Anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric often publish messages that coincide with the position of conspiracy theorists on a number of world events. This time they claim that the war in Ukraine is the beginning of the third world war as part of the world elites' plan to destroy humanity. There have been more such messages after recent statements by Bill Gates regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this case, conspiracy theorists are referring to the theory of a “secret world government” made up of businessmen and wealthy people of the world. They allegedly lead heads of state to spread their ideas and sometimes resort to “grand plans”. They are often called pandemics, wars, major natural disasters, etc.

Now fans of conspiracy theories put the coronavirus pandemic and the war against Ukraine in one chain, calling them “stages of the plan to destroy humanity”. Like, the planet was closed for a year, stuffed with vaccines, but this was not enough, so it was needed to finish everyone off with a war. As goals for such plans, propagandists refer to the theory of the “golden billion”: only one billion of the most hardy population should remain on the planet, which could survive all these ups and downs.

Thus, Russian propagandists devalue the tragedy of these events and try to shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim of the aggression. Like, we are only on foot in this game, and the Western elites started the war. However, foreign experience shows that such a deepening of isolation from reality can be dangerous. In particular, in the United States, cases have been recorded when fans of conspiracy theories tried to kill their defendants.

Anonymous telegram channels spreading pro-Russian rhetoric publish information that the future generation of Ukrainians has already been lost. They say that even on television, the youngest Ukrainians are now being taught that air raid alerts are the norm of life, which you need to get used to. Such a reaction of propagandists was caused by the recent appearance of the Tiktoker Ihor Korchahin (PE teacher) on the air of the “Breakfast with 1 + 1” program with a live performance of his children's movement “Victory is soon”.

In the official YouTube release of the track, it is stated that this is a children's song. The text of the track tells about the importance of rest during an air raid alert, the order of actions necessary during the signal, the list of objects that are important to take to a shelter. The song also mentions the Armed Forces of Ukraine: “I believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which means victory is coming soon”. On the air of the 1 + 1 TV channel, it was presented along with the exercises, which helps to remember the rules of civil safety.

Thus, Russian propagandists want to demoralize Ukrainian society. Like, Ukrainians need to immediately stop the war and surrender, because their children are turned into martyrs and their childhood is taken away from them. In addition, by mocking children's movements, they want to shift the responsibility for the actions of the aggressor onto the victim of aggression. However, the reason that Ukrainian children listen to songs about air raids is the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The propagandists stepped up their support for the Chinese government and its leader Xi Jinping after a visit to Moscow. Allegedly, China has a specific plan for reconciliation between Russia and Ukraine, and it is the best possible solution to the situation. Detector Media analyzed the materials of the Russian media and identified several narratives regarding the role of China in the war against Ukraine.

1. China must make a revolution in Ukraine, but for this it must destroy the West with its military force.

Propagandists claim that there is no point in allegedly talking about peace with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi, since he is a US puppet. In the United States, the alleged goal is not peace, but world rule, because for the security of the United States it should be dangerous in all other states. Thus, the propagandists are trying to devalue the Ukrainian government and the efforts of the West with the help of Ukraine. Like, anyone can decide the fate of Ukraine, except for the Ukrainians themselves, because they are not capable of it. In addition to this, the authors of such reports repeat Soviet narratives regarding the “external enemy” who wants to destroy the whole world and the “heroic” USSR, which “protects” the world from total catastrophe.

2. Negotiations with Russia on the initiative of China on a truce in Ukraine is a defeat for the United States. They will lose in this way to both China and Russia.

Propagandists once again attribute imaginary achievements to Russia. However, experience shows that China is using the war against Ukraine to its advantage and views Russia as one of its sides, while distancing itself from the war in the public arena. In addition, the authors of such reports argue that if China succeeds in realizing its peace plan, the internal disintegration of the United States will begin. In this case, we can talk about fiction and wishful thinking.

3. China's goal in mediation is a moral victory over the US

Propagandists are trying to devalue the West and its power by describing China's “peace plan” as the doctrine of a new world order, echoing Volodymyr Putin's “multipolar world” narratives. This, in their opinion, is the “trap for the United States”. In addition, Russian propaganda in this regard uses one of the main tactics of Soviet propaganda, putting pressure on the “moral decline” of the West and the “spiritual upsurge” of the USSR, and in this case, friendly communist China.

