Millions of Ukrainians are encountering russian propaganda every day. It spreads through TV, radio, media, social networks and by word of mouth. To defeat the enemy, we must fight it on all fronts. To this end, we have prepared a daily compilation of russian fakes.
Today, the russian information space is focused on the russian offensive in Donbas. A lot of attention is given to the deliveries of heavy weapons to Ukraine. As more and more countries send more and more weapons, russian propaganda continues to downplay the significance of this process. The industrial capabilities of NATO countries are being understated, the ability for Ukrainians to adapt western equipment is played for laughs, and the russian industrial capability is being overstated to an extent that russia supposedly can outproduce the whole NATO combined. In conclusion, russia is very afraid of NATO supplying Ukraine in earnest, so russian attempts to end the war as fast as possible will become more desperate.
Main fake narratives:
- NATO equipment is useless
- Ukrainian soldiers are surrendering en masse
- Ukraine is being controlled by the west
- russians don’t commit war crimes, Ukrainians do
- Ukrainian refugees are causing crime and spreading disease
- Sanctions against russia are destroying Europe
- The world is dominated by russophobia
FAKE: Mossad chemists were involved in the Odesa clashes in 2014
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Disproof:
The Odesa clashes of May 2014 is one of the favorite topics of russian propaganda. In Odesa, the Ukrainian rally had come under fire from armed russian separatist forces. This caused several clashes, and, in the end, 48 people died, most of them russian separatists. Odesa avoided the fate of Luhansk and Donetsk and remained in Ukrainian hands.
The failure of the Odesa separatists still haunts russians, since they consider the city as one of the jewels of the “russian world”. So, a lot of effort is made by russian propaganda to discredit and demonize the Odesa defenders.
This time russian propaganda shows a video of an Israeli man in rubber gloves, who they call a Mossad chemist, on the streets of Odesa during the clashes. They call it a definite proof that the West was behind the “attacks on russian patriots” in the city. Only, the man on the video is not a chemist. In the video, he clearly explains that he is a medical student, and he is just trying to help the wounded in the city. His friends even pass him some gauze and bandages on camera. And he wears rubber gloves because that’s what medics do when working with wounds and blood.
As always, russian propaganda relies on the fact that the average russian citizen doesn’t know English, and would believe anything that comes from a TV screen.
FAKE: Ukrainians are considering surrendering their cities, looking at what happened to Mariupol
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Disproof:
Yet another narrative of russian propaganda: Ukrainians prefer not to fight, people in the cities occupied by russia are living a lot better than in the rest of Ukraine. This, in theory, should show how weak and pathetic Ukrainian nation is, how Ukrainians don’t have the will to resist the “mighty russians”, and how easy it would be for russia to win. Only, that kind of propaganda would be appropriate before the war, not after russia had suffered major defeats and setbacks. Ukrainian nation had proven that it is not just willing to resists, but can win. Trying to scare Ukrainians into submission by promising to stop bombing them if they surrender didn’t work before, and it definitely won’t work now, after the whole world had seen what the russian occupation is really like.
FAKE: President Zelenskyy is a cokehead
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This is a relatively old narrative. Diminishing and mocking the leaders of other countries, especially ones opposed to russia, is one of the staples of russian propaganda. It is actually pretty common for autocratic dictatorships to promote their leader by bringing every other world leader down. Most of such attacks are slander and defamation, but, sometimes, like with Eva Magdalena Andersson, the Prime Minister of Sweden, being a woman is cause enough to be mocked by russian propaganda.
President Zelenskyy, on the other hand, is portrayed by russia as a drug addict. This is probably influenced by his past career as a comedic actor. Most of the so-called proof of this, is taken from some of his recent interviews, where a clearly exhausted President tries to keep up with the questions from the foreign journalists. It is easy to understand why a President of a beleaguered country would be overworked and fatigued. Previously, russian propaganda tried to portray Zelenskyy as a coward, but that narrative died as the world praised his bravery and spirit.
In the end, russia will do anything to denigrate a leader who had stood his ground and opposed putin. But, seeing the former comedian as an easy target, they became comical themselves.
FAKE: Ukraine and NATO are planning false flag attacks using weapons of mass destruction
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It seems this fake comes up every week, only the stakes are getting higher every time. This time, evil NATO wants to use Weapons of Mass Destruction on Ukrainian people to discredit russia and push away its allies. The accusation itself is comically stupid, but it tells us something about russian plans. Remember, when russia says its enemies are planning a war crime, it is russia who is planing to commit said war crime. Combined with lack of military success in their new offensive in the east, and statements about “changing methods and tactics of the war to gain advantage”, we could not rule out that russia is considering using WMDs in some form to break the stalemate.
The curious thing about this fake, is that, according to russia, Ukraine is planing a false flag operation on Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. But that Nuclear Plant is under full russian control.
It is clear that russia won’t stop at anything to get what it wants. The world must be ready.
FAKE: Ukrainians want russians to stay
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Disproof:
This fake is laughable. After the Bucha Massacre, Ukrainians know what to expect of russians, so all the stories about “grateful” locals welcoming russian “liberators” are just fabricated lies to raise morale. The cities under russian occupation are either getting destroyed, or terrorized and ransacked. No amount of propaganda can change that.
Thomas Roper, on the other hand, is one of the so-called “foreign journalists” on russia’s payroll. He is, in essence, an ordinary russian propagandist, but his German origin is supposed to make him more credible to the international public. It is unfortunate that for some russian money is more important than integrity.
Be advised: Russia is waging a full-scale information war against Ukraine. There are multitudes of new fakes swarming through the mass-media every day. To protect you and your family, be sure to obtain and share your information only from official sources.
Official information channels:
· Office of the President of Ukraine
· General Staff of Ukrainian Armed Forces
· Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
· Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
· Chief Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
· Ministry of Internal Affairs
· State Emergency Service of Ukraine
· State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
· Centre for Strategic Communication
· Centre for Desinformation Resistance
· State Special Communications Service of Ukraine
Information about transportation and infrastructure:
· State Agency of Automobile Roads of Ukraine
· Boryspil International Airport”
· Ukrainian Sea Ports Authority
· Danylo Halytskyi International Airport Lviv
· State Service of Ukraine for Transport Safety
Keep calm and trust only official sources. Ukraine will prevail!
The material was prepared by ZMiST. Please follow ZMiST on Twitter and Facebook.
