Digest of russian fakes for 2024
President Zelenskyi, russian fakes, russian propaganda, Ukrainian, Pentagon, Chornobyl
putin's criminal regime continues to spend tens of millions of dollars a month just to create and spread new fakes, fresh lies around the world. All this is done against the background of the total decline of the economy and the degradation of social policy. But the kremlin is not interested in the critical social problems of its own citizens. And they are interested in the following...
Based on the materials of Stopfake.org, Spravdi.ua, EuVsDisinfo.eu
Fake: radioactive elements were released into the air in Chornobyl
The story is as old as the world that Ukraine will create a "dirty bomb" that threatens russia and all of Europe. But while the russians did not find any even small evidence of a "dirty bomb", they tried to scare the Europeans with the "accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant". The primary source of this news was the russian Telegram channel "Sheikh Tamir", which previously had repeatedly spread russian disinformation. Of course, this information was denied at the station itself, as well as at the IAEA, which monitors the situation at all Ukrainian nuclear power plants around the clock. In 2023, let's recall, russia constantly created fakes that the Ukrainians were shelling their own (temporarily occupied by the russians nuclear power plant in the city of Energodar), which caused serious risks for a nuclear disaster. In fact, russian terrorists still control this one of the largest nuclear facilities in Europe, namely, they place military equipment there, mine individual blocks and approaches to the plant, shell the territories controlled by Ukraine (the cities of Nikopol and Marganets are very close to Energodar).
Fake: President cheese released packages with "Zelenskyi is high"
This is not the first time russians have created such shameful disinformation. A video of packages of President cheese with the faces of various presidents allegedly being sold in russia is circulating online. Among them are "Macron with mold", "Zelenskyi is high", "Biden with dementia" and "Putin is adequate". It is interesting that even the audience of pro-russian channels did not believe in the veracity of this news - in the comments, readers accused the bloggers who spread it of publishing primitive fakes.
Photo fake: Ukrainian military "poses with a flag with a swastika"
At once, several programs for analyzing the authenticity of images indicate that the photo has been altered or generated by a computer program. In addition, the original source of the photo is the English-language Telegram channel, which positions itself as pro-Ukrainian, but writes in a positive way about the "flourishing of right-wing radical movements in Ukraine." Ukraine also bans the promotion of symbols of totalitarian regimes. Criminal and administrative liability is provided for the use of such symbols.
Thanks to the service Forensically, it was possible to determine that the four servicemen in the photo and the background of the image are not parts of the same picture. But the most significant result of the analysis was that the flag of Ukraine with the swastika is fake. The place on which the swastika is depicted turned out to be much lighter than the main canvas. This shows that the image of the swastika was simply added to the Ukrainian flag using a photo editor.
Digest of Russian fakes for August 2024
russian fakes, russian propaganda, Ukrainian, Donbas, European Union, Monkey pox
We have collected various fakes that were distributed around the world by the russian special services in August. They don't have problems with fantasy, just like they don't have problems with funding to pollute the media space. Please read this material so as not to contaminate yourself with disinformation feces produced in russia.
Fake: Ukraine may become the center of the spread of monkeypox in Europe
"Monkey pox can spread to Europe through Ukraine," russian mass media reported, referring to an article in The Independent. "Probably, due to the overload of wounded servicemen, the Ukrainian health care system may not be able to cope with the challenge of a potential pandemic and become a center for the spread of the virus." However, this news is fabricated, The Independent did not publish this information.
Truth: A new outbreak of monkeypox was announced by WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on August 14 of this year. The virus is spreading rapidly through African countries: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, and was recently detected in Sweden. Two years ago, isolated cases of the virus were recorded in Ukraine, but there was no epidemic growth. "The risk of a monkeypox epidemic in Ukraine is considered very low, and the European Union has supplied the country with vaccines intended for risk groups," explained Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine Ihor Kuzin. Therefore, claims that Ukraine will become the center of the spread of the virus in Europe are completely groundless.
