effective resistance of Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters hit several tank columns heading towards Vuhledar and subsequently inflicted significant losses on Russian troops.

Shoihu’s statements regarding the counteroffensive and losses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces look like an attempt to distort circumstances and convince the public of his superiority on the battlefield, despite such a powerful “enemy” as NATO.

A screenshot of an alleged Politico article is being circulated online, which states that on the sidelines of the White House they are beginning to doubt the legitimacy of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The reason for this is the cancellation of presidential elections. “The country lacks basic democratic procedures” - such phrases of dissatisfaction are allegedly heard in private conversations of American officials.

However, this is not true. None of Politico’s social media pages or media websites published a similar article. The same screenshot is distributed only by Russian and pro-Russian resources. Specialists from the VoxCheck project write about this.

Currently, martial law has been introduced in Ukraine, therefore, in accordance with Article 19 of the Law of Ukraine “On the Legal Regime of Martial Law”, holding elections is prohibited. This means that for the duration of the martial law, the President of Ukraine will remain in office legally, and the next elections will be held after the martial law is lifted.

The problem with holding elections in Ukraine is the safety of citizens. After all, part of the country’s territory is temporarily occupied, some cities are within reach of enemy artillery, and the entire country is under the threat of missile attacks. In addition, in wartime, the costs of holding elections are unjustified, because Ukraine is fighting for its existence and funds for holding elections can be used to purchase military equipment.

After all, Zelenskyi did not lose his legitimacy after the elections were canceled. Despite the drop in ratings, the incumbent president maintains a relatively high level of support. Data from the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) show that as of February 2024, trust in Zelenskyi was 64%. Before the full-scale Russian invasion, 37% of citizens trusted him, and immediately after February 24, 2022, Zelenskyi's level increased to 90%. Also, the KIIS study shows that in February 2024, 69% of Ukrainians supported the opinion that Zelenskyi should serve as president until the end of martial law.

In the Russian segment of social networks they add that the American oligarchic clan is promoting the topic of transgender transition among children and making money from it. And they include Penny Pritzker among such “crooks”, who, they say, began to “look after” Ukraine and will soon introduce her reforms.

VoxCheck specialists examined such a case and explained that Penny Pritzker is the US Special Representative for the Economic Recovery of Ukraine and will not be involved in carrying out medical reforms. Also, the Ukrainian authorities did not announce their intention to change the rules of transgender transition.

Ukraine's international partners, such as the United States and the EU, have also not publicly called for changes to policies on transgender transition for children. But the partners are calling for combating discrimination against the LGBT community in Ukraine, such as including punishment for inciting hatred or violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity in Article 161 of the Criminal Code, and for improving the representation of women at all levels of political and public life.

Russian propaganda uses Ukrainian stories about the training of border guards to spread disinformation in the Ukrainian information space about the preparation of offensive actions by the Ukrainian Defense Forces from the Sumy region to the Kursk region of Russia, which “will lead to increased military operations in the Sumy region”.

At the same time, the Russians are disseminating information about Russia’s alleged preparation of an offensive in the Sumy region. In fact, Russia does not have sufficient reserves for an offensive in the Sumy region. According to the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council, such rhetoric should force the Armed Forces of Ukraine to withdraw reserves from Kupiansk.

Also in this case, Russia is resorting to one of the Russian propaganda tactics, using fear, uncertainty and doubt to achieve its goals. That is, the target audience of such messages is also residents of the border regions of Ukraine. After all, another goal of propagandists is to force as many civilian Ukrainians as possible to leave the border regions of Ukraine. In addition, in this way, Russia is trying to justify its terrorist attacks on populated areas of the Sumy region.

Propaganda telegram channels write that the West, together with Kyiv, are allegedly trying to shift the blame for dangerous incidents at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Russia. And that in this way they only confirm their involvement in these provocations.

In fact, this information is not true. This was reported by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine. The Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN, Serhii Kyslytsia, at a meeting of the Security Council rejected accusations from Russia that Ukraine could cause a nuclear disaster: “Someone believes that a country that is still recovering from a major nuclear disaster would like a repeat of Chernobyl in 1986? This is an idea that could only have occurred to Kremlin propagandists, because only Kremlin propagandists openly dream of radioactive dust replacing Ukrainian cities”.

