During the latest monitoring of the information field of the countries of the Global South, the Center for Countering Disinformation identified a number of narratives that are beneficial to Russia, in particular:

- Ukrainian “peace plans” and “victory plans” boil down to drawing Western countries into the “conflict”;

- NATO troops are taking part in the war on the side of Ukraine;

- US military aid only prolongs the war in Ukraine and makes its diplomatic resolution impossible.

Among other things, news about the participation of North Korean troops in the Russian-Ukrainian war was covered in almost all countries in the region. The situation caused some concern – the media spread statements by world leaders about the threat to global security from the alliance of Russia and the DPRK. At the same time, in China this topic continues to be almost completely ignored.

Also, the attention of journalists in the Global South, as well as the entire world, was riveted on the presidential elections in the USA. Many opinion pieces appeared on how the results of the elections in the USA could influence the course of the war in Ukraine. In Latin America, they wrote about a diplomatic settlement of the war.

The prospects of BRICS remain a hot topic in Chinese media. It was said that BRICS could become a “powerful platform for a major overhaul” of the current system of international order, which a number of influential states in the Global South consider unfair.

In turn, in the Middle East, the media discussed the West’s “double standards” regarding the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and demanded more attention from the world community to the civilian casualties resulting from the bombing of Gaza.

Based on the results of monitoring, the Center for Countering Disinformation reports that Chinese media continue to write a lot about the results of the BRICS summit in Kazan. A number of publications are skeptical about BRICS, noting that some member states do not agree with its transformation from a geoeconomic to a geopolitical association. In addition, there is a message that the Russian-Ukrainian war could cause disagreements within the organization.

China also continues to promote a joint initiative with Brazil to diplomatically resolve the war in Ukraine. It is noted that Beijing is allegedly interacting with “various interested parties” to facilitate this. At the same time, Chinese journalists almost completely ignore the issue of the participation of the DPRK military in the war against Ukraine.

The Center for Countering Disinformation adds that anti-Western rhetoric remains very common in Chinese media. In particular, the narrative is being promoted that the long war in Ukraine has led Europe to an extremely difficult period, and that anti-Russian sanctions have a negative impact on the energy sector and the economy of EU countries as a whole. It should be noted that such rhetoric is in line with Russian propaganda.

The Internet is spreading information that the Ukrainian State Film Agency has allegedly announced a presidential grant competition for 2025. Its goal is to create projects where the authors must demonstrate a “positive image of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support”.

The Ukrainian State Film Agency website does indeed contain news about the announcement of a presidential grant competition in 2025. To participate, one must submit the relevant documents: an application, an estimate, a description of the film. Similar conditions were previously in 2023 and 2024. They do not mention positive coverage of the Territorial center of recruitment and social support actions. The purpose of the competition is to provide state financial support to young artists for the creation and implementation of socially significant creative projects. Clear restrictions on the topics of the projects are not specified.

The counterfeit indicated a sum of over UAH 1 billion for the creation of products, but the official website indicated only UAH 3.9 million. This is the amount of funds allocated for the payment of three grants.

The Citytv publication is distributing a video online, which claims that the Colombian government wants to restrict the showing of videos from Ukraine on TikTok. They decided to resort to such an event because “young people, having watched enough Ukrainian videos, think that war is a romantic event and go to war”.

But Citytv did not publish the video, and some elements in the video indicate a forgery. Colombian authorities have not publicly announced their intention to restrict the showing of videos from Ukraine on TikTok.

Citytv is a Colombian TV channel. The channel is exclusively Spanish-language, but the text in the video that was distributed is written in English. Neither the Citytv website nor social networks contain any news about the Colombian government's plans to restrict the showing of videos from Ukraine on TikTok.

In addition, the video has several differences with the original videos of TV channels. For example, the Citytv Noticias logo is usually placed in the lower left corner and is part of the news banner, while in the propaganda video it is placed separately on the top left.