Fake: Ukrainian authorities and volunteers forcefully take children away from their parents in Donbas
The russian mass media again began to actively spread misinformation about the forced evacuation of children by the Ukrainian military from settlements close to the front line. The words of one of the local residents are used as evidence. Such interviews are not supported by any evidence, but are only the words of people who call themselves residents of front-line settlements.
The purpose of such fakes is to complicate the evacuation, to sow distrust in the Ukrainian authorities, to encourage collaborationism, and as a result to cause more victims among the civilian population.
Truth: No one forcibly takes children from families living on the front line. According to the resolution of the Ukrainian government on the forced evacuation of children from areas of active hostilities, one of the parents does not have the right to refuse evacuation and must accompany the child during evacuation. The responsibility for minors, as before, lies primarily with their families, and the state undertakes to ensure the departure of minors.
"It is not about taking children away from their parents. It is not about the use of physical coercion. The legal feature of the forced evacuation of children is that at least one of the parents does not have the right to refuse evacuation and must accompany the child during the evacuation," Iryna Vereshchuk, Minister of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, commented on the decision.
However, even with the emergence of a mechanism for evacuating children from dangerous zones, police officers and volunteers still have to convince parents of the need for evacuation for a long time. Ukrainian and international mass media have already made many reports about how the evacuation of the civilian population and children is taking place, including in Donbas.
Fake: Ukrainian refugees in the EU are massively becoming kidney donors
Lie: The British BBC channel, referred to by pro-russian propagandists, did not publish the story that Ukrainian refugees are massively becoming kidney donors in the European Union. The European Association of Kidney Diseases mentioned in the fake video in the StopFake comment denied the publication of such data about Ukrainians.
In the video itself, it is said that 27% of Ukrainians have decided to donate their kidney, which is as many as 1.5 million donors over the past 2.5 years. Such data were allegedly provided by the Working Group on the Development of Education, Science and Care for Kidney Transplantation in European Countries (DESCaRTES).
Media fraudsters used the corporate style of the British broadcasting corporation BBC to create this fake. The StopFake journalist checked the BBC's video publications on its official website, social networks X and Facebook and on the YouTube platform, and did not find the mentioned clip in the last month.
StopFake has also written to the European Kidney Disease Association, which includes the DESCaRTES Working Group. The executive director of the organization, Monica Fontana, said that they did not publish such data.“We vehemently deny that this information is true and are now going to take legal action to protect the reputation of our Society, our Transplant Working Groups and our annual ERA Congress. Such news has never been disseminated in any way shape or form…” Fontana wrote.
According to the international report on donation and transplantation, in Europe in 2022, slightly more than 25,000 kidney transplant operations were performed. And according to the statistical portal Statista, there will be only 102,090 such operations worldwide in 2022. Statistics for 2023-2024 are not yet available.
Fake: a Bild journalist died after an article about Ukraine's military operation in the Kursk region
russian propaganda faked a screenshot with a message about the death of Bild journalist Zhanna Plaumann with the following headline: "Died after the publication of her story about Ukraine's military operation in the Kursk region."
"It is with deep regret that we have to inform you that the editorial office of the BILD newspaper has lost a valuable employee, Zhanna Plaumann. Zhanna Plauman wrote about foreign policy for BILD. In 2020, she joined BILD-Politics as a freelance writer. Since 2021 - the permanent editor. What happened was a big shock for the entire BILD editorial staff. Zhanna Plauman died of acute heart failure. The editors of BILD express their deepest condolences", this message is stated on a fake screenshot from the website of the German media.
StopFake journalists decided to check whether the journalist Zhanna Plaumann really died after writing an article about the Ukrainian military operation in russia. The screenshot from the BILD website about the journalist's death is a fake. The "Authors" section is supposed to include Zhanna Plauman's obituary, but there is no mentioned publication there.StopFake also reached out to Plaumann via her personal email to verify the information. The journalist responded almost immediately, denied the propaganda information and confirmed that she is "alive and healthy."
