Russia's propaganda fuels fake news on Ukrainian army clashes and language tensions
Ukrainian Armed Forces service member (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
Russian propaganda continues its campaign to discredit Ukrainian servicemen. In particular, fake stories have appeared online portraying Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel as criminals, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation.
On social media, a news report is circulating claiming that a soldier in Chernivtsi shot a pensioner in the leg and severely beat him for speaking Russian.
As evidence, propaganda outlets cite a screenshot of a news article from a Ukrainian website with a headline that was falsified using photo-editing software, the Center reports.
In reality, a domestic dispute occurred in Chernivtsi between two men, during which one fired a pneumatic pistol at the other. No one was seriously injured.
There is therefore no evidence that this was a language-related conflict or that one of the participants was a serviceman.
“Creating such fakes by altering headlines and twisting the content of real news is a typical tactic of Russian propaganda. The enemy uses these disinformation pieces to tarnish the reputation of our military in the eyes of Ukrainian society and to provoke a rift between the armed forces and civilians,” the Center for Countering Disinformation notes.
Russian propaganda fakes about Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel
Earlier, RBC-Ukraine reported, citing the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), about another Russian propaganda fake claiming that Ukrainian soldiers are allegedly ordered to kill their own troops who try to leave positions or surrender. These rumors are spread with reference to anonymous sources, without documents, photos, or official confirmation.
The CCD emphasizes that the narrative about shooting your own is a mirror projection of practices characteristic of the Russian army, which pro-Kremlin propaganda tries to attribute to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The CCD also reported that Russian propaganda spreads disinformation claiming that Ukrainian forces are mining apartment buildings in Kostiantynivka and forbidding residents from leaving the city.
By spreading such fakes, propagandists attempt to justify their own numerous crimes and shift the blame onto Ukraine, the CCD notes.
Additionally, TikTok videos are circulating, allegedly showing mass surrenders of Ukrainian troops near Pokrovsk. These videos are created using artificial intelligence, the CCD stresses.
The goal of the campaign is, on the one hand, to create the impression among foreign audiences that Ukraine is losing and that military aid is pointless, and on the other hand, to demoralize Ukrainians and instill a sense of a catastrophic situation on the front.