Russian propagandists used the flooding in Poland to create anti-Ukrainian sentiment and sow discord between Ukrainians and Poles. One of the main messages was that supporting Ukraine allegedly weakens Poland's ability to help its citizens. Propagandists spread information that Ukrainian refugees received more aid than the affected Poles, which caused negative emotions and fueled discontent. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Examples of manipulations:

Accusations against Ukrainians of looting in areas evacuated due to flooding.

Using fake videos and data from other countries to exaggerate the scale of the disaster.

Manipulation of the numbers of dead and missing in order to distort the real state of affairs.

According to the PAP press agency, from September 13 to 25, 23,000 disinformation messages were recorded online, reaching around eight million users. The campaign also aimed to incite hostility, weaken the strategic alliance between Poland and Ukraine, and undermine unity in confronting Russian aggression. This is part of a broader information war aimed at isolating Ukraine on the international stage and reducing support among key partners. In response, the Polish authorities emphasize the continuation of comprehensive assistance to Ukraine in the fight against the aggressor.

Experts at the Center for Countering Disinformation monitor the media in the Global South for narratives that are beneficial to Russia. They have identified several of these.

On the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israeli territory, some Middle Eastern media wrote about the double standards of the West regarding the war in Ukraine and the war in Gaza. It was noted that “violations of international humanitarian law are condemned in the context of Russian aggression against Ukraine, but are not condemned in the case of Israel”.

In addition, some Middle Eastern media outlets actively disseminated statements by Russian officials that “the current confrontation between Russia and the West is unprecedented” and that the United States is “paving the way to a nuclear conflict”. 

As a reminder, the term Global South refers to countries that the World Bank considers to be low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. All countries with a per capita GDP of over $15,000 are considered part of the Global North, except for Bulgaria and Romania, which are members of the European Union. By this definition, both Russia and Ukraine are in the Global South, as are China and India. Some geographically southern countries, such as Chile and Uruguay, are classified as part of the Global North based on their per capita GDP.

The Global South is not homogeneous. Attitudes toward Russia’s aggression vary greatly in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. Some experts argue that the Global South has generally taken a neutral stance toward Russia’s war against Ukraine. Turkey, for example, is trying to mediate Russia’s war against Ukraine by facilitating a grain deal and participating in a prisoner exchange. Brazil is proposing its own “peace plan” to resolve Russia’s war against Ukraine. And China and South Africa are conducting joint naval exercises with Russia. Recent opinion polls in China, Turkey, and India show that residents of these countries clearly want the war to end as soon as possible, even if that means Ukraine has to make territorial concessions.

Anonymous Telegram channels are discussing the reaction of the Ukrainian leadership to a previously published article by The Wall Street Journal, which states that the number of killed Ukrainian soldiers allegedly reaches 80 thousand, and the wounded - 400 thousand. At a meeting with journalists on September 20, 2024, Volodymyr Zelenskyi denied such information.

“80 thousand? That's a lie. The real figure is significantly lower than what was published. Significantly”, Zelenskyi said.

WSJ journalists also reported that it is difficult to determine the exact number of dead and wounded in the Russian-Ukrainian war, since Russia and Ukraine refuse to publish official estimates or publish ones that “many do not trust”. And they formed their figures based on unnamed sources familiar with the situation in Ukraine.

Russian propagandists used this information drive and spread reports that Polish journalists also decided to conduct their own assessment of the dead and came up with a figure of up to 500 thousand killed Ukrainian soldiers.

“The more Ukrainian soldiers, and especially those from the western regions of Ukraine, die, the easier it will be for Poland to take back what already belongs only to it,” the propagandists who allegedly commented on the “results” of the study on Polish radio reported.

But this is just a Russian fake. No major Polish media outlets have come out with such news - and even with the help of a reverse Google search - using the key phrase “500,000 wojskowych zabitych na Ukrainie” (500 thousand soldiers died in Ukraine) there are no similar publications.

As for the phrase on Polish radio, it was also made up, because there were no “results”  of the study. Moreover, the quote that the propagandists cite was only published in the segment of Russian and anonymous telegram channels. That is, official sources did not confirm this: and the quote itself is a set of Russian rhetoric about “Poland taking the western part of Ukraine”.