Digest of Russian fakes for SEPTEMBER 2024
russian fakes, russian propaganda, Ukrainian, Donbas, European Union, Monkey pox
We have collected various fakes that were distributed around the world by the russian special services and media in September. They don't have problems with fantasy, just like they don't have problems with funding to pollute the media space. Please read this material so as not to contaminate yourself with disinformation feces produced in russia.
Fake: Ukrainian intelligence recruits radicals in Syria, Afghanistan and Mali to carry out terrorist attacks on the territory of russia.
Such nonsense is being spread by the pseudo-media of the kremlin with reference to the statement of the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the russian Federation maria zakharova.
The truth: this is another lie of the kremlin's propaganda machine, and baseless accusations against Ukraine are the signature style of putin's civil servants. In fact, it is moscow that conducts military cooperation with the above-mentioned countries. Accusing Kyiv of cooperation with terrorist organizations, the kremlin seeks to discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community, as well as to divert attention from its own – quite real and proven – crimes.
russia has long actively and openly cooperated with the terrorist organizations Hamas and the Taliban, and also supports the international terrorist activities of the private military company "Wagner". Also, strategic allies of the Kremlin are dictatorial regimes, such as Iran, Belarus, North Korea, Syria, Mali, with which military cooperation is also increasing. In addition, mass terror against the civilian population of Ukraine is on the conscience of moscow, both in the occupied territories and in the range of russian missiles and drones. It is the russian special services that commit sabotage around the world and directly interfere in election processes in democratic countries.
Fake: the losses of the armed forces of Ukraine exceeded half a million people
Such a statement of the ex-deputy of Ukraine Ihor Mosiychuk is reproduced by the pro-russian media.
Truth: Mosiychuk has long gained the "fame" of a provocateur and disinformer who betrayed his country and openly works for the russian special services. For example, at the beginning of September, he circulated a fake that "everything is being done in Kyiv to reduce the number of victims." In July, he lied that "Zelenskyi is preparing a bloody provocation to save Biden." And so on. It should be noted that on March 28, 2024, his TikTok channel was included in the list of harmful and those spreading hostile disinformation about Ukraine.
Fake: children in Ukraine are forced to donate blood for the needs of the military
The russian media wrote about the fact that blood is allegedly collected forcibly from children for the needs of the army in Ukraine. At the same time, it is emphasized that this is done by the military themselves, or that this blood is collected for "foreign mercenaries".
"There have already been cases in history when children's blood went to support the health of ... Wehrmacht soldiers. And this practice was evaluated during the Nuremberg trial," writes "moscow komsomolets".
Yes, the publication mentions the village of Tomashpil, Vinnytsia region. There, the commander of the 22nd brigade of the Ukrainian army allegedly came to the local school to collect donated blood, who "forced teachers and children to go to the blood donation point with threats." Some of these publications were accompanied by a photo of a boy donating blood in an educational institution (school furniture can be seen in the background of the photo).
In fact, this photo was taken on Donor Day, which was held on August 22. At that time, a blood collection point was actually equipped in the local lyceum, and the blood collection itself was carried out by the field team of the Vinnytsia Regional Blood Service Center with the help of local medical workers. All residents of the community came to donate blood. Many photos from the event were released, but propagandists took only one - with a boy who could be mistaken for a teenager.
It is important to note that according to the law in Ukraine, only adults can become blood donors — blood is accepted from people over 18 years of age who have undergone a medical examination and have no contraindications determined by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.
Manipulation: In the US, Ukrainian pilots are considered "unsuitable for complex tasks" on the F-16
The kremlin's "fake factory" significantly distorted the interview of the commander of the US Air Force in Europe and Africa, General James Hacker, with Air & Space Forces Magazine. The publication emphasizes that F-16s are already successfully used to destroy russian cruise missiles and drones. At the same time, due to the new experience, Ukraine is still showing caution when using new fighters to perform risky tasks.
However, russian propaganda has drawn its own conclusion that Ukrainian pilots are "unfit to perform complex tasks on F-16 fighters", and it is precisely because of this that Ukraine has allegedly already lost one aircraft. The purpose of this manipulation is to discredit the servicemen of the Air Force of Ukraine.
