Ukraine in 2022: Top FAKE NEWS, DISINFORMATION and PROPAGANDA narratives debunked by Veridica

The war in Ukraine was the topical issue on global political agendas in 2022, and its large-scale invasion by Ukraine, after the annexation of Crimea and eight years of hybrid warfare in Donbas, has triggered certain changes in the narratives disseminated by Russian media.

Classical disinformation themes and fake news were increasingly replaced with war propaganda as an instrument of publicizing Moscow’s false narratives. The purpose of these narratives, irrespective of how they were presented to audiences, was to manipulate public opinion, to legitimize Russia’s actions, to conceal war crimes and atrocities committed in Ukrainian settlements, to shatter the Ukrainians’ morale and fighting spirit, as well as to spread a controlled form of chaos in the proximity of ex-Soviet space. Most disinformation narratives had an anti-Western orientation, whereas war propaganda themes targeted both Kyiv as well as its partners.

The most frequently quoted publications were RIA Novosti, Ukraina.ru, TASS, Ura.ru, Tsarigrad, but also several Telegram accounts used to amplify propaganda messages in the context of the war.

Top 5 narratives

Moscow shows restraint when bombing Ukraine. According to Russian government media, the methods Moscow uses during the war in Ukraine are humane, because Ukrainians and Russians are brotherly nations. Russian journalists write that Russia is careful when bombing Ukrainian infrastructure because it knows this brotherly people does not support the neo-Nazis in power.
The West has been arming Ukraine starting 2014 to push it into a war against Russia. Russia had to attack Ukraine on February 24, 2022, because the United States and its Western allies have been arming Ukraine since 2014 in order for it to start a war with Russia, the Russian media writes, to a certain extent reiterating the narrative according to which the West and Ukraine are responsible for this war. In fact, Ukraine was invaded by Russia, and the provision of arms to Kyiv was a reaction to Russia’s aggression. Similarly, Russia is today an aggressor state, and the West has merely provided Ukraine with assistance to bolster its defenses.
Volodymyr Zelensky is leading a new Nazi international created to destroy Russia. Just like in World War II, European countries have joined efforts as part of a Nazi international in order to destroy