Information about the dead is sensitive information that the Kremlin's minions are trying to speculate on, playing on the mood of Ukrainians. Due to the extremely inflated figures from the propagandists, it may seem that the war has no end and soon no one will be fighting. In general, such figures cannot be genuine; even the Ukrainian authorities can adjust some constant figures, for example, only deny the WSJ material, since it is currently impossible to establish the real number of dead during the active phase of the war.

Let us recall that in February of this year, the Ukrainian president reported the number of 31 thousand fallen Ukrainian soldiers over two years of the great war.

Thanks to the Serbian government's control over media and a favorable political environment, RT (formerly Russia Today) uses its office in Belgrade to adapt Kremlin narratives and spread them throughout southeastern Europe. Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in its explanation of RT Balkan, calls on the European Union and its member states to hold Serbia accountable for hosting the video.

In September 2024, RSF approached RT with questions about the purpose of the new Balkan bureau and its relationship with the Russian government. RT immediately responded sarcastically: “We created RT Balkan with the sole purpose of annoying Reporters Without Borders”. This response underlines the provocative political nature of RT, which positions itself as a counterweight to organizations defending a free, independent and pluralistic press. However, this response also shows that RT is unwilling to be open about its goals or its ties to the government, as would be expected from a truly independent media outlet.

RT Balkan was officially launched on November 15, 2022, as an online broadcaster and multimedia website in the Serbian language. Although the TV channel never operated, RT Balkan quickly became the main tool of Russian propaganda in the Balkans. RT chose Serbia because of historical ties, shared Slavic culture and Orthodox religion, which created a favorable environment for Kremlin propaganda. Also importantly, the Serbian government controls a significant part of the media market, which it uses to spread its own propaganda. RT Balkan employs tactics such as “information laundering”, where disinformation published by RT is turned into “news” and distributed by mainstream media in the region. Through its presence in Serbia, RT actively amplifies Kremlin narratives across the region, particularly through social media and popular Serbian TV channels and newspapers.

German media outlets Süddeutsche Zeitung, NDR and WDR, as well as the Estonian online publication Delfi, have gained access to leaked internal documents of the Agency for Social Design (ASD), an organization under EU and US sanctions. According to US law enforcement agencies, this agency works on behalf of the Russian presidential administration.

Journalists from Schemes (Radio Liberty), together with a number of European editorial offices, examined thousands of files obtained as part of the leak. As part of the Fake Factory project, they found out that ASD, under the leadership of Russian political strategist Illia Gambashidze, is engaged in disseminating disinformation to discredit Ukraine, its leadership and citizens, as well as Western leaders who support Ukraine. At the same time, the agency promotes Russian interests and supports European politicians who promote these interests.

Some of the documents from this leak were published by American law enforcement in early September, when they filed a motion to seize Internet domains associated with ASD. According to anonymous sources in Western intelligence, the files obtained by journalists are authentic.

ASD positions itself as an organization providing customers with full media support, including analysis of the Western information space, identification of potential threats, proposal of solutions and their implementation. The leak contains a video presentation of the company, presumably created for customers, where its director, Illia Gambashidze, appears. In the presentation, Gambashidze takes off his glasses and hood, stating that there is no point in hiding anymore, since the Doppelganger campaign was exposed by French intelligence.

The Doppelganger campaign involved creating fake websites of well-known publications, such as France's Le Monde and Germany's Der Spiegel, to discredit Ukraine. The fake news also covered Germany, the US, and Israel. Meta called Doppelganger the largest Russian information operation since 2017.

American law enforcement directly accuses ASD of working for the Kremlin and names its activities as being supervised by Serhii Kiriienko, deputy head of the administration of Russian President Volodymyr Putin. In addition, Sofiia Zakharova, an employee of the Putin administration, who, according to American intelligence agencies, took part in planning disinformation campaigns, was also involved in the Doppelganger campaign.