Truth: In his interview, the head of the US Air Force in Europe and the NATO Air Force Command did note that today Ukraine is likely to be cautious about using the new F-16 fighter jets for risky missions. However, this is only due to insufficient experience, since Ukrainian pilots began to perform the first combat missions on the F-16 only in August 2024. James Hekker did not make any statements about the "unsuitability" of Ukrainian pilots. Moreover, according to James Hecker, Ukrainian F-16 maintenance specialists demonstrate high results.
The publication also mentions the accident of one of the Ukrainian F-16s, as a result of which the pilot died. However, neither General James Hecker nor the journalist who prepared this publication associates this incident with the poor training of Ukrainian pilots. The author of the article only noted that Ukraine lost a plane during another massive russian attack, and Kyiv is currently investigating the crash of the first F-16.
Fake: a Ukrainian refugee shot a Christian icon in Zurich
Truth: Pro-russian disinformers used Sania Ameti, who is a Swiss politician of Bosnian descent, and has no ties to Ukraine in any way. Except for the publication of a politician in the network in support of Ukrainians against the background of the russian invasion. The publications are accompanied by a screenshot from the woman's Instagram profile, where she shared a photo in yellow and blue colors with the hashtag #standwithukraine.
Sania Amethi is a member of parliament for the liberal Green Party and head of Operation Libero, a political movement that advocates for Switzerland's multicultural and progressive future. Ameti has long been interested in sports shooting and shared a photo on the network in which she shoots images with Christian iconographic motifs. After public outrage, Sania Ameti deleted the post and apologized. She explained that she used an image from an art catalog because it was "the right size and prominent enough" to serve as a target. "I did not pay attention to the content of the illustration," said Sania Amethi and called her actions "absolute stupidity." Several conservative politicians condemned Amethi's actions and called for her resignation.
The leadership of the Green Liberals also believes that the politician's actions are a reputational blow throughout the organization and will ask Amethi to leave the party. Thus, Sania Ameti has nothing to do with Ukraine, but this does not stop kremlin propagandists. They can use any person, any photo from social networks to spread their own false propaganda.
Digest of Russian fakes for October 2024
Russian fakes, Sandu Moldova, Armed Forces ukraine, Ukrainian refugees, International Legion
The kremlin continues to spend tens of millions of dollars every month just to hurt someone. Instead of somehow improving the lives of his people. The russian economy is in the worst state since 1992, social spending and projects have been cut for the third year in a row, but no money is spared for war and disinformation. For your attention, a selection of lies from the russian "Fake Factory" for October.
Fake: during the reign of Sandu, Moldova entered the 50 poorest countries in the world
The kremlin's top propagandist, dmitriy kiselyov, made a statement on his TV show on the eve of the elections in Moldova: "As for poverty in Moldova, it is at a record high during Sandu's presidency. Moldova is on the list of the 50 poorest countries in the world. There is massive impoverishment. It is even difficult to understand where it is worse now in Ukraine or Moldova."
Truth: There are different ways to define poverty in a country. The World Bank uses the criterion of gross national income per capita with the conversion of national currencies into US dollars using the Atlas method. At the same time, all countries are divided into 4 groups: with high, higher than average, lower than average and low incomes. Moldova is now an upper-middle-income country, although it was classified as a low-income country in the late 1990s.
According to this criterion, in 2023, Moldova took 111th place in the world (above Ukraine, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bolivia, Uzbekistan, India). And according to the criterion of nominal GDP per capita, Moldova is in 96th place in the world (Ghana, which occupies the 50th position from the end, this indicator is 2.97 times lower).
Maia Sandu became the president of Moldova in 2020. In 3 years, according to the IMF, the nominal GDP per capita increased by 1.37 times. Another confirmation that russia openly despises politicians who are developing and have chosen a democratic path for their countries.
