Zelensky corruption, mockery of the UOC, killed NATO generals: what fakes about Ukraine were distributed in 2024

This year, the pro-Khremlin media and Telegram channels continued to publish disinformation about Ukraine and Ukrainians. “Verified” talks about the main narratives that promoted these resources.

Zelensky spends Western money on elite real estate

Since the beginning of 2022, the United States, the EU and other countries Provided Ukraine financial assistance for tens of billions of euros. This money was allocated to ensure the macroeconomic stability of the warring country and social expenses, but Russian propagandists did not miss the opportunity to accuse the President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky and his environment of assigning funds. According to their publications, since the end of 2023, the Ukrainian leader allegedly acquired from Charles III mansion In the UK, at the singer Sting - Winery in Italy, and also became the owner of the former Goebbels villa Under Berlin, casino in Northern Cyprus and hotels In Curses. 

Not only Telegram channels, but also the largest Russian publications from RT to RBC were told about illegal enrichment of the politician. The method of legalization contributed to such a massive spread of fakes and their exit far beyond the limits of the Z-community: falsified evidence was thrown either through the sites of non-existent Western media with confidence names or through fake web pages of objects allegedly acquired by Zelensky. In some cases, it was stated that the transactions were carried out through the Belisian offshore Film Heritage Inc., which is really owned by the Zelensky family and about which It became widely known In 2019, after the OCCRP investigation based on the materials of the Pandora archive.

All the resources that the media and Telegram channels were referred to in their publications were registered a few days before the dumping of misinformation. Both some evidence and other materials on the sites were generated by artificial intelligence (AI). The origin of the authors of the fake sometimes gave out the illustrations they used-the names of files on some of these sites for some reason Repeated headlines of the articles "Gazeta.ru".

Faceheels did not deprive the first lady Ukraine Elena Zelenskaya, who, during a visit to France, allegedly acquired a Bugatti car for € 4.5 million. To legalize this fake, propagandists Used The same method, together with fake documents on the transaction and generated with neural networks, a video, in which a dealer center employee talks about the sale of a supercar. Zelensky himself, according to the fake -ups, acquired Hitler’s car, but in this case evidence were falsified.

High -ranking Ukrainian officials also allegedly allow themselves large expenses exceeding their official income. For example, the head of the office of the President of Ukraine Andrei Ermak, as reported, paid $ 27 million to get on the list of 100 most influential people in the world according to Time magazine. Prochremple resources referred to a fake BBC video based on a non -existent investigation of Bellingcat, and the video first appeared in the Putin in Telegram channel. Another fake was dedicated to the son of the former foreign minister Dmitry Kuleba, who allegedly spent $ 1.5 million on a copy of the iron throne from the series “Game of Thrones”. The proof was the report of one Texas television channel, where propagandists Added The corresponding titer and pictures of Kuleba and his son.

Trump is an antichrist, but from the "Peacemaker", just in case, he was removed

Russian propaganda actively covered the election of the US president. On the one hand, she Created And Borrowed American right -wing bloggers have Fakes about the Democrats Candidate Kamale Harris, on the other hand, I was silent About the disinformation about the Republican Donald Trump, who is dispersed in the English segment of social networks. In parallel, pro -Khmrelev resources represented him as a champion of “traditional” values, a fighter with a “deep state” and a supporter of the soon end of the war in Ukraine (apparently on the conditions favorable for Moscow).

After Trump’s victory in the election, the pro -Kremlin channels brought down a whole stream of fakes on their readers about how the outcome of voting influenced Ukrainians. Unlike his rival, the Republican did not promise to support Kyiv “as much as it is necessary”, which means that in the representation of the fakes, Ukrainians should be outraged by his return to the White House. Therefore, in the Z-channels, then Fake ads about collecting money for the murder of Trump, then edited videoon which the Ukrainian priest allegedly calls politics Antichrist and the Devil.

Particular attention paid these resources to the alleged reaction of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the one hand, they distributed a video about how Azov’s fighters burn Trump's books in protest against his plan at the end of the war. The video, apparently, He was staged, and there are no other evidence of such a flash mob in open sources. On the other hand, the same channels, citing the American Institute for Studying War (ISW), argued: after the elective elected, the Ukrainian military began to surrender eight times more often. However, the corresponding video It was falsified, but ISW never cited such statistics.

A variety of public figures (from the official representative of the Foreign Ministry of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova to the ex-head editor of Echo of Moscow Alexei Venediktov) also Reportedthat soon after the election of Trump, he was removed from the base of the “Peacemaker” site. These statements were based on the fake screenshot of this portal, which spread in 2018, where Trump appeared, and the impossibility - in this context is absolutely logical - to find it in the database now. 

Finally, the propagandists illuminated Trump's victory as a harbinger of an ambulance for assistance for Ukraine. For example, with reference to The Wall Street Journal, they told how the elected vice-president Jay Di Wance twice refused a telephone conversation Yermaku, but an authoritative newspaper never Not published Corresponding news. Also, shortly after the Prochremleovsky Telegram channels, I disagreed Fake screenshot Twita, close to Trump, Ilon Mask: he allegedly published a dollar bill on which the politician showed the middle finger, with the signature “The Last Dollar for Zelensky”.