According to the documents, the ASD’s activities are carried out in three main areas:

Monitoring – analysis of the media space and opinions of more than 1000 public opinion leaders in six languages.

Analytics – studying the target audience and creating topics for further use.

Creative – creating fake articles and visual content that looks authentic to the target audience.

According to the leak, between January and April 2024 alone, the SDA created 39,899 pieces of content, including posts, videos, articles, memes, and special messages that are part of disinformation campaigns. The agency is also involved in distributing fake official documents.

In the leak, the journalists of Schemes found examples of forgeries of Ukrainian government documents. Among them are orders allegedly from the Office of the President of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense, which were aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian government and military, accusing them of censorship and concealment of information.

In Lviv, a Telegram channel was distributing information about possible terrorist attacks in schools. The channel quickly gained popularity, reaching more than 2,500 participants before it was blocked, the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security reported.

As the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs noted, the channel was administered from Russian territory. This is another case of disinformation aimed at spreading panic and destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. The threats of terrorist attacks in Lviv schools mentioned in the channel are not confirmed.

Intimidation of the population and the spread of rumors about possible terrorist attacks in educational institutions create fear and uncertainty about security. Such messages cause anxiety among parents and schoolchildren, which negatively affects the morale of the population. Due to the spread of rumors and panic, propaganda is trying to undermine trust in local authorities and law enforcement agencies, forcing citizens to believe that the authorities are not able to ensure security in their own country. Fake threats and manipulative statements contribute to disorientation in the information space, reducing trust in official sources of information and increasing faith in anonymous channels that spread false news. This disinformation distracts citizens from important events, focusing on fictitious threats, which at the same time gives Russia room to implement its aggressive plans. Spreading fear through social networks and instant messengers is a tool of hybrid warfare that Russia uses to increase pressure on Ukrainian society and demoralize citizens during the war.

Fraudsters have launched eight fake chatbots that copy the official “Main Intelligence Bot” in name, description and appearance. The main goal of these fake resources is to mislead Ukrainians, especially those living in the temporarily occupied territories (TOT), in order to obtain confidential information or distort communication. This is written by the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.

Attackers create these bots to collect sensitive data from the population and misinform citizens. This can be used to pass personal information to hostile forces or to undermine trust in government agencies, in particular the GUR.

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) notes that the use of such bots is extremely dangerous and calls on citizens not to transmit any information through them.

Links to the real GUR bot can be found on the official GUR website or on their verified social media pages marked with a blue or green checkmark.

Proven methods of communication with the GUR: the official chatbot of the Main Intelligence Directorate – @gur_official_bot; email: gur_official@proton.me; via Signal and WhatsApp: +38 096 945 53 41.

A Russian Telegram channel writes that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation has a section where they refute various fakes. And now the FBI allegedly accused Iranian channels of spreading the fake that 100% of FBI employees are representatives of the LGBTQ+ community. At the same time, the video refutation said: “not 100% of FBI employees are representatives of the LGBTQ+ community, but only 40%, according to the agency’s inclusivity rules”. The propagandists add that this is a case where “it would have been better to remain silent”.

In fact, neither the FBI website nor the agency's social media have a video refutation of the information that is being distributed in Russian Telegram channels. In all likelihood, it was created by the Russians themselves, who added an FBI watermark to increase the credibility of the video.

Russian fakers regularly produce video fakes on behalf of authoritative organizations or media outlets in order to maximize the effectiveness of their leaks. Yes, we have repeatedly recorded similar fabricated videos that Russians submitted on behalf of the BBC, Euronews or other well-known Western resources. And they all have a similar design style.

With this insinuation, Russian propagandists nourish their narrative that in the West “everyone has long since gone crazy”, because they go “against nature” when they start same-sex romantic relationships, undergo gender reassignment surgery (the list goes on). Russia, on the contrary, defends “traditional values”, and is therefore a refuge for “normal people”.

Earlier we refuted the information that KharkivPride created an advertising campaign “Better a gay SSU-er than a straight dodger”.