Fake: 60% of foreign soldiers of the Armed Forces return home disabled
Propagandists faked an infographic on this topic. This was confirmed in a comment to StopFake by a representative of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which is mentioned in the fake news. The fake infographic shows data on the percentage of foreign fighters likely to become disabled, broken down by country: 89% from Colombia, 88% from Poland, 62% from Germany, 71% from France, and 64% from the US. The chart also claims that these numbers coincide chronologically with Ukraine's actions in russia's Kursk region. The authors of the fake refer to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an American think tank that specializes in the analysis of modern conflicts, as well as the Statista platform.
The German online platform Statista, which specializes in collecting and visualizing data, has also never published this particular infographic, despite closely following events in Ukraine. Statista's latest publications include the number of refugees from Ukraine and an estimate of the total cost of damage from the war in Ukraine. We could not find any information about "foreign mercenaries" in Ukraine on their website or social media. The very use of the term "mercenaries" to refer to foreigners fighting on the side of Ukraine is characteristic of russian propaganda.
Fake: Ukrainian refugees in Florida looted houses damaged by the hurricane
russian mass media and social networks spread information that Ukrainians were allegedly engaged in looting in Florida when the hurricane was raging. The discrediting of Ukrainian refugees is a topic that has been actively promoted by kremlin propaganda for a long time. Especially after the full-scale invasion, when many Ukrainians fled abroad in search of safety.
The news about looting by Ukrainians during the natural disaster in Florida is a complete lie. The whole story is based on a single screenshot allegedly from the "EARNINGS Florida/Miami" Telegram channel where users are allegedly "discussing" which house to rob. It was not possible to find the same channel through Telegram search. There are clear signs that point to the false nature of the story. For example, the unnatural use of the Ukrainian language. That is, the texts were created using artificial translation. Analysis of the screenshot using the InVID tool also shows that the image has been edited. Moreover, there were no reports of similar incidents involving Ukrainians in the American media.
Fake: Mila Jovovich fired a Ukrainian domestic worker for refusing to speak russian
The reports claim that the domestic worker's name is Svitlana Chornykh and that she is a refugee from Ukraine. Apparently, it was her duty to speak to Jovovich's daughter in russian in order to maintain her knowledge of the language, but the Ukrainian categorically refused to do so.
While researching this story, several strange details immediately catch your eye. First, no foreign media reported on this incident (although Jovovich is a global star). English-language publications about the alleged release of the Ukrainian woman appear only from anonymous users on the platforms X (formerly Twitter) and Odysee.
According to the data of the TGStat service, which provides analytics on Telegram, the original source of this news is the russian Telegram channel "Imperiya ochen zla". This is a satirical channel that publishes fictional news, as stated in its description: “Caution, possible fake and harsh satire. What is written is an artistic fiction." In the comments to this "news", subscribers of the channel invent different continuations of the story and mock the russian mass media, which took this satire seriously and posted the information on their social networks.
Fake: Ukraine is preparing to use bacteriological weapons to infect water bodies
russian propaganda is actively spreading the fake that Ukraine is allegedly going to use chemical or bacteriological weapons to infect water bodies in the Kherson region (currently partially occupied by russia). The primary source of this information is the representative of the occupation authorities, vladimir saldo, who a priori cannot be considered a reliable source of information.
Throughout the russian-Ukrainian war, the kremlin's "Fake Factory" has repeatedly promoted the topic that Ukraine uses bacteriological weapons. With such narratives, the russian media seek to create a negative image of Ukraine, whose government poses a threat to the local population. But without any evidence.
To date, the Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has no evidence of Ukraine's use of chemical weapons during the war. On the contrary, in May 2024, the United States announced the presence of evidence of the use of chemical weapons by the russian army against Ukraine, namely chlorpicrin, a chemical substance included in Schedule 3 of the Geneva Convention, which is a means of suppressing riots. Since 2022, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has recorded 815 cases of the russian army using ammunition filled with chemicals such as chlorpicrin.
