Pro-Russian resources are disseminating information that the battalion commander of the 14th separate mechanized brigade (14 separate mechanized brigade) allegedly shot and killed young psychologist Nataliia Lychman, who forced soldiers to storm Russian troops to return lost territories. Her death was then attributed to artillery shelling by the Russian Armed Forces with cluster munitions. However, this is a fake.

The specialists from the StopFake project checked this information. They managed to find out that Nataliia Lychman was not a psychologist and did not serve in the 14th Mechanized Infantry Brigade, but was a serviceman of the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade. She participated in the defense of Bakhmut, and her death became known on December 19, 2022. Then many Ukrainian media reported about the deceased serviceman from Transcarpathia, using in their materials a photograph that the propagandists took for their fake news.

This disinformation is consistent with the Russian propaganda narrative that Ukrainians do not seem to want to fight, and therefore they need to be forced to confront the Russians. In addition, propagandists continue to “create a picture” of discord between Ukrainians – in particular, the military, as in this case. Previously, we refuted information that in Ukraine they allegedly distributed propaganda letters to elderly people so that they could mobilize them into the Armed Forces of Ukraine.