The experience of relatively recent military conflicts in the world shows that mediation is a delicate process that requires the readiness of the mediator country for flexibility and detailed work to resolve the conflict. It is too early to talk about China as a mediator - the fact of the presentation of a peace plan does not necessarily mean a readiness for such a role. Therefore, we are again dealing with the substitution of concepts in the performance of Russian propagandists.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the so-called evacuation of Ukrainian children from the war zone and their further transfer to Russia allegedly cannot be considered a war crime.

This case was investigated by the fact-checkers of the StopFake project, who found out that such a thesis was not true. In fact, this is not an evacuation, but a deportation of the Ukrainian people. That is, Russia substitutes the concepts and calls the forced deportation “salvation”. People do not come back, they can go missing instead, in particular, children. At the same time, on March 15, 2023, UN international experts published a report that presents the results of the investigation of Russian aggression against Ukraine. The report contains war crimes committed by the Russian occupiers. A separate block of the UN report is devoted to the results of the investigation into the forced displacement and deportation of Ukrainian children by Russian occupiers. That is, this is indeed a war crime, which is why the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin. Outside of Russia, Putin should be arrested and brought to trial.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, children are taken out not only from Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but also from other occupied territories of Ukraine. In particular, children were taken out of Kherson. As of December 29, it is known that about 13,876 Ukrainian children were expelled by Russia. Ukraine regards such actions as the abduction of its citizens. Analysts of Detector Media conducted their own investigation on how Russia justifies deportation and other war crimes in Ukraine. You can read it here.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the “collective West” forced the Serbian leadership to sign an agreement to normalize relations with Kosovo. Allegedly, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić stated that Serbia “undertook a lot of pressure during the negotiations”.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project investigated the case and found out that the European Union presented both sides with a proposal to normalize relations, with which the leaders of the countries agreed. Kosovo and Serbia agreed to be guided by the purposes and principles set out in the UN Charter, especially the principles of the sovereign equality of all states, respect for their independence, autonomy and territorial integrity, the right to self-determination, the protection of human rights and non-discrimination. At the same time, they promise to resolve any disputes among themselves exclusively by peaceful means and refrain from the threat or use of force. According to analysts, all the proposals of the Serbian and Kosovo sides were considered. So, there was no “coercion” at all.

By spreading this message, propagandists want to discredit Western leaders who allegedly resort to blackmail and open threats. At the same time, they nourish the narrative about the existence of the so-called “Collective West”, which has united against many countries, for example Serbia.

We recall that earlier Detector Media analyzed a manipulation in which it was claimed that the President of Serbia said that the West was “threatening and blackmailing” forcing him to join the sanctions against Russia.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the Ukrainian military is freezing male seeds using a cryopreservation method. As the authors of the messages explain, this is all planned to “breed the army of Ukrainians with a high level of russophobia”.

Analysts of the VoxCheck investigated this case, who found out that since 2014, cryopreservation has become popular among Ukrainian military personnel. After the start of a large-scale invasion, the number of applicants increased. Some clinics offer free cryopreservation for the military. However, there is no confirmed data, due to which it is possible to “breed” a whole “army” of Ukrainians with an increased level of russophobia. This is a conspiracy theory of Russian propaganda, since the cryopreservation method does not bring out a “special type of people”, but freezes male spermatozoa in liquid nitrogen for further artificial insemination “in vitro”.

The storage of frozen spermatozoa is not limited in time. For the most part, the freezing of male sperm is associated with the “in vitro” fertilization procedure. This is a specific method of treating infertility, that is, in vitro fertilization. However, cryopreservation is advised to be carried out before chemotherapy and operations that can affect the reproductive function of a person. Cryopreservation can be performed not only for men, but also for women (egg freezing).

This thesis is spread by propaganda media and on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. They say that Western countries have found a new puppet for themselves - Georgia - and provoked protests there. They also add in the reports that protests against the Georgian authorities are beneficial for Western states, because they do not want Georgia to be independent of them.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case. They note that there is indeed no evidence that the recent protests in Georgia were orchestrated by Western states as an attempt at a violent change of power.

In fact, the protests in Tbilisi arose after the Georgian parliament passed in the first reading a bill requiring some organizations that receive foreign funding to register as “foreign agents”. As Detector Media has already written, the law is considered analogous to the notorious ban on “foreign agents” in Russia, which actually suppressed the already weak voices of the opposition and made it impossible for international monitoring missions to be present inside the country. The law, adopted by the Georgian Parliament on March 7, 2023, provides for the creation of a register of “agents of foreign influence”. That is, the authorities must create a special open database of organizations and individuals if the share of foreign investments in their activities is at least 20%.