The experts of the fakenews.pl portal, together with analysts from GLOBSEC (Slovakia) and Political Capital (Hungary), with the support of the Open Information Partnership, conducted a study of the activities of pro-Russian anti-war movements in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. It describes the messages, connections of these movements, the background of their leaders and how the Kremlin manipulates pacifist ideas to legitimize the war in Ukraine.

The Kremlin's main trick in this case, according to the above-mentioned experts, is to use anti-war appeals to justify Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine. Instead of real peace, these movements spread ideas that shift part of the blame to the victim of aggression - Ukraine.

They also came to the following conclusions:

Pro-Russian “anti-war” movements cover a wide range of political forces, from parties in power to opposition and small political movements

In some countries (Slovakia, Hungary) anti-war rhetoric was successfully used to gain political advantages.

Almost all the movements studied have direct or indirect links with Russian officials or structures.

Anti-war movements use the same set of pro-Russian messages, adapted to the local context, but maintaining the general pro-Russian line.

The Visegrad Group organizations (Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic), as well as Germany, Bulgaria and Romania, cooperate, mutually promoting Russian propaganda.

Left- and right-wing movements are willing to cooperate if they are united by a pro-Russian narrative.

“Anti-war” movements that sympathize with Russia oppose supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression. Although they hide behind ideas of pacifism, their rhetoric strengthens the Kremlin’s position and contributes to disinformation. Using fear and emotion, these movements try to influence public opinion, creating a false image of the world, which in fact involves concessions to the aggressor.

Propagandists on anonymous Telegram channels claim that Ukrainian volunteer and activist Serhii Sternenko allegedly tweeted that the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack in the United States was “karma” and “punishment from God” for slow arms deliveries to Ukraine. They say that fewer people died during the terrorist attack than Ukrainians are currently dying due to delays in arms deliveries from the United States. However, this is fake.

There are no confirmed sources or evidence that Sternenko, other Ukrainian volunteers or officials made such statements. The quote is completely fictitious and does not reflect the real views of Ukrainian society or the state. The fake exploits the tragic events of September 11, which are very sensitive for many people, especially in the United States. Its goal is to incite hatred and create the impression that Ukrainians allegedly support or justify terrorist attacks.

The United States is one of Ukraine's main international allies, providing significant financial, military and diplomatic assistance. Despite the complex logistical processes, the support of the United States and Western countries has been and remains important for Ukraine's defense against Russian aggression. All such fakes are aimed at sowing mistrust and increasing cooperation between Ukraine and its Western partners.

Ukrainian society condemns any terrorist actions, and such statements are unacceptable for Ukrainians who themselves suffer from violence and terror from Russian aggression. This fake is specifically created to divide Ukraine and its international allies.

This fake is part of a wider Russian information campaign aimed at discrediting Ukrainian military and volunteers and attempting to present them in a negative light.

Propagandists spread information in their media that the Ukrainian authorities, if they do not like something in the work of journalists, can allegedly simply liquidate them, and Western human rights activists, they say, will remain silent. This is confirmed by the cases of “victims” of the Ukrainian authorities. However, specialists from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security analyzed in more detail the situation with several “martyrs” that are actively mentioned by propaganda:

• Andrii Stenin was a Russian “journalist” who worked as a photographer for RIA Novosti in July 2014, filming the torture of captured Ukrainian soldiers in the Donetsk region. These materials were used by Russian propaganda to demoralize the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

• Ihor Korneliuk and Anton Voloshyn were VGTRK correspondents who covered the occupation of eastern Ukraine in 2014, trying to support Russia’s hybrid aggression.

• Daria Duhina was a propagandist who, among other things, called the massacre in Bucha in 2022 “staged” and was distinguished by her anti-Ukrainian rhetoric.

• Vladlen Tatarskyi (Maksym Fomin) was a collaborator and propagandist who fought as part of the LPR and DPR gangs, and was a citizen of Russia.

• Gonzalo Lira was a propagandist who supported Kremlin colleagues such as Alina Lipp, Graham Phillips and Patrick Lancaster, actively spreading their fakes.

