Kyiv Region "Occupied" Again and Ukrainians Who "Must Be Drowned". Russian Disinformation Monitoring October 24 - 31, 2022

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Since February 24, Detector Media has been monitoring Ukrainian social media and documenting the chronicle of Russian disinformation surrounding its military offensive in Ukraine. During the week of October 24-31, 2022, Detector Media analysts recorded about fifty cases of Russian propagandists spreading fake news to achieve Russia's political goals. This week, Russian propagandists told the world that Ukraine needs to be desatanitized; that Joe Biden has cognitive disorders and therefore no longer governs the United States; that Zelenskyy's policies are similar to those of Osama bin Laden, and that Russians are allegedly on their way to Kyiv again. 

You can find overviews of Russian disinformation for previous weeks here: September 26 – October 2; October 3-9, October 10-17, October 17-24. 

Horror stories about the "captured Kyiv region" and the West's refusal to supply Ukraine with weapons

Earlier this week, it was reported that Russian troops allegedly reached Kyiv again, as they had at the beginning of a full-scale invasion in March 2022. This was spread by Russian collaborator and representative of the occupation administration of the Kherson region Kyrylo Stremousov. He published a video message on his Telegram channel, with a map of Ukraine showing the occupied cities in the background, describing what happened on the evening of October 23, 2022. Propagandists began to disseminate Stremousov's map as one that contained accurate information. And they summarized: "Our troops have seriously advanced in a single day". They say that Russian troops are not only near Kyiv but have also captured the territory of the border regions with Russia and partially with Belarus. As a matter of fact, this is not true. In particular, as of April 2, the entire Kyiv region was liberated from the Russian invaders. It was no longer possible for the Russian army to approach Kyiv. However, Russia needs such news to appear successful in light of defeats caused by the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv and Kherson regions.  

Another message of Russian propaganda designed to intimidate Ukrainians was that Western countries would supply Ukraine with fewer and fewer weapons and that the Ukrainian military would soon have nothing to fight back against the Russian invaders. For example, it was claimed that the management of the Bayraktar company allegedly informed the Office of the President of Ukraine about the reduction of deliveries, as per one of the conditions of the gas agreement between Russia and Turkey. Russian propagandists also claim that the United States refused to supply Ukraine with air defense systems and the HIMARS rocket artillery systems. This is not the first time Russia has spread such messages. This time, they emerged following large-scale missile attacks that Russia started on October 10. At first, propagandists repeated the thesis that the West can no longer transfer a large number of air defense systems to Ukraine. The purpose of this is to intimidate Ukrainians. According to them, soon there will be nothing to defend with because the West is no longer interested or finds it profitable to supply Ukraine with weapons. However, on October 19, Lockheed Martin said that the US is increasing the production of HIMARS in light of the successful use of these systems by the Ukrainian military over the past few months. Baykar Makina also continues to support Ukraine with UAVs.

Also this week, propagandists were spreading a message voiced by Anton Krasovsky, the director of Russian-language broadcasting for Russia Today TV, during an interview with Russian science fiction writer Sergei Lukyanenko. Krasovsky advocated killing Ukrainian children. However, anonymous Telegram channels, quoting Krasovsky, called for the killing of all Ukrainians without exception for the fact that they "bring with them cats and dogs that have not been fed for several days to feed them dead Russian soldiers". However, it is far from the first time that such aggression against Ukrainians and murderous demands attributed to the so-called fight against the Nazis appeared in the media. Ukrainians have already been called subhumans, savages, sick Russians, etc. For example, after the massive missile attacks on October 10, admins of anonymous pro-Russian Telegram channels rejoiced at the deaths of civilians and the fact that Ukrainians were left without electricity, water, and heat as a result of the attack.

"Refugees that no one needs" and the "desatanization"

During the week, propagandists also manipulated the words of Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Iryna Vereshchuk, claiming that she said that refugees who left Ukraine are no longer welcome here, so they do not need to return home. However, propagandists have distorted Iryna Vereshchuk's words. Instead, she asked Ukrainians to stay abroad until spring if possible. The request arose as a result of Russian missile strikes destroying critical infrastructure and the heating season increasing the stress on the energy system. However, the propagandists think that Deputy Prime Minister’s words contradict the messages of Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the restoration of infrastructure. Russia needs such narratives to destabilize the situation. Russia systematically spreads fakes and manipulations about the life of Ukrainian refugees abroad. For example, it claims that they are no longer welcome in EU countries; slanders them, etc. 

In addition, this week, Russia announced a new goal of the full-scale invasion or, in their words, the “special military operation”. Now, they claim that Ukraine should not only be denazified, but also desatanized. They say that the "Kyiv regime" has turned Ukraine into a "totalitarian hypersect" that professes "neo-paganism" based on "radical nationalism". This was stated by the Assistant Secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexei Pavlov. According to him, although there is no official confirmation, the number of "satanic sects" in Ukraine is unknown, but the count is "definitely in the hundreds". In fact, as of January 2021, several pagan movements have indeed been registered in Ukraine. Currently, there are 161 pagan organizations, which constitute only 0.4% of the total number of religious organizations in Ukraine. According to the Constitution, citizens of Ukraine have the right to freedom of worldview and religion, that is, they can practice any religion or none. However, Russia is once again inventing reasons for its military offensive against Ukraine, convincing the world that Ukrainians are Nazis and Satanists who pose a threat, and therefore they must be fought against. It is not the first time that Russians have written that Satanists are fighting in Ukraine. For example, back in March 2022, the Kremlin media spread the narrative that Satanist special forces from the United States were going to fight in Ukraine. 

"Biden was suspended from work, and Zelenskyy is very much like Osama bin Laden"

After spreading messages that Ukraine is going to use the dirty bomb and blame Russia for it, there were also messages that Zelenskyy's policies closely resemble those of Osama bin Laden. Allegedly, the Ukrainian President plans to use weapons of mass destruction against himself and his people. However, there is no evidence that Ukraine was preparing a dirty bomb. But Russia requires such narratives to pass the blame for its actions onto Ukraine. They claim that Ukraine is a terrorist country that is preparing mass provocations, so it must be stopped. 

Also this week, Russians spread a fake that US President Joe Biden was allegedly removed from power due to age-related cognitive problems. In their publications, the Kremlin media refer to a Fox News interview with Claudia Tenney, a member of the House of Representatives from the Republican Party. However, this is not true. In fact, Tenney, having watched the interview that Biden gave to MSNBC, said: "This is really sad, but he reminds me of a Madame Tussauds wax figure. He comes out, and they turn him on, and he delivers talking points that are presented to him by his shadow government, the staff behind him. And he's really showing that he's not competent to do this most important job in our nation. And I really, I joined on a letter with Congressman Randy Jackson about making him subject to a cognitive test … this is serious stuff. We've got enemies around the world.." However, she did not say that Joe Biden was suspended from work. Such fakes are used by Russian propaganda to create the impression that Western civilization is in bad shape, the United States in particular since even their president had to resign due to cognitive problems. Propagandists have also repeatedly claimed that American society supports Republicans and former US President Donald Trump. On the other hand, the current president allegedly lacks this support because of the assistance and military protection allocated to Ukraine. By spreading the fake about Joe Biden's removal from office, the U.S. propaganda seeks to diminish Ukrainians’ confidence that the United States will continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.