During the protests, Georgian law enforcement officers used tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons. However, as a result of massive protests, the Georgian parliament rejected the “foreign agents” bill after the incumbent party withdrew its support.

Russian propagandists reacted to the protest in the first days. In particular, they claimed that the protests in Georgia were orchestrated by the United States. By spreading such messages, propagandists seek to nourish the narrative of so-called Western governance. Allegedly, Georgia is really controlled by Western curators. The same narrative has been circulating in the information space regarding Ukraine for about nine years now. So, Russian propaganda seeks to neutralize the subjectivity of other states; to show that they themselves really do not decide anything.

In the Russian media, you can find a number of reports according to which Ukrainians are supposedly Nazis because they choose big dogs. Such a reaction among propagandists was caused by one of the plots of the 1 + 1 TV channel as part of the national telethon. In it, the authors satirically say that Russians love smaller dogs because pets often “look like their owners” and that Russian dogs are no match for the same dog Patron.

The Russians argue that such statements are offensive and anti-human in nature. Like, comparing dogs is a humiliation for an entire nation and another sign that Ukrainians are Nazis. They also make excuses that they choose small dogs because they live in “Khrushchovka” type buildings.

Propagandists are constantly trying to portray all Ukrainians as Nazis, creating fakes and distorting real materials. Thus, they want to shift the responsibility for the war from the aggressor to the victim of the aggression. For example, recently the Russians were outraged that Yuliia Paievska (Taira) received an award from the United States and accused her of supporting Nazism.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Europe's “economic sovereignty” has been destroyed due to the imposition of sanctions on Russia. Like, the “collective West” wanted the collapse of Russia, which means “exactly the opposite”: Europe cannot exist without Russian energy resources, and will soon fall apart.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project investigated this case and found that the thesis about a stable Russian economy is not true. According to the World Bank, the International monetary fund and the Organization for economic cooperation and development, 2022 has been a bad year for the Russian economy. According to experts, in 2022, Russia's gross domestic product fell by at least 2.2% in the best scenario and to 3.9% in the worst one. The Russian economy will shrink in 2023 as well. GDP is expected to contract by 5.6% or 3.3% according to the organizations. Analysts emphasize that the sanctions really work and the data show this.

Analysts also explained that the European Union has taken specific steps to phase out Russian energy resources and replace them further. Therefore, the “collapse of the European Union” is another conspiracy thesis of Russian propaganda.

Russian propaganda is again spreading the message that civilians in Bucha during the occupation were shot by Ukrainian artillery. Like, foreign experts came to such results, but they “keep silent” whose artillery killed local residents.

EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to a new wave of message dissemination. In the spring of 2022, Russian propaganda said that the Ukrainian military allegedly shelled people's houses in Bucha because they accepted help from the Russians. For this, a specially edited video of eyewitness accounts was used.

The New York Times journalists investigated and identified dozens of soldiers of the 234th airborne assault brigade of the Russian army, who in March 2022, during the temporary occupation of Bucha in the Kyiv region, deliberately killed civilians.

By spreading such messages, Russian propaganda is trying to shift the responsibility for the death of civilians to the Ukrainian army. Propagandists deny the numerous war crimes of the Russian army in Ukraine, despite the existing evidence.

Pro-Russian media disseminate such messages to foreign audiences. Like, reports of Russian crimes, including crimes against Ukrainian children, were deliberately invented by the US State Department. Allegedly, the State Department funded a Yale University study on the transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia for the sole purpose of holding Russia accountable for “fictional crimes”. They say that the studies deliberately focus on the fact that children in Russia are placed in camps, appealing in association with concentration camps. “In fact” children are placed in comfortable conditions of children's camps.

EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the spread of the message. Russian propaganda is spreading these messages against the backdrop of the publication of a report by American researchers on how Russia is deporting and “re-educating” Ukrainian children. It states that Russia is committing “serious violations of the Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons”, that is, committing war crimes against Ukrainian children. There are at least six thousand children, the report says.