Fake: Ukraine's public debt will soon exceed 1000% of the country's GDP
The propagandists multiplied the real data by 10. In fact, the public debt of Ukraine is 97% of GDP. In addition, the propagandists completely ignored the context of the authentic news. The message of the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine talked about the reduction of external debt from 100.5% to 97% of GDP in 2025, that is, about the positive dynamics of this indicator.It should be added that such a high indicator is not uncommon even for countries with developed economies that are not at war. Thus, the public debt of France, Belgium and Great Britain is 112%, 105% and 104% of GDP, respectively, and in Japan this percentage reaches 254%.
Fake: more than 240 Colombian citizens died near Kursk
russian propaganda launched an absurd fake that a relative of Shakira, who fought on the side of Ukraine, allegedly died in the Kursk region. The 40-second clip was designed with the logo of the Colombian media "El Espectador". It says that a relative of the singer Shakira joined the International Legion of the Army of Ukraine in mid-September, with which he entered the Kursk region (russia). In 5 days, the man was allegedly killed, and his body was already sent to Colombia. The video, accompanied by English subtitles, was shared by many pro-russian Telegram channels and online media. In fact, there is no corresponding story on the verified resources of "El Espectador" in X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube. There is no such news either on the official website of the publication or in other authoritative sources. In addition, "El Espectador" is published exclusively in Spanish. Therefore, the product of the russian factory of fakes was quickly recognized.
This news is actively spread by the pro-kremlin mass media with reference to the news of the Colombian media "El Tiempo". Among the dead is allegedly 37-year-old Rodrigo Gaviria, the nephew of Pablo Escobar's grandson. The man allegedly went to the Kursk region (russia) on September 20 as part of a sabotage group, and on September 23 his death was reported. The video also states that more than 240 Colombian citizens who fought on the side of Ukraine died near Kursk over the past month and a half.
However, this news is completely fabricated. First, there is no such video on the "El Tiempo" website or on the YouTube channel. Also, this news was not published by any other Spanish-language media. Secondly, there is no information on the network about the nephew of Pablo Escobar's grandson named Rodrigo Gaviria. Everything suggests that the propagandists invented both the relative of the Colombian drug dealer and his death.The only truth is that there are really Colombians in the International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The country has the largest military in Latin America after decades of battling insurgents and drug cartels, so veterans with combat experience abound. Since professional soldiers at home receive small pensions, they often join foreign armies for good contracts.
Pro-russian media also spread the news that the body of the dead Colombian soldier of the International Legion, Michael Ramirez Fino, was allegedly returned to his family without internal organs. In a edited video with the Ahora logo, the soldier's mother reports that the leadership of the International Legion admitted to her that her son's organs were transplanted to wounded comrades. "Fake Factory" once again returns to its favorite topic: the so-called black transplantation of organs on the territory of Ukraine.
And this story is completely fictional. First, there is no Spanish media with the name "Ahora" (most likely, the logo of the fictional media was created artificially). Also, no other reputable media reported on this case.Second, judging by Michael Ramirez Fino's Instagram page, the woman whose photo is shown in the video is not his mother. Previously, the soldier published photos with a woman named Reyna Ramirez, but it is his grandmother or another relative. It was this photo that the fake authors used in the video. The woman's voice seems to belong to artificial intelligence - it is too monotonous and emotionless.
When asked by StopFake, the International Legion responded that serviceman Michael Ramirez Fino has been officially declared missing. His body has not yet been found, which completely contradicts the propagandists' version.
Propaganda and fakes digest for November 2024
Russian fakes, unrest in Georgia, Ivanka Trump, Viktor Orban, Chrystia Freeland, kremlin's news, Ukrainian military
In autumn, the russian fake news factory was operating at full capacity, and it has no plans to slow down. In 2025, moscow is allocating $1.43 billion for this purpose (13% more than in 2024). Read this material to clear your head a little bit from disinformation and be more resistant to fakes in the future.