In addition, according to the chairman deputy of the Board of National Atomic Power Generating Company Energoatom Petro Kotin, due to the incompetence of the personnel recruited by the occupiers, the necessary repairs and inspections are not carried out in full at the Zaporizhzhia NPP. In particular, this is why equipment failures are recorded, which significantly worsens the safety situation.

Accusing the Russians of Ukraine’s alleged involvement in the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and promoting this disinformation at the level of the UN and the Russian Foreign Ministry is part of the Kremlin’s nuclear terrorism. At the same time, in this way propagandists discredit Ukraine and throw another “argument” into the information space to justify aggression, which sounds like “protection from terrorism on the part of Ukraine”. Read more about how Russia blurs reality by resorting to rhetoric about the “Ukrainian trace” in various troubles in Russia or even the world here.

Propagandists continue to claim that Russia allegedly adheres to international norms in its aggression against Ukraine. This time, propagandists spread disinformation about “Russia’s compliance with the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war”. Russian media claim that “Russia treats Ukrainian captives humanely” and “Ukrainians are surprised at the good treatment in Russian captivity”.

In fact, Russia has repeatedly violated the basic principles of the Geneva Conventions, attacking civilians, medical facilities and medical personnel, and disregarding the principle of humane treatment of prisoners of war. All these facts were re-recorded by independent commissions under the auspices of the United Nations, as StopFake reminds us.

At the end of March 2024, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine published another report (December 2023 - February 2024), which reports a sharp increase in cases of torture and execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian occupiers. The 28-page document, consisting of 110 points, describes the facts of torture, abuse, sexual violence and executions of both civilian Ukrainians by the occupiers and prisoners of war, documented by UN experts.

The report emphasizes that torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian prisoners by Russians is very common and “commonplace”. According to the UN, 96% of Ukrainian prisoners of war (58 out of 60 respondents) became victims of various types of torture.

UN experts named beatings, electric shocks, threats of execution, mock execution, exposure to cold and water, and torture in which the victim is forced to remain in one fixed position for a long time as the most common methods of torture. Ukrainian prisoners of war told the commission about the practice of sleep deprivation, prohibition of the use of toilets, torture by hunger and thirst, loud noises and Russian songs. Captives interviewed by the UN reported that conditions in Russian colonies had improved a month before their exchange in order to hide traces of numerous tortures of Ukrainians.

A separate paragraph in the UN report describes Russian torture of a sexual nature. 65% of Ukrainian prisoners - 39 people out of 60 respondents - were subjected to sexual violence or threats of such violence from the occupiers. These included attempted rape, threats of rape and castration, beatings or electric shocks to the genitals, and repeated forced disrobing, the UN report said.

Pro-Kremlin media write that Russia allegedly adheres to international norms in its aggression against Ukraine. Russian media add that “Russia treats Ukrainian captives humanely - and Ukrainians are surprised at their good behavior in Russian captivity”.

StopFake analysts analyzed this case and explained that Russia has repeatedly violated the basic principles of the Geneva Conventions, attacking civilians, medical facilities and medical personnel, as well as neglecting the principle of humane treatment of prisoners of war. All these facts have been repeatedly recorded by independent commissions operating under the auspices of the United Nations.

For example, at the end of March 2024, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine published a report (December 2023-February 2024) which reported a sharp increase in allegations of torture and execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war at the hands of Russian occupiers. The 28-page document, consisting of 110 points, describes the facts of torture, abuse, sexual violence and executions of both civilian Ukrainians by the occupiers and prisoners of war, documented by UN experts.

An alleged quote from Zbigniew Brzezinski, a former adviser to several American presidents, is being circulated on social networks. According to a Facebook post, he allegedly said that global elites are preparing to cause wars, famines and epidemics around the world with the help of vaccines and chips. Fact-checkers of the Czech project Demagog.cz established that this quote was invented by Russian users of social networks, and then supplemented by Slovak ones.