However, researchers from Yale University are not alone in drawing conclusions about crimes against Ukrainian children. This was confirmed by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. He believes that Russia violates the fundamental principles of protecting children in time of war by providing children in the temporarily occupied territories with Russian passports and permission to be adopted by Russian families.

Russian propaganda thus tries to hide its crimes and shift the responsibility for them to others. They say that the United States deliberately “come up with” evidence of Russia's crimes.

Pro-Russian telegram channels write that Georgians bring Ukrainian flags to the protests, but this is inappropriate. Like, they are protesting against the law, which will allow the authorities to close the media and “crush” the opposition. And in Ukraine, all “opposition” media were allegedly closed and the opposition as such was “legally banned”. Allegedly, in Ukraine there is no freedom of speech, for which the Georgians are fighting.

Spreading such messages, Russian propaganda uses a substitution of concepts and calls opposition only pro-Russian political parties, which were really banned in Ukraine after the start of a full-scale war. The same applies to the media: those who spread messages supporting Russian propaganda were banned. That is, in Ukraine they are fighting not with the opposition, but with pro-Russian forces. Actually, in Georgia they are also protesting against changes in the legislation that imitate the Russian legislation on “foreign agents”.

Read more about the reaction of Russian propaganda to the protests in Georgia in the material selection of Detector Media.

The network quotes the representative of the Russian foreign ministry Mariia Zakharova. She believes that the world is “demonizing Russia”, carrying out “forced Ukrainization” and supporting the culture of abolishing everything Russian that exists. Zakharova calls the report on crimes against Ukrainian culture an attempt to “shield the Kyiv regime” and “infringe on the rights of Russian speakers”.

According to the fact-checkers of the project “Beyond the News”, in this way Zakharova reacted to the statement of UN experts regarding the destruction of Ukrainian identity by the Russians, published on the eve of the anniversary of a full-scale war. UN experts published a report in which they note that Russia continues to “denigrate the history and identity of the Ukrainian people to justify war and hatred”. It says that among the important cultural sites of Ukraine affected by the shelling are museums, libraries and churches.

From February 24, 2022 to March 1, 2023, UNESCO registered 245 cultural heritage sites of Ukraine that were damaged or destroyed due to the war unleashed by Russia. There are 106 religious sites, 20 museums, 88 historical and/or artistic buildings, 19 monuments, 12 libraries among them although they add: according to other sources, there may be about a thousand damaged objects.

According to the report, in Mariupol, Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne, historical buildings were destroyed for 90%. More than 10 thousand works of art were taken out of the Kherson Art Museum. In the Donetsk region, the invaders use burial mounds as field fortifications. The report also reminds that Russians have destroyed important cultural monuments in the temporarily occupied Crimea since 2014.

Thus, the Russians are trying to deprive Ukrainians of their historical and cultural heritage. Also, such messages feed the Russian narrative about the inferiority of Ukrainians. And the words of Zakharova are an example of the substitution of concepts: they say they destroy and devalue Russian culture, and not Ukrainian. Earlier, propagandists said that Ukraine was striking at its own cultural heritage, and the Kyiv totalitarian regime was waging a cultural war against Russia.

Propagandists scoff at the statements made by the wife of the President of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, regarding victims of sexual violence by the Russian army as part of the war against Ukraine. They say that the data that she announced on March 4 at the United for Justice international forum, which was attended by lawyers from all over the world, are not true, and the very topic of sexual violence against women, children and men in war conditions is not of great importance.

In fact, the problem of sexual violence in war is becoming a “gambling” character. The Russian military perceives rape as revenge, and the victims of sexual violence and their suffering as a reward and trophy. Although it refers to women, there are also men among the victims of rape by the Russian military. Olena Zelenska said Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating 171 cases of sexual assault by the Russian military. 39 men and 13 minors are among the victims. In this case, we are talking only about those persons who dared to tell law enforcement officers about the rape. On the other hand, the number of victims may be even higher due to the fact that the topic of sexual violence in Ukraine still has its “taboos” in society.

By mocking the words of Zelenska, propagandists are trying to devalue the dignity of Ukrainians. Like, Ukraine is already known only for its prostitutes. Russian propaganda is stamping Ukrainians with sexual violence. This serves as repeated evidence of a lack of understanding of the rules of warfare. Detector Media has already investigated how propagandists mock Ukrainian women, speculating on stereotypes as part of gender disinformation.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the Polish media is “hiding the truth”: they do not tell that “the United States is inciting discord between Ukraine and Russia” and are doing everything to hide “the real peacekeeping actions of Russia”. Like, all this is a consequence of russophobia, which the Poles feel towards the Russians.