Ukrainian trace is everywhere

Since the beginning of a full -scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian officials accuse the authorities, intelligence or ordinary residents of a neighboring country of involvement in almost all crimes in the Russian Federation. And if in some cases - it seems arson of the military enlistment offices or murders General Igor Kirillov - this at least sounds plausible, then in most others it looks nothing more than shifting responsibility to a “convenient” suspect instead of searching for true guilty.

So, in March, shortly after the terrorist attack in Crocus City Hall, Russian President Vladimir Putin in contacting the nation declared About the Ukrainian trace in that attack. According to him, in an attempt to hide, the suspects moved towards Ukraine, where for them “a window was prepared” to cross the border. In April, the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation spoke about the involvement of Kyiv in the terrorist attack Igor Krasnov, and in May - the head of the FSB Alexander Bortnikov. However, no convincing evidence has been presented over the past months, and the largest terrorist attack in Russia fell out of the agenda in 20 years - Putin even He did not mention Its at the traditional final press conference.

Applications of officials about Ukraine's involvement in the attack on Crocus Supported And the propagandists - for example, the RIA Novosti agency with reference to a hitherto unknown Tajik military expert Bakhtieur Rakhmonov said that the Ukrainian embassy in Tajikistan for several weeks recruited local residents to the International Legion, and the mercenaries recruited in this way supposedly attacked the concert hall. The publication referred to the screenshot of the diplocation post on Facebook, which by that time was distributed to Telegram for a day and, as it turned out, with a high probability was forged.

A similar method was also used to prove the Ukrainian mark in the events in third countries. For example, when protests after a decision of the authorities to suspend negotiations on joining the European Union, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels and the media broke out in Georgia distributed The screenshot of the announcement allegedly placed on one of the Ukrainian portals to search for work. Its author was looking for “strong guys” with experience in participating in rallies for sending to Tbilisi. The basis of the fake was the announcement published a few days earlier about the search for a guard in Chernigov.

The Ukrainians were allegedly involved in the attempt on the murder of the Prime Minister of Slovakia Robert Fitzo in May. "Moscow Komsomolets", "Arguments and Facts" and other publications Approved: The wife of the writer Yurai Zintula, who shot in politics, is a refugee who contacted the Ukrainian special services and incited her husband to attack the pro -Russian head of the Slovak government. Such statements refuted both local investigating authorities and familiar couples surveyed by journalists. Judging by the affordable documents, the wife of Zintola lived in Slovakia, if not all her life, then at least several decades, and nothing has been said about her Ukrainian origin in open sources.

Two months later, according to the Z-channels, the attempt on another pro-Kremlin European leader-Viktor Orban Prime Minister Viktor Orban was prevented. Approvedthat the refugee from Ternopol had to lay an explosive device in a politician’s car, and an intercepted conversation of the performer with Ukrainian intelligence served as evidence. True, Russian resources reported this with reference to the fake site of the Hungarian newspaper Magyar Demokrata, and the AI ​​published there was generated by AI.

Armed Forces are engaged in looting in the Kursk region. Together with them, foreigners participate in the battles

After the Ukrainian military entered the territory of the Kursk region on August 6, the propagandists began to actively disseminate reports on the alleged war crimes of the Armed Forces in the Russian region. Some Telegram channels directly wrote: “The Russians steal washing machines and toilets,” they said. Now it is clear why they said - to cover their own magar inclinations, ”referring to numerous publications On the plunder of occupied cities by Russian military.

One of the first was the story that the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly took old icons from Kursk and They started selling There are on Ukrainian sites. The basis of such publications was real announcements, which (including before the start of the operation in the Kursk region) were placed by residents of different cities of Ukraine and in which fakeodes edited the text.

A significant role in the distribution of such statements is played by the Telegram channel "Dill Fresh", which specializes on the falsification of messages from the Ukrainian authorities, the police, the prosecutor's office, charitable organizations and the military. In particular, anonymous bloggers laid the foundation for the spread of screenshots of posts about the murder of civilians in Ukraine (in fake It was said Already about the execution of residents of the Kursk region who resisted) and the delivery of the washing machine (in versions The "Ukrop Fresh" was stolen in the same Russian region).

Note that there is no independent and reliable information about what is happening in the occupied territory of the Kursk region. Although the Armed Forces of Ukraine are organized for foreign journalists of the press tour, one cannot be fully confident that reporters show an objective picture. Different publications with reference to eyewitnesses Reportedthat the facts of looting are recorded in settlements under the control of both Russian military and Ukrainian. In any case, at least part of the evidence distributed in the network is obviously false.

Talking about events in the Kursk region, the propagandists used another long -worked method - A video mounted from stock photos and posted in the public domain, they gave out a large foreign edition for content. True, in this case, the focus of fake focors was quite unusual: they We decided to arrange In the style of the Colombian media, there are two videos telling about the death of a relative of the singer Shakira and a descendant of the drug lord Pablo Escobar under Kursk. And although some people from Latin America are really Serving In the Armed Forces of Ukraine, these two stories were falsified.