Fake: Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights criticises Ukraine for "language patrols"
The Ukrainian language is once again on the minds of russian propagandists. This time, the kremlin's Telegram channels spread information that the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Michael O'Flaherty had allegedly criticised Ukraine for its "language patrols". As "proof", propagandists published a video of a person resembling O'Flaherty saying that such patrols violate the rights of national minorities in Ukraine. "This suggests that even in Europe, they can no longer turn a blind eye to the Nazism that is happening in Ukraine", the propagandists try to stir up emotions.
StopFake journalists checked this news. It is not true. The person in the video does look very similar to Council of Europe Commissioner Michael O'Flaherty. But in fact, it is a high-quality copy of him, created with the help of artificial intelligence (deepfake). In addition, StopFake managed to find the original video that propagandists used to create the deepfake. It is posted on the Commissioner's YouTube channel and is titled "How can we improve the lives of Europe's largest minority?" In it, Michael O'Flaherty gestures in exactly the same way as in the fake video and wears identical clothes. But in the original version, O'Flaherty does not mention the Ukrainian authorities.
Fake: Ukrainian military surrendered more often after Trump's election victory
A video allegedly created by the Institute for War Studies is being circulated on a pro-russian segment of the network. It says that after Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election, Ukrainian soldiers surrendered 8 times more often. This "news" was also allegedly commented on by Euronews editor-in-chief Klaus Strunz, who called it an "absolutely natural" development: "Now it is finally clear to everyone that Ukraine is doomed, so the military is only thinking about saving their own lives".
However, this news was completely invented by propagandists. The Institute for War Studies did not publish this video or such statistics on its website or social media, and does not produce content in video format at all. We also do not find such reports in any of the reputable Western media, including Euronews. There is no reliable data on how many Ukrainian soldiers actually surrendered. Since such statistics are available only to the russian side, it is difficult to trust them. At the same time, Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, said that the government is aware of more than 100 cases of execution of Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered, which is a flagrant crime and a violation of the Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
Fake: volunteers transporting 100kg of drugs for Ukrainian military detained
This information was invented by russian propaganda to discredit the Ukrainian army. In fact, the photo attached to the publication shows the detention of a driver in Texas (USA) who was transporting 57 packages of methamphetamine in his car.
It should be noted that this ‘news’ first appeared and spread through russian Telegram channels and was then picked up by russian media, indicating a coordinated disinformation campaign. Stopfake also checked the photo accompanying the ‘news’ using various image search tools and found that it depicts a $5.7 million methamphetamine seizure in Webb County, Texas (USA). The discovery was made by local patrol officers while inspecting the trunk of a minibus. This was also reported on the state governor's Facebook page.
Fake: 77% of Europeans believe in the unity of russians
Eurostat did not conduct such a study - the information about it, as well as the figures themselves, was invented by propagandists. At the same time, the kremlin's fake news factory reported that only 19 per cent of Europeans are confident in the unity of the people of Ukraine, and that only 38 per cent of respondents continue to support Ukraine as the right decision.
However, both this study and the statistics in it are completely fictitious. The materials on the website of Eurostat (the statistical organisation of the European Commission) do not contain any mention of a survey on the topic of "Russian unity". The information that only 38 per cent of Europeans support assistance to Ukraine is also a lie. In each EU country, the level of support for Ukraine varies, although it remains high overall. For example, in May 2024, the European Council on Foreign Relations surveyed nearly 20,000 people in 15 European countries about their perceptions of the russian-Ukrainian war. When asked whether Europe should increase the supply of ammunition and weapons to Ukraine, the vast majority of respondents answered positively. Support for Ukraine is currently strongest in Estonia, Sweden, Poland, the UK and the Netherlands. Only in Italy, Greece and Bulgaria do most respondents think this is a bad idea.
Fake: Ivanka Trump thinks Ukrainians are "nasty and mean people"
The information originally appeared on channels that publish humorous content and fake news. Ivanka Trump herself has never made such statements. In fact, Ivanka Trump, an American businesswoman and daughter of US President-elect Donald Trump, has never publicly made such statements about Ukraine and Ukrainians.