Analysts of The Insider project investigated this case and determined that the material of the Mysl Polska publication became the basis for creating this message. This is a propaganda publication that spreads fakes and manipulations about the Russian-Ukrainian war. Consequently, the materials of the publication do not accurately indicate the position of the country in relation to the Russian-Ukrainian war. Analysts explain that in August 2022, Slovak, Czech and Polish investigators discovered that the Polish newspaper Mysl Polska was supplying content for one of the Russian propaganda editions, NewsFront. More than 7 percent of all content published on NewsFront is reprinted from Mysl Polska.

At the same time, propagandists calling the actions of other countries against Russia “russophobia” imply an allegedly groundless phenomenon, which consists in hatred for everything Russian: from products to culture. However, the so-called russophobia is a response to the actions of the Russian army, leadership and people. The Russians bear collective responsibility for the aggression against Ukraine, which they supported either with appropriate statements or silence. World condemnation and sanctions against the aggressor are the consequences of Russia's criminal actions, and not just “a manifestation of hatred for Russians as a people”, as Moscow is trying to convince everyone. Russian propaganda also wants to convince that “hatred of the Russians” blurred the eyes of many Europeans, thus trying to whiten themselves and become a victim, not an aggressor.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that in Europe, in particular in Spain, they are afraid of “possible nuclear threats from Ukraine”. That is why, according to the authors, the leadership of Spain is introducing a campaign to fight the spread of weapons of mass destruction in order to protect itself from “provocations of Ukraine”.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to this case and found that this is another conspiracy theory of Russian propaganda that has no evidence. Probably, as analysts explain, the basis of this conspiracy thesis was the Spanish national security meeting held in February. The meeting adopted a draft national strategy to fight the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Both the meeting and the draft document had nothing to do with Ukraine, since only national security measures were discussed. Moreover, there were no statements from Spanish officials regarding the so-called “protection from Ukraine”.

By spreading this message, propagandists want to convince that Ukraine is an aggressor and that it carries out so-called provocations and terrorizes Europeans. Thus, the authors of messages use the tactics of reflection, attributing their actions to opponents. Because intimidation and “nuclear blackmail” is one of the ways Russian propaganda achieves its goals.

We recall that earlier Detector Media also denied a fake, which claimed that radioactive substances were allegedly brought to Ukraine to prepare provocations against Russia.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that the US plans to hold talks with Russia in order to “somehow agree to achieve peace”. The authors note that the United States is allegedly at war with Ukraine against Russia, and then America will independently make decisions on negotiations with Russia.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to this case and determined that this thesis is unfounded and has no evidence. The West supports Ukraine with military and financial assistance and does not take a direct part in the war. In addition, Western partners act on the principle of not discussing issues related to Ukraine without Ukraine. That is, Ukraine is also a participant in all international processes, no one can make decisions on behalf of Ukraine without the knowledge of the Ukrainian leadership.

According to analysts, there are no significant differences between the United States and Europe in the position on Russia's war against Ukraine. In the conclusions of the Council of the European Union of February 9, 2023, it was unequivocally noted that the EU will support Ukraine for as long as necessary. Western countries, including the United States, are determined to help Ukraine in its victory.

By spreading such a message, propagandists want to convince that Ukraine is supposedly a puppet in the hands of the West, which acts in its own interests and does not take Ukrainians into account. At the same time, Russian propaganda promotes the thesis of a truce as the only way to end the war, so that Russia in the international arena will be considered and tried to “somehow negotiate”.

Russian and pro-Russian telegram channels began to circulate Ramzan Kadyrov's quotes that the “diabolical regime of Ukraine” is fighting against the “defenseless”, so this can be considered a “war without rules”. Kadyrov's statements are linked to reports of an alleged “Ukrainian reconnaissance sabotage group” (DRG) that allegedly attacked two villages in the Briansk region, took Russian civilians hostage and fired on a car.

Versions of the event in the Briansk region were specified several times both in terms of the number of victims, and the location of the so-called DRG (reconnaissance sabotage group), and the purpose of their stay in Russia. Despite this, the Russians immediately, without clarifying the circumstances, took advantage of the situation and accused Ukraine of terrorism. Like, the Ukrainian military commits crimes against peaceful Russians. The Ukrainian authorities called these statements a provocation and denied Ukraine's involvement in the events in the Briansk region. In the end, representatives of the “Russian volunteer corps” took responsibility and called the events an attempt to show that there are also free people in Russia who are ready to fight against the Putin regime.