Thus, the Kremlin is trying to present the death of its own propagandists in various circumstances as a victim of repression by Kyiv, which is part of its disinformation campaign. The goal of such manipulations is to create the impression that Ukraine is fighting not only against Russian aggressors, but also against the international press, which calls into question its status as a democratic state.

Recently, the Polish segment of the TikTok social network has stepped up the distribution of anti-Ukrainian materials, the Center for Countering Disinformation reports.

Among the large number of TikTok accounts duplicating narratives in line with Russian propaganda, the following can be highlighted:

Martwyobywatel – the profile contains many videos discrediting Ukrainian refugees, as well as videos directed against the Ukrainian language. Narratives about the “Ukrainization of Poland” and the “displacement” of Polish culture by Ukrainians are spread here.

19_illegal_06 (SIEWCA_PRAWDY) – the page spreads anti-Ukrainian messages and memes to humiliate Ukrainians and discredit the Ukrainian political leadership. They fuel the narrative of the “Banderization of Poland” and promote hatred towards Ukrainian refugees.

Asherbur (Asher Burov-Şǔraev) – the page is run by a Russian citizen who lived in Lublin and now probably lives in Israel. The profile publishes videos on the topic of resistance to the “Ukrainization of Poland”, and also tries to portray Ukrainians in the worst possible light. There are also videos praising Putin and justifying Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

Polakpatriotaa – the profile contains narratives that are beneficial to Russia, directed against the Polish leadership, EU politicians and Ukrainians. Some publications by the account's authors try to intimidate Poles with the possibility of Poland's participation in the war against Russia. They spread the slogan “This is not our war” and call not to help Ukraine.

Previously, we wrote about how far-right movements in EU countries use TikTok to support Russian propaganda messages.

The administrators of one of the anonymous Telegram channels complained that the US Federal Bureau of Investigation blocked the site they created for a foreign audience. On it, propagandists in six languages spread Russian propaganda, especially about Russian attacks on civilians and critical infrastructure in Ukraine. The administrators called it a “crime against freedom of speech” and an attempt to “shut the mouths” of everyone who “tells the truth” about the events in Ukraine. They say that the fact that the FBI blocked them confirms that they are “on the right track”.

In reality, however, blocking the site is an important step in the fight against disinformation, not a restriction on free speech. Instead of providing “objective information”, as the site’s authors claim, it has been manipulating facts in an attempt to justify Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and discredit the actions of Western countries supporting Ukraine in the war. Disinformation spread by sites like this undermines international security, incites hatred, and destabilizes the situation.

The US actions are aimed at protecting truthful information and preventing the influence of fake news that threatens public order and security. Blocking such resources helps reduce the influence of propaganda campaigns aimed at distorting real events and misleading people.

The FBI has uncovered one of the Kremlin's largest networks for spreading disinformation and propaganda. This was reported by the Telegram channel Ukrainian Offensive based on a published document prepared by federal agents to support a lawsuit to confiscate a number of Internet domains. It describes an extensive network of clone sites and one-day news resources, such as the fictitious BBC California. The agents also managed to identify and translate into English Russian guidelines for bots and distributors of fake information.

According to their information, the network is headed by one of the most influential Kremlin officials, Serhii Kyryienko, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation. With the help of organizations such as ANO Dialog and the Institute for Internet Development, Russia has created a huge network of sites-clones of large media outlets in different languages. These sites publish fictitious news along with copies of real materials, creating the impression that the source is reliable. The methods pay special attention to the dissemination of fake information in the Ukrainian language with reference to Ukrainian resources, emphasizing the importance of the language issue. The network does not even limit itself to publishing materials that are unfavorable for the Russian Federation, since the main goal is to create the illusion of division and polarization of society.

Researchers at the Detector Media Research Center have joined the Alliance4Europe report, created by an international group of disinformation experts, which provides information on how Operation Doppelganger continues to operate, especially on social media.

Russian propaganda continues to produce new fakes about the events in the Kursk region. The Center for Countering Disinformation has discovered another wave of false publications aimed at discrediting Ukraine.

