This thesis was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. During a speech by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Avril Gaines, she allegedly called the war for Ukraine “already lost” and that it had “no chance” of defeating Russia. Like, the director recounted the results of the US intelligence report. The authors of the messages add that the US is preparing Ukraine for “the worst-case scenario”. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case, and investigated that the propagandists distorted the context of the statement of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States, because there were no results on the “loss of Ukraine” in the report. As analysts explain, the document, on the contrary, notes that Russia is suffering heavy losses on the battlefield, and its stockpiles of weapons are being depleted - these factors make the Russian army vulnerable. That is, in the report itself, they emphasized the fact of the military weakening of Russia, the fact-checkers noted.

As to the statement by Avril Gaines, she did not speak about the loss of Ukraine either. She noted that indeed the Russian aggression against Ukraine is “exhausting and protracted”, but immediately cited facts indicating the weakening of Russia at the front.

By spreading such a message, propagandists want to convince that Western partners are desperate in Ukraine and at the same time do not support it, because it will soon lose. Thus, the authors are trying to sow panic among Ukrainians in order to destabilize moods and discredit Western partners in the eyes of Ukrainians.

We recall that Detector Media previously denied fakes designed to discredit the Ukrainian authorities or Western partners in the eyes of Ukrainians. For example, analysts refuted the statement of Bill Gates, who said that the current leadership of Ukraine is one of the worst in the world. They also explained the manipulation in which propagandists claimed that Ukraine would soon become uninhabitable due to losing the war.