Thus, Russia uses the tactics of reflection and shifts the responsibility for anything to Ukraine. Like, Russia does not attack first, but “strike back”. In fact, Russia is an aggressor state that started a war against Ukraine and commits war crimes on the territory of Ukraine, including against children.

Reports are circulating on pro-Russian telegram channels that Ukrainians are building defensive structures on the border with Russian-occupied Transnistria. They say that Ukraine is justifying itself by strengthening its own security, but ‘in fact” it is preparing provocations to draw Moldova into the war.

Russian propaganda systematically spreads messages that Ukraine is going to draw neighboring states into the war, including Poland, Romania, Moldova, Hungary or Belarus. The propagandists also wrote that in one way or another Ukraine was involving the USA, Finland, Estonia, Germany, Slovakia, Serbia, etc. into the war. Propaganda claimed that military personnel of NATO countries or representatives of the OSCE are fighting in Ukraine. Thus, Russia uses the tactics of substitution of concepts in order to present itself as a victim of global aggression, and not as an aggressor state.

Russia launched a new wave of disinformation messages about drawing Moldova into the war after Russian missiles violated Moldovan airspace. Thus, Russia is trying to be proactive and absolve itself of responsibility for war crimes. Like, Ukraine provokes other states and draws them into the war, not Russia. The Russians recently shared a “document” allegedly confirming that Ukraine was preparing to attack Transnistria.

Pro-Russian publications tell foreign audiences that the US is actively recruiting jihadists from ISIS and al-Qaeda to carry out terrorist attacks in Russia and other countries that were part of the USSR. “Recruitment” and “training” takes place at the Al-Tanf military base in Syria, mainly among militants from the Caucasus and Central Asia. They seem to be studying how to make and use improvised explosive devices, as well as explosive methods. Like, the US security forces are demoralized, and therefore obsessed with the idea of bleeding Russia in any way, even using terrorists.

EU vs Disinfo analysts drew attention to the spread of the message. They note that this is an unfounded claim, there is no evidence of the training of militants. In addition, the US is leading the global coalition to defeat ISIS and other international counter-terrorist initiatives.

Thus, Russian propaganda uses intimidation tactics and fuels narratives about the US as an enemy of Russia. Earlier, Russian propaganda wrote that a group of radical Islamists went from northeast Syria to Ukraine to fight as mercenaries on the side of Kyiv.

This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on Telegram broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The reports say that all operators of foreign weapons, such as the Challenger 2 tanks or the AS90 artillery mount, are “foreign mercenaries”. They say that Western countries do not trust Ukrainians and entrust their equipment on the battlefield only to foreigners. The authors of the reports note that the Ukrainian army is only engaged in “protecting equipment” and in some cases, according to them, “foreigners allow Ukrainians to steer”.

Such a thesis is unfounded, because the Ukrainian military use foreign weapons on their own. For example, recently a group of Ukrainian military arrived in the UK to train to use the AS90 self-propelled artillery mount. Earlier, the British government announced that it would transfer Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine for use. This indicates that the Ukrainian army and Ukrainians in particular are entrusted with the use of weapons. This is not the only case when the Ukrainian army is sent for training and taught to use foreign weapons.

As for the so-called “foreign mercenaries”, Russian propaganda replaces the concept and calls the foreign legion mercenaries. The Foreign Legion is legally part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the exact number of its members is not reported, like all other fighters. In theory, both the Ukrainian military and members of the foreign legion can use weapons. The ban does not apply to Ukrainians or the foreign legion, since they are all part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Accordingly, foreign countries, sending their weapons for use to Ukraine, give the Armed Forces of Ukraine the right to operate them.

Russian propaganda has repeatedly spread manipulations about so-called foreign mercenaries in Ukraine. The propagandists claimed that the military from the EU countries fought on the territory of Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion, or the number of foreigners in the Ukrainian army would soon exceed 50%. Thus, propaganda wants to create an appearance that is actually at war not with Ukraine, but with the so-called collective West.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular in telegram channels broadcasting pro-Russian rhetoric. Reports say that the West is provoking Belarus to war. Like, the leaders of Western countries have a clear secret plan, recently revealed by Russian intelligence. At the same time, the authors of the messages add that Russia has never involved Belarus in the war, because they are sister countries.

