Propagandists on social networks and Russian public pages are massively disseminating information that 700 prosecutors in Ukraine received the status of combatants during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Dozens of social network users publish almost the same text and, as an illustration, use a screenshot from the Censor.NET page on the social network X. It, dated January 30, 2024, contains information about the recent mobilization bill. So, the authors of the publications believe that these two “news” are interconnected. In the texts of almost all publications on this topic, the following quote appears: “700 prosecutors received the status of a participant in combat operations? How? They have been booked from mobilization, after all. Rebus. How did 700 prosecutors, sitting in their offices and having reservations, receive the status? Ahhh, exactly. Slaves do not have to ask questions”. However, this is manipulation.

Specialists from the StopFake project drew attention to it. They found that this information was untrue and had nothing to do with Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine or changes in the Ukrainian mobilization bill. The latter was approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine on January 30 this year and sent for consideration to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. However, the Ukrainian parliament has not yet voted for the discussed bill No. 10449, even in the first reading. Despite this, Russian propaganda is spreading a lot of false information about possible new mobilization rules in Ukraine. The information about “700 prosecutors” is also erroneous.

In fact, the first information that “700 prosecutors received combat status” appeared in March 2016, long before the full-scale invasion. Then we were talking about the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas (ATO). However, this information was also not confirmed then. Ukrainian media mentioned only one prosecutor, Hryshchuk, who actually defended the Donetsk airport; there was no such information about the other 699 civil servants. In the screenshot from 2016, only the property of some Ukrainian prosecutors could be seen, but there was no indication that they had a participant in combat operations status. Moreover, the round number 700 raises many questions, and the authors of the publications do not provide actual evidence of their words. Later, this topic began to be raised again in 2019 with complaints against the then newly elected President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

They are trying to tie the story about “700 prosecutors” to the modern context of Ukraine and the new draft law on mobilization, which is being actively discussed by society. Such publications cause many reactions, reposts and emotional comments about the present on the battlefield, corruption in Ukraine, “corrupt power” and ineffective defense enterprises. All this indicates that this news is another Russian manipulation technique with the aim of internally destabilizing Ukraine. Detector Media has already refuted other mobilization manipulations in Ukraine.