“Our ultimate goal is a one world government. We will do terrible things: wars, famines and epidemics around the world. After the first, the second, third, fourth, fifth will come, until you yourself ask us for vaccines, and in the end, for chips. If only all this would finally end”, says the quote, which is distributed in Slovak.

The fictitious quote from Zbigniew Brzezinski was first distributed on the Internet in a somewhat abbreviated form - without mention of vaccines and chips, only about a “one world government” and “wars, famines and epidemics”, Demagog.cz reported. Myth Detector, a fact-checking organization, has previously refuted the authenticity of these words and found that the false quote began to spread from Russian sources back in 2012. It was first published in August 2012 by Russian publicist Mykola Kofyrin in his conspiracy blog post, and the next day the fake quote began to spread on the Russian blogging platform LiveJournal.

A post with an invitation to a protest march containing this fake quote began spreading in Facebook groups on April 6, 2024. They used the full version of the quote from vaccines and chips. A similar version first appeared on social networks in October 2020. It was mentioned without specifying a source in an interview for the Extra Plus website by Slovak entrepreneur Jan Semaniak.

Semaniak, who died in January 2024 in Slovakia, was involved in book publishing. His publishing house, Torden, has published books by Volodymyr Putin's advisers and defenders of Russian imperial ambitions. “The publishing company did not stop selling books with pro-Kremlin propaganda even after the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Semaniak himself also openly held pro-Russian views in life and liked to spread unfounded conspiracy theories”, Demagog.cz reports.

More refutations of propaganda theses and conspiracy theories can be found in the sections “Messages”, “Tactics and tools”, “Newspeak” and “Conspiracy Theories” of the Detector Media “Disinformation Chronicles”.

The air raids in Ukraine are supposedly in vain, because “the Russians are targeting exclusively military targets”. Russian telegrams began to disseminate such information. They say that sirens are beneficial only to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi in order to sow panic around the war among the people of Ukraine. As proof of their claims, propagandists are distributing a fake, allegedly unknown persons in the Odesa region covered with foam a siren informing the civilian population about the missile danger. However, this information has already been refuted by the Center for Countering Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council.

The assertion of Russian propaganda about the “inexpediency” of air raids contradicts reality, because Russia daily randomly fires missiles, bombs, kamikaze drones and artillery at the territory of Ukraine.

In particular, by spreading a fake story about covering sirens with foam, propagandists are trying to justify Russian missile terror and shelling of Ukrainian civilians. Previously, we refuted information that the air raid warning in Ukraine would be activated to supposedly make it easier to issue draft notices to men in shelters.

Russian propagandists on anonymous telegram channels and media, as well as through diplomatic channels, are distributing materials according to which Ukraine allegedly staged a provocation at the temporarily occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), attacking it with drones. They say that the International Nuclear Energy Agency (IAEA) condemned Ukraine for such actions in its recent statements and is ready to hold a meeting of the Board of Governors at the request of Russia on this situation. However, this is only the interpretation of propagandists.

The other day, drones actually exploded at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine noted that this was a provocation by Russia in order to discredit Ukraine. At the same time, the IAEA did not blame Ukraine for the attacks in its statements regarding the situation.

In Agency circles, the Russian narrative was actively disseminated by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN in Vienna, Mikhail Ulianov. In particular, on his telegram he repeated the messages of Russian propaganda regarding the incident. On April 8, he sent a note to the current Chairman of the Board of Governors, Permanent Representative of Argentina to the IAEA Federico Martinsen, and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi with a request to convene an urgent meeting on “the recent attacks and provocations of the Ukrainian armed forces against a Russian nuclear facility” not later than April 11. The note notes that it was created “according to instructions from Moscow”. Later, Ulianov confirmed in the same telegram channel that the IAEA would still hold a meeting on April 11 at the request of the Russian delegation.

This was also stated by Reuters sources, who at the same time note that they do not expect the IAEA to accept Russia’s position and that the meeting is more of a formal nature, where all parties will present their position.

The Russians are spreading such disinformation ahead of the meeting to try to lead a favorable message in countries where the position on Russian aggression has not yet been fully formed. In addition, this is an attempt to influence both foreign and domestic audiences, thus showing that Russia is actively represented in the international arena.  Detector Media previously wrote about what methods and techniques Russia uses to spread disinformation in international organizations using the example of the OSCE.

