Wave of fake stories about alleged “crimes” committed by Ukrainian soldiers: how not to become an unwitting spreader of disinformation
This week and last week, fact-checkers have published a series of debunks exposing fake stories about alleged crimes committed by Ukrainian servicemen against civilians. In all cases, hostile sources used real news reports about criminal incidents, altering the headlines and adding references to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Here are three recent examples uncovered by VoxCheck:
- “In the Lviv region, servicemen of the 95th Air Assault Brigade attacked performers of the Hutsuliya ensemble”;
- “In Prykarpattia, a serviceman of the 82nd Air Assault Brigade killed a homeowner and set the house on fire”;
- “In Kyiv, a serviceman of the 95th Air Assault Brigade was detained for murdering his father, who had allegedly been hiding from military service for seven years”.
A week earlier, propagandists also falsified a report from a Sumy media outlet, claiming that a serviceman had thrown a child out of a window.
In every case, propagandists inserted references to military personnel into reports about genuine criminal incidents, even though neither the original sources nor local media reports mentioned any involvement of servicemen.
To avoid becoming an unwitting distributor of hostile disinformation, it is important to watch for the following warning signs:
- Source of information: Always check whether the report cites official sources such as the police, prosecutors, or reputable media outlets. If the source is an anonymous Telegram channel or an “unnamed Ukrainian media outlet,” treat the information with caution.
- Fake images and screenshots: Search for the original story using keywords in other media outlets. Propagandists often simply edit a headline or insert references to military personnel into an existing article.