“Ukrainian Nazism”. One of the fakes concerns a supposedly British TV channel, which counted 1000 cases of the use of Nazi symbols by Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. This is a completely fabricated story, since no British media resource has published such information. The purpose of this fake is to reinforce old Kremlin narratives about the “Nazi” character of the Ukrainian army and to create an image of an enemy that allegedly poses a threat to civilization.

“Torture of Russian prisoners”. This is a fake video in which Ukrainian soldiers are accused of abusing Russian prisoners. Such materials have repeatedly proven to be fakes, and they are aimed at demoralizing the Ukrainian military and justifying the cruelty of the Russian army. It is also supposed to intimidate Russian soldiers so that they do not surrender.

“Stolen Headphones”. Propagandists are spreading a story about looting by Ukrainian soldiers, claiming that a “resident of the Kursk region” allegedly tracked her stolen headphones to the Sumy region. This fake is aimed at creating a negative image of the Ukrainian military, but there is no evidence to support its veracity.

“Training of the military in school”. The enemy claims that Ukrainian military personnel were trained in a school in the Zhytomyr region for operations in the Kursk region. This information is part of a strategy aimed at destabilization and preparation of the information base for possible missile strikes on peaceful targets.

“Civilian atrocities”. Russian media are spreading “testimonies of refugees” from Kursk, where they accuse Ukrainians, without evidence, of mass murder and abuse of civilians. The propaganda fabrication even mentions the French flag raised by “foreign mercenaries”. This is another attempt to denigrate the Ukrainian Armed Forces and frighten both the Russian population and the international audience.

A photo of what is supposedly the cover of the German magazine Handelsblatt is being circulated on social networks. The cover shows a road sign with the inscription “Kursk” and the headline “Ukrainian soldiers have occupied Russian territory”. The sign shows crosses buried in the ground and Ukrainian military helmets thrown over the crosses.

Fact-checkers of the Georgian project MythDetector have established that such a cover does not exist. The fake photo published has the publication date: “Saturday-Sunday, August 23/24/25”. In fact, the cover of the real issue, published on that day, shows Armin Pappergeri, director of the largest German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. In addition, the distributed photo incorrectly indicates the issue number; currently, only issue 163 has been published, not 164, as indicated in the fake cover.

We have documented fakes many times, whether they involve fake graffiti, foreign magazine covers/newspaper columns, or advertising videos. In this way, propagandists aim to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. This may make readers think that the public is really unhappy with Ukraine. And especially when the authors use elements of popular culture, implying that people are laughing at the situation in Ukraine and that the Ukrainian agenda is a reason for Europe to laugh.

Anonymous Telegram channels are spreading a supposedly Bloomberg video story. It says that military analyst and retired general Bradley Gerik gave an interview for a podcast to Military.com: there he allegedly expressed the opinion that the results achieved in the Kursk region are “insignificant” and not worth the large material and human losses suffered by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in this operation.

VoxCheck analysts explained that Bloomberg did not publish a similar story. Moreover, there is no such video on the official website of the publication, nor on the media's pages on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (X), TikTok and YouTube.

At the same time, retired General Bradley Gerik did not comment on the operation, all his quotes are made up. He never gave comments on the Military.com podcast. Although Military.com covered the Ukrainian offensive in Kursk, it did not refer to this analyst. The online publication believes that the operation in Kursk proved “Ukraine's ability to seize the initiative” and raised the morale of the fighters.

Read on Censor.NET: The US is allegedly involved in the operation in the Kursk region.

While monitoring the information space, the Center for Countering Disinformation discovered a fake Telegram channel illegally using the name of the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade of the Airborne Assault Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This fake Telegram channel actively spreads false messages aimed at discrediting the Ukrainian military. In particular, the channel spreads manipulative information about the situation on one of the front lines in the Donetsk region.

It is important to note that this channel has nothing to do with the 46th Brigade. Official representatives of the brigade stated this on their official pages, noting that the information on the fake channel is manipulation and disinformation.