Propaganda anonymous telegram channels are spreading information that NATO is allegedly actively expanding to the borders of Russia, establishing military bases around it. However, this information is not true.

Specialists from the VoxCheck project drew attention to it. They found out that  propagandists say that NATO broke its promises, in particular, regarding the non-concession of the eastern countries, and supposedly this is what led to tension in relations with Russia. However, historical facts indicate that such promises do not exist in writing, and countries' accession to NATO was carried out on a voluntary basis in accordance with the interests and freedom of peoples.

In addition, NATO has no plans to locate its military bases in close proximity to Russia's borders. The Alliance acts in accordance with the principle of self-defense and ensuring the security of its members, but this does not mean provocative actions against Russia.

Propagandists spread such messages to create an image of victimhood in Russia and justify Russian aggression. Detector Media has already written about how propagandists previously reacted to NATO expansion.

Pro-Kremlin resources are disseminating information as if the Ukrainian military is planning to blow up the Dnipro hydroelectric station in order to cause a “large number” of victims and subsequently shift responsibility for these actions to Russia. They say that it does not resort to shelling of civilian infrastructure and such a step may be the work of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation write that these falsehoods only serve to escalate the situation around the critical infrastructure of Ukraine. The point is that none of the Ukrainian military plans to blow up the Dnipro hydroelectric power station, this is just an element of the Russian disinformation campaign.

In reality, Russia is shelling critical infrastructure, residential buildings and killing civilians. And all it is trying to do by spreading such messages is to intimidate Ukrainians and create in them a sense of distrust of the state and the defense forces of Ukraine.

Back in early March 2024, Ukrainian Prime Minister Shmyhal reported that Ukraine went through the winter without “blackouts or shutdown schedules”. Due to the reliable protection of Russian energy facilities, it was most likely not possible to damage them. However, the terrorist country does not give up its attempts to destroy Ukraine, including threatening future “shelling”. And he demonstrates this as a so-called response to the Ukrainian military.

For example, Bloomberg journalists write that the Russian-Ukrainian war has entered a new phase. Ukrainian drones are beginning to attack Russia's Soviet-era energy infrastructure. Since the beginning of 2024, Ukraine has carried out about 15 drone attacks on oil refineries in 9 Russian regions.

That is, Ukrainian attacks demonstrate Russia’s vulnerability and at the same time the inability to effectively counter them. In order not to demoralize the Russians, the Kremlin is building different theories regarding “retaliation strikes”. For example, the Russian Ministry of Defense on his telegram channel called the massive attack on March 22, 2024 a “retaliation strike” against Ukraine for its “illegal” shelling.

And even earlier, on the night of December 30, 2023, there was shelling of military facilities in the Belgorod region, but as a result of the unprofessional work of Russian air defense, fragments of Ukrainian missiles fell on the center of the city of Belgorod and on the housing sector.

That is, the Kremlin is looking for ways to enrage Ukrainian society by churning out scare messages like this.

Russian propagandists have spread information that Ukraine is exporting record amounts of electricity while its residents themselves face blackouts. However, this is not true.

The message was noticed by specialists from the VoxCheck project. They found out that this message was being spread against the backdrop of reports of a temporary power outage in Ternopil, which was associated with repair work.

On March 4, 2024, the Ternopiloblenergo company announced the likelihood of a temporary blackout for two hours due to the repair of power lines. However, this announcement did not cover power outages in several neighborhoods and hospitals in the city.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Energy stated that on March 4 there was no shortage of electricity in the Ukrainian energy system and the outage schedule was not applied. That day there were only local power outages due to repair work and shelling from Russia. Also in early March, Ukrainian specialists planned to export electricity to a number of countries, but this was carried out only if there was no shortage in the national grid.

Propagandists spread such fakes to cause panic among the population and dissatisfaction with the actions of the authorities.

Pro-Russian resources write that the appointment of ex-head committee of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi as ambassador to the UK is connected with his “checks” for the post of President and with high ratings that “scare” the current President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine reports that in fact, the approval of the candidacy of Valerii Zaluzhnyi for the post of Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK met one of the main requirements for an ambassador - an understanding of the military context. And the ex-head committee of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is perhaps the best candidate in this sense.

