Spilnota Detector Media
Detector Media collects and documents real-time chronicles of the Kremlin disinformation about the Russian invasion. Ukraine for decades has been suffering from Kremlin disinformation. Here we document all narratives, messages, and tactics, which Russia is using from February 17th, 2022. Reminder: the increasing of shelling and fighting by militants happened on the 17th of February 2022 on the territory of Ukraine. Russian propaganda blames Ukraine for these actions.

On 28 March, on the 763th day of the full-scale war, our editorial office recorded:

2043
Fake
676
Manipulation
634
Message
419
Disclosure
Русскій фейк, іді на***!

Manipulation Ukraine exports food, while there are queues for bread in Odesa

Russian propagandists called the Ukrainian attempt to trade from the Odesa port a crime against Ukrainians, who "could get a real Holodomor-2". At the same time, they are distributing a video that allegedly shows a queue of several hundred Odessans for bread. In other videos, the queue is mistaken for the Mykolaiv queue, writes the project "On the other side of the news".

On August 1, for the first time in more than five months, a ship loaded with Ukrainian food (26,000 tons of corn) left the port of Odesa. The export of Ukrainian grain is, first of all, another step towards preventing world hunger. Unblocking the ports will provide at least a billion dollars in foreign exchange earnings for the economy and an opportunity for the agricultural sector to plan next year's sowing, fact-checkers write.

Secondly, export is an annual routine, and Ukraine is among the top ten grain exporters. In the ports of Odesa, 16 more ships blocked by Russia are waiting for their turn.

Manipulation North Macedonia handed over unusable tanks to Ukraine, which it was going to utilize

Russian media are manipulating about the transfer of T-72 "third generation" tanks to Ukraine, Insider writes. They said that they are transferring scrapped equipment from the 70s to Ukraine.

The T-72 tank was developed in the USSR in the 1970s, but it has undergone at least 14 modifications that are still relevant today. Modified T-72s are still in service in more than 40 countries of the world (among them Serbia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Finland, Uzbekistan, Syria, and others).

North Macedonia announced plans to dispose of its 31 T-72 tanks but linked it not to their unsuitability, but the transition to NATO standards. Ammunition for the main armament of the T-72 — 125 mm guns — is not produced in NATO countries. 

Manipulation Egypt canceled the contract for the supply of Ukrainian grain because Kyiv "lied" about the volume of grain warehouses

Russian media wrote that Egypt canceled contracts for the purchase of 240,000 tons of Ukrainian grain, which were supposed to be delivered in February-March, but was never shipped due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Allegedly, this was decided after the visit of the head of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, to Egypt. The reason, they say, is Ukraine's unreliable information about the volume of grain storage.

According to Reuters, Egypt canceled the contract because Ukraine did not fulfill its contractual obligations in March-April 2022 due to the blockade of the ports by Russian troops. Egypt officially assured the Ukrainian ambassador that it does not refuse cooperation and is ready to continue purchasing grain, writes StopFake.

"Egypt will conclude a new contract with Ukraine for the grain supply, as the Ukrainian side was unable to fulfill its contractual obligations in March-April, 2022, due to the blockade of the ports by Russian troops," said Mykhailo Nepran, the first vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He added that the previous agreement did not provide for a force majeure clause, so they canceled the contract, which cannot be fulfilled, to conclude a new one and make the purchase under it. 

Message "Washington is the director of all world swings"

Anonymous Telegram channels write a lot about the US involvement in China's conflict with Taiwan. Propagandists write that the USA has been "pumping Taiwan with weapons" for a long time and that it was the same with the "Ukrainian crisis". This generalized and manipulative message is probably designed to shift the emphasis once again, blaming the USA for starting a major war in Ukraine and not mentioning that Russia started the offensive. 

Fake Kherson Residents must pay for water in rubles

The occupiers distribute invoices with allegedly new details of the water utility and send them to the heads of condominiums. Screenshots of tariffs and requisites were published by the Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council Yuriy Sobolevskyi. These accounts do not exist, writes the "Nota Yenota" project.

"The information stated in the material regarding the opening of accounts in rubles does not correspond to reality. It is forbidden to open accounts in rubles in Ukraine. We checked the details indicated in the material. Such does not exist. Details are fake. We ask you to remove the mention of Alfa-Bank from the material and use only verified information, not to mislead readers," Alfa-Bank's press center replied to Kavun.City journalists. In addition, the IBAN (International Bank Account Number) account format is not used in Russia and for the Russian ruble.

Fact-checkers assumed that the goal of the occupiers was either to discredit the utility company or to assure the people of Kherson that "Russia is here forever." We will remind you that earlier propagandists tried to discredit Khersonoblenergo

Disclosure Russian propagandists use 23 names to denote the Armed Forces of Ukraine

The Institute of Mass Information investigated how one of the largest telegram channels of the occupied Donetsk region spreads Russian disinformation in the occupied territories and how it changed the main message topics five months after the start of the full-scale invasion.

According to the research, propagandists most often refer to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as "VFU" (Armed Forces of Ukraine; 632 mentions), "Nazis" (601), "militants" (495), "Ukras" (160), "terrorists" (134), "neo-Nazis" (131), "Ukrainian Nazis" (117). Propagandists most often associate the Ukrainian army with Nazism in their word-making experiments, IMI writes.

IMI researchers identified five groups of messages:

  • discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine and everything Ukrainian;
  • recognition of the Russian army as powerful and successful;
  • "DPR — a promising region of Russia";
  • "All of Russia is a successful and authoritative country";
  • anti-Western messages.

More details in the study.

Message Russia is a serious economic player

Russian propagandists continue to talk about Russia's invincibility in the war, including because of its economic power. The Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security writes that Russia is a mediocre player in the international market. In particular, more than 75% of Russian exports are raw materials, more than 53% are energy carriers, and only 8% are high-tech products. A raw economy is a feature of a colony, not an empire, the Center summarizes.

Orest Slyvenko, Artur Koldomasov, Pavlo Rud, Oleksandra Kotenko, Oleksandr Siedin, Kostiantyn Zadyraka, and Oleksiy Pivtorak are collaborating on this chronicle. Lesia Bidochko serves as the project coordinator, while Ksenia Ilyuk is the author of the project.