The purpose of spreading such fake news is to undermine confidence in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and sow panic among the Ukrainian population. Propagandists are trying to demoralize citizens, raise doubts about the effectiveness of defense and the ability of the military to protect the country. In addition, such disinformation may be part of a broader information war aimed at creating chaos and destabilizing society, which may ultimately weaken national resistance to the aggressor.

The Center for Countering Disinformation continues to monitor the Russian information space, identifying new fakes and manipulations that the enemy is spreading about the situation in the Kursk region. Detector Media writes about the latest of them.

“Chemical attacks”: Propagandists are spreading a photo of a downed drone, claiming that the Ukrainian military planned to use it to spray chemical or biological weapons in the Kursk region. However, this information is not true. Ukraine strictly adheres to the Chemical Weapons Convention, while Russian troops have repeatedly used gas attacks on the front, which is confirmed by numerous reports even from their own war correspondents.

“Civilian Murders”: Russian propaganda has come up with a new story about “murders of people” trying to evacuate from Kursk region. One version tells of a man who allegedly drove 100 kilometers with his dead wife in the car after the car was fired upon by Ukrainian soldiers. However, this information is also untrue.

“Ukrainians against the operation in Kursk”: the enemy launched an information and psychological operation (IPSO), claiming that the Ukrainian population allegedly massively opposes the operation in Kursk. Materials with the narrative “we do not need Kursk” are being distributed in social networks, the purpose of which is to create the illusion of discontent among Ukrainians regarding the situation at the front.

“Overcrowded morgues in Khmelnytskyi”: false information is being spread that 215 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers killed in Kursk have allegedly been delivered to Khmelnytskyi. No evidence has been provided for this information.

Russian propaganda is also spreading disinformation about looting allegedly committed by Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region. A new, probably staged, video has appeared about the trident brand” with which Ukrainian soldiers allegedly planned to brand civilians in the Kursk region. In addition, a significant number of manipulative publications concern the so-called “failure of the Kursk adventure”, which Russian propagandists are trying to attribute to the words of both the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Syrskyi and an American fighting on the side of Ukraine.

This wave of disinformation is aimed at discrediting Ukraine and its military, increasing panic among the population, and attempting to sow doubts about the success of Ukrainian military operations.

Trumpist Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene released a statement claiming that the war could have ended months ago, but Zelenskyi's calls for more weapons are only leading to the deaths of a generation of Ukrainian men. Propagandists are actively spreading this statement. However, it is manipulative.

This was noted by experts from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security. They claim that the assertion that the war could have ended several months ago is an outright lie. Moscow has not offered any peaceful solutions since the start of the full-scale war, only ultimatums, which are equivalent to Ukraine's capitulation. Russia is also trying to convince the world that military and financial aid to Ukraine allegedly increases the number of victims among Ukrainians, while its cessation will lead to peace.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is known for her statements that echo Kremlin propaganda and her ardent opposition to aid to Ukraine. She has previously also claimed that Ukraine is allegedly waging a “war against Christianity”, that “civilians are being tortured”, and that “Nazism is thriving in Ukraine”. Greene echoes the propagandists, distorting the reality that aid to Ukraine allows it to more effectively resist the aggressor, preventing even greater casualties, destruction, and terror brought by the occupier.

Administrators of the fake telegram channel “Red Cross of Ukraine” encourage people to leave their personal data in an online application to supposedly “receive cash assistance in the amount of 6,500 UAH”. The Ukrainian Red Cross warned about this on its official Facebook page.

The organization noted that it does not collect personal data or bank card data through social networks and bots, and also emphasized that all official communication channels of the Ukrainian Red Cross are verified, that is, “recognized by social networks and have a blue circle with a tick next to the name, which confirms this status”. If suspicious information is found, they encourage people to write to the Ukrainian Red Cross support service sos@redcross.org.ua or check the information in the Information Center at 0 800 332 656.

On August 6, it was already reported about scammers who sent out fake letters from the tax office in order to break the mail of Ukrainian organizations.