By promoting this message, Russian propaganda seeks to puzzle Ukrainian society. In addition, this is not the first case of such messages from Russian propaganda regarding Zaluzhnyi. Previously, we refuted the information that Zaluzhnyi allegedly joined the European Solidarity party, and also analyzed the fake that Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced a “coup d’etat” after his “resignation”.

Pro-Kremlin media are spreading information that the Zaporizhzhia region is ready for “provocations” from Kyiv during the “presidential elections”. That is, Russia has allegedly already taken care of the safety of voters. The corresponding statement was made by gauleiter Balytskyi.

The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security at the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine writes that the “concern” of the occupiers and local gauleiters for the safety of the population is hypocrisy, because it was Russia that brought war, destruction and death to these lands. In addition, it is the Russians who expose the residents of Zaporizhzhia to danger. It is possible that the Russian army is preparing provocations with victims in order to blame Ukraine, the Center adds.

The pseudo-voting itself will not be considered legitimate in any case. After all, forcing people to participate in illegal elections, at a minimum, does not correspond to the general principles of democracy. We previously wrote that in temporarily occupied territories, Ukrainians are forced to publish photos with their family at “polling stations”.

Russian propagandists claim that the confiscation of frozen Russian assets to finance the reconstruction of Ukraine will lead to inevitable economic collapse. This message gained traction in early 2024, as proposals to use these assets for reconstruction efforts in Ukraine became more common.

Specialists from the EUvsDisinfo project drew attention to it. They explain that while there is heated debate about the advisability of avoiding this decision, its critics argue that it could violate the principle of state sovereignty and undermine confidence in Western financial institutions, arguments made by propagandists are a serious exaggeration.

Russia has said that if its assets are confiscated, it will respond by confiscating Western assets on its territory and resorting to other economic actions. However, this will not lead to the consequences of fearful propagandists. The dissemination of this message aims to question the actions of the West and try to stop these processes.

Russian propagandists are disseminating information in anonymous telegram channels that a mass death of birds was allegedly recorded in Poland after they allegedly ate Ukrainian grain that spilled from freight cars. “The Poles are afraid that they are next, because they are bringing poisoned grain from Ukraine”, they write in their public posts. Some propagandists also say that we are talking about grain that was allegedly grown in the radiative zone around Chornobyl, and that it is now being sold to Europe.

However, there is no factual evidence that somewhere in Poland a mass death of birds was recorded specifically through Ukrainian grain. Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to this. They found that the first video being circulated by propagandists as evidence of these claims showed several dead birds, mostly crows, lying next to railway tracks in the Polish city of Zamość. No research has been conducted into the causes of death of these birds. There is no information about what happened even in the local media. There was only a message about this on social networks, where this video was published. Polish fact-checkers from the Demagog project also drew attention to the spread of fake news among Poles and took a comment from an ornithologist who confirmed that without toxicological and veterinary studies it is impossible to say that the birds died due to poisoned grain.

Local bloggers also commented on the situation, noting that there are no freight trains running in the place where the video was filmed. In addition, the birds in the video lie in amazing poses, some with broken wings. It is also surprising that in the video there are only crows, and not pigeons, sparrows or other “urban” birds.

Regarding the quality of Ukrainian grain exported to Europe, it is very carefully checked by buyers. They not only control the quality indicators of the grain, but also make sure that the products have the necessary international certification.

“Each batch is accompanied by an analysis by an independent surveyor nominated by GAFTA”, said Serhii Orlovskyi, founder of the Agrooiltrade trading company, in an interview with Latifundist.com. According to him, any discrepancy in quality could become the basis for lawsuits.

This fake is spreading against the backdrop of protests by Polish farmers against European agricultural policy and the blockade of checkpoints from Ukraine, as well as blockades of roads and highways in some provinces demanding a ban on the import of agricultural products from Ukraine. The protests are accompanied by disinformation campaigns and inciting hostility between allies, which obviously benefits the Kremlin. Detector Media has already written about how Russia is fueling and exploiting farmer protests across Europe.