Foreign officers and instructors are constantly dying in Ukraine

The Kremlin, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, officials and propagandists often talk about foreign mercenaries and instructors fighting on the side of Ukraine. IN different APU units really consist Hundreds of volunteers from other countries, and some of them are Russian troops even Capture. However, propagandists do not miss the chance to confirm the Kremlin thesis about the war not with Ukraine, but with NATO and tell about the death of high -ranking officers or dozens of personnel military from the alliance countries at the front.

The most primitive of such fakes are based on the simplest manipulation-when one of the Western countries reports on the sudden death of a high-ranking military, the Z-channels claim that he actually died as a result of a Russian strike in Ukraine. Among the examples are the Polish general Adam Marchak And the Canadian lieutenant colonel Kent MillerHaving died this year in Belgium. In the presentation of pro -Khmrelev resources, they were killed in the hourly Yar and under the sums, respectively, but this is not confirmed by any (including official Russian) sources.

In some cases, fake messages in social networks are used as evidence. So, after the September missile strike on Poltava, whose victims, according to Kyiv, were more than 50 Ukrainian military, the Z-channels reported that among the victims there were instructors from Sweden, and local children were forced to donate blood for wounded foreigners. Such publications were based on the screenshots of posts located on the Facebook by a Swedish volunteer and Ukrainian medic. Both of them were faked. A similar fake spread a month and a half later-this time the wife of the American pilot allegedly complained in social networks that her husband died (and several F-16 fighters were destroyed) as a result of a Russian attack on the airfield in the Khmelnitsky region. In this case, fakeants did not just falsify the post on Facebook, but Created a fake profile Really existing girl. 

In the spring, propagandists were especially actively (and ridiculously) reacted to the statement of France President Emmanuel Macron, who expressed his readiness to send their military to Ukraine. Russian Newspaper and Komsomolskaya Pravda Approvedthat in early May, about 100 military personnel of the French Foreign Legion were transferred near Slavyansk. The absurdity lies not so much in the fact that this information was based on the sources of the anonymous wire Telegram channel and French conspiracy therapists, but that such publications specified: the fighters of the units stationed in South America and the protection of the French cosmodrome Kuru went to Ukraine.

However, this did not stop supporters of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and after a couple of days they had already begun to spread photos of the coffins with the French military, allegedly killed in Ukraine. In fact, a picture Was made Four and a half years before - at the farewell ceremony with military personnel who died during the anti -terrorist operation in Mali.

Church split and mockery of the UOC

In August, the Verkhovna Rada Accepted A law that actually prohibits the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) of the Moscow Patriarchate on the territory of the country. The temples subordinate to her are pushing to go to the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine (PCU). Russian propagandists have been speculating on the topic of church schism in a neighboring country for several years and have been using fakes for this for several years.

First of all, the pro -Khremlin channels are constantly trying to convince their audience that the PCU is independent of Moscow - atheists who seek to humiliate the “competing” church. Shortly after the adoption of the Real Law, Channel One showed shots allegedly shot in the former temple of the UOC in Vinnitsa, which was reorganized to a night club. But actually the videos were removed Five years ago, in one of the entertainment institutions of Warsaw. A similar story was told about the church in Lutsk, which was supposedly turned into a laundry room. Its basis was the news of 2023, when a social sneake Really opened In the auxiliary premises of the local Greco -catholic (not Orthodox) temple.

However, in the presentation of propagandists, persecutions are not limited to the institute of the church or individual temples, but are also extended to parishioners. So, after the adoption of the resonance law, a video was encircled in which the priest of the PC in Chernivtsi, it is allegedly refused to catch the dead Ukrainian military baptized in the UOC. The original video was removed Back in 2023 - on it, the priest of the UOC refuses to carry out a funeral service together with the chaplains of PCU.

Foreign media refuse to talk about Ukraine, and even openly mock its inhabitants

Closer to the end of the year, the Prochremple Telegram channels published several fakes at once, designed to show: the largest foreign (primarily American) media by the end of the third year of the full-scale war were so tired that the anti-Ukrainian statements of their employees erupt now and then. Leading then Laugh After the plot about the loss of the Armed Forces, then They complain for constant discussion of Ukraine, then mockery Singer Christmas song after news about the eviction of refugees from social housing in France, then Show In the show about the tattoo tattoo with the phrase "Ukraine - shit." However, all these videos were edited, and their basis was fragments of different programs published several years ago.

However, this method of creating fakes is far from being used for the first time, and not only to confirm the narrative that Western society is tired of the war in Ukraine. For example, in December, the alleged fragment of the NBC broadcast from the opening ceremony of the Cathedral of the Paris Mother of God after restoration became viral. When Macron welcomed Zelensky, American TV channel Allegedly advertised The show "Great Thieves of the 21st Century", thus unequivocally hinting at the corruption of the Ukrainian leader. This time, the corresponding video was also edited, and behind the stuffing of the fake was already habitually stood the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel.

Photo on the cover: collage "Checked"