Millions of Ukrainians are encountering russian propaganda every day. It spreads through TV, radio, mass 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.
The russian information space is still not as active, since the first week of May is a holiday week for russia. There is some coverage of protests in Armenia, but with the current government there being pro-russian, the coverage remains neutral.
A lot of attention is given to the “miraculous rise” of the ruble, with propagandists claiming that it has become one of the strongest currencies in the world. Only on paper though, since the ruble is no longer a convertible currency, and can be assigned any value by the russian government, as long as the russian foreign currency reserve can support it.
russian propaganda is celebrating the attacks on Ukrainian power stations that feed the railways across the country. Only, Ukraine uses diesel trains to haul cargo, so temporary disruptions in power will only affect passenger trains, not the cargo trains that carry weapons from the west.
After the fallout from Lavrov comments about Israel, russian propaganda is doubling down, and now is calling Jews, antisemites and Nazis, who are “on the wrong side of history”. Israel, on the other hand, reacted by announcing an increase in military aid to Ukraine.
Main fake narratives:
- 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: NATO broke its promise to not expand east
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Disproof:
This is one of the grievances putin used to justify his invasion of Ukraine. The fact that it is being repeated by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign affairs is nothing new, this is how China supports russia without actually doing anything meaningful.
The main problem with this narrative is that no promises were actually put on paper. There were no treaties signed that limited NATO’s expansion. Nothing legally binding. And all the countries that joined NATO did it of their own free will, nobody was forced.
FAKE: Ukraine used a drone with explosives strapped to it in Transnistria
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Disproof:
In this fake, we see a civilian drone, surrounded by a bunch of plastic bottles covered in duct tape. And this is all you need to see to understand that everything in this fake is a lie. You see, Transnistria is, geographically, a thin tip of land on the Ukrainian border, so everything in it is in range of Ukrainian artillery. There is no need to strap a bomb to a civilian drone, when Ukraine can use regular artillery, or even a military drone, like Bayraktar, to attack anything it wants.
So, no, this DIY combat drone is definitely a fake.
FAKE: russians found a Nazi torture chamber in Kherson
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Disproof:
It appears that russia will create fakes about “torture chambers” in every Ukrainian city it occupies. It is always the same story: a staged video about how horrible Ukrainian Nazis were torturing people for fun, no evidence. russia desperately needs to divert attention from the war crimes it is committing, so we will probably see more fakes like this, all in equal part fantastical and unsubstantiated.
FAKE: NATO was preparing Ukraine to attack russia
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Disproof:
Since russian propaganda repeats itself so often, we need to disprove this one from time to time. Ukraine did not prepare an attack against russia, it was russia who, for four months, gathered an invasion force on the borders of Ukraine.
Statements such as these are just a cynical attempt by russia to justify its invasion of Ukraine, and, at the same time, portray itself as the victim. To claim innocence, after all the suffering, deaths and destruction they had caused.
FAKE: Ukraine is using black magic against russian soldiers
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Disproof:
This is not a joke. This is an actual news article, about dark Ukrainian Nazi wizards, using their powers to enchant their weapons and lay curses on russian soldiers. They also use the power of anarchy to enhance their blood rituals. Somehow.
Ten points to Gryffindor?
FAKE: Ukrainian terrorists were planning to blow up a dirty bomb in Kherson
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Disproof:
Once again, we see russian fakes about Ukraine preparing terrorist attacks on occupied Ukrainian territory. Of course, no proper evidence is presented, but there were some bullets shown in the video, and a white cylinder with a radiation symbol on a flimsy piece of paper. Surely, that’s enough to call this an open and shut case.
russian propaganda often uses such fakes in its attempts to demonize Ukraine. But every time they come up with something, it is utterly ridiculous. It seems like nuclear waste is just lying around on every street corner in Ukraine, and Ukrainians are okay with irradiating the most fertile part of their country. You know, a country that already had the most horrible nuclear disaster in history.
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.