Analysts of the EU vs Disinfo project drew attention to the case and determined that the Western countries have no “secret: plans, since the leaders of the countries are not at all interested in the escalation of the war. Analysts are sure that this is a hoax and another conspiracy theory of Russian propaganda. In the conditions of the Russian aggressive war against Ukraine, European countries are forced to strengthen their borders, build up the defense capability of their armies in order to resist any external aggression. Therefore, the security of Ukraine means the security of the countries of Europe.

At the same time, Russia is trying to convince that Belarus is not an accomplice to the war, although it is not. Belarus serves as a springboard for Russian troops, missiles and aircraft both before and after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The American Institute for the Study of War says that Russia is trying to “put pressure on Belarus so that it officially supports Russia in the war”. That is, Russia is the aggressor, but by no means the countries of the West. Moreover, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, Lukashenko, acknowledged the participation of Belarus in Russia's war against Ukraine.

Propagandists systematically discredit the West and other international partners of Ukraine and accuse them of resolving and prolonging the war. Like, the West wants the escalation of the war, while Russia is defending itself. Thus, propagandists use the tactics of reflection, attributing their actions to opponents.

This message is being promoted in pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, despite the pessimistic forecasts, the Russian economy is successfully resisting all the blows of the West. Allegedly, Russia's GDP decreased by only 2.1%, although experts predicted the collapse of the economy.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, today Russia is the most sanctioned country in the world, and now it is sanctions that are the most effective tool of influence on the aggressor country by the civilized world community. According to experts, the Russian economy has so far survived thanks to high energy prices and a tough economic policy. However, the cumulative effect of sanctions will soon become fatal for the Russian economy.

The narrative that sanctions do not harm Russia is one of the most common Russian propaganda narratives. Propagandists systematically spread messages that Russia is a serious economic player and that sanctions against Russia are useless. This time, the message is being shared against the backdrop of the tenth round of EU sanctions against Russia. By spreading such messages, Russia is trying to devalue the sanctions. Like, they are not effective, so they should be canceled. In fact, if the sanctions were inactive, Russia would not have to make so much effort to cancel them.

Read more about the most common narratives and messages of Russian propaganda in Eastern Europe in the Detector Media investigation.

Such a message is spreading in pro-Russian telegram channels in the context of the announcement of a new military aid package from the United States. They say that after the Ukrainian army receives GLSDB (Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb) precision bombs with a range of more than 150 kilometers, there will be no “safe” areas in the temporarily occupied territories.

In fact, for Ukrainians, the danger is Russia and the Russian army, which occupied part of Ukraine. After the start of a full-scale invasion, the entire territory of Ukraine is only relatively safe, because Russia can launch missile strikes at any time in any area. The shelling was carried out on residential buildings and critical infrastructure facilities, which are a war crime. The Ukrainian military is using precision weapons to destroy Russian warehouses and against the Russian army, not against Ukrainian civilians living in the temporarily occupied territories.

By spreading such messages, Russian propaganda is trying to discredit the Ukrainian army, military assistance from partners and nourish the narrative that “Ukraine has bombed Donbas for 9 years”. Russian propaganda also meekly resorts to dividing Ukrainians according to their place of residence.

Such a message is spread by pro-Russian telegram channels. Like, Ukraine and Russia are attracting support: Biden is leaving for Kyiv, and Xi Jinping is going to Moscow.

However, this message is built on manipulation. Joe Biden did visit Kyiv, but the visit of the Chinese leader to Moscow is still scheduled for the coming months. Despite the unprecedented military assistance Ukraine has received since the start of the full-scale invasion, Western partners have repeatedly said that their military does not and will not fight in Ukraine. Reports of Xi Jinping's possible visit to Moscow also speak of a more active Chinese role in ending the war.

The message about the beginning of the Third World War is not new, it was promoted at the beginning of a full-scale invasion. Also recently, an edited video from a speech by Joe Biden was distributed on the network, in which he allegedly confirms the beginning of the Third World War. Thus, Russian propaganda uses intimidation tactics. Also, this message is used to explain the duration and failures of the so-called “special military operation” - they say, Russia is at war not only with Ukraine, but also with the “collective West”.