StopFake journalists used the Osavul platform to find out that this message first appeared on the Telegram channel "Here's my Yandex wallet". The channel's description states that only verified fakes are published there. However, soon after, the "Ivanka Trump quotes" began to spread in the media as genuine.
Although Ivanka Trump has left politics, she continues to work on charitable projects. In March 2022, at the beginning of russia's full-scale war against Ukraine, she arrived in Poland to support Ukrainian refugees affected by russian aggression and donated humanitarian aid, including food and medical supplies, to several Ukrainian cities. In December 2022, Ivanka Trump purchased generators for CityServe's partner churches in Ukraine, which were left without electricity.
Fake: The BBC Corporation became the record holder in 2024 for the number of fakes published
The video spread by russian propaganda is a fake, and the information about the "Bellingcat investigation" is completely fictitious. The attackers deliberately used the logo of the Bellingcat research group and their design elements. The second place, according to the disinformers, was taken by CNN, and the third by Der Spiegel.
This information is not available on Bellingcat's official resources, and no media outlets other than pro-russian ones have reported on it. Instead, the video is only spread by anonymous Telegram channels. The British broadcaster BBC has a high reputation among the international media. The British regulator Ofcom constantly assesses compliance with BBC broadcasting standards. According to the annual Reuters Institute Digital News Report, the BBC remains the most trusted news brand in the UK with a 62% trust level. Der Spiegel and CNN are also among the top five most trusted media outlets in Germany and the US, with 54% and 48% trust levels respectively.
Fake: The EU wants to conquer Hungary by replacing Viktor Orban with its protégé
"European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European People's Party (EPP) President Manfred Weber are colluding with the liberal social democratic opposition in Hungary to oust Orban and install their own puppet government in Budapest", pro-kremlin media write.
The conspiracy theory, which is not supported by any evidence, aims to promote several recurring pro-kremlin disinformation narratives against the EU and about secret elites that control ordinary citizens. The aim of these narratives is to undermine democratic systems and organisations. The EU does not interfere in electoral or political processes in other countries, and certainly cannot fund parties in any country. Moreover, for the past six months, Hungary, led by Orban, has been presiding over the EU Council, despite the fact that Orban has been a vocal critic of EU policies and projects. This is true democracy, which all dictators are so afraid of.
Fake: Ukraine is training militants for unrest in Georgia
The russian news agency TASS published a news item with the headline "Kyiv is gathering militants to organise unrest in Georgia". The story is accompanied by a fragment of a document from the National Police of Ukraine. However, the document itself does not mention ethnic Georgians, only Georgian citizens and Ukrainian citizens who have moved to Georgia. Nothing is said about Azov, which allegedly "trains militants".
But the most surprising thing is that the document, which TASS approached so creatively, was clearly produced by russian propagandists. As has happened many times before, their poor knowledge of the Ukrainian language let them down (the text is perceived as an inept translation from russian). Moreover, the authors of the fake document made mistakes not only in the language. The document was allegedly signed by the head of the Mariupol District Police Department (Mariupol is known to be occupied by russia, and the local police department is temporarily located in Dnipro). However, the phone number of the department was clearly taken from some old documents: it contains the old code of Mariupol (629), not Dnipro (56).
Another fake is also being spread on the topic of Georgia, claiming that the West is using French citizen Salome Zurabishvili to take over Georgia. The propaganda states: ‘"The President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, who is not even Georgian but French, is obviously sent by the West to put Georgia in the orbit of NATO, not even the EU. As Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service warned, the US intended to cause mass protests in Georgia to prevent the ruling party from winning the parliamentary elections and facilitate the opposition's seizure of power".
This disinformation story is a direct response to Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili's allegations of electoral fraud in the October 2024 parliamentary elections and the subsequent outbreak of protests. But these protests were not the work of any Western "director", they began after the Georgian opposition claimed to have gathered evidence of fraud by the current government and called on citizens to protest. Salome Zurabishvili was born to Georgian immigrants in France, but she renounced her French citizenship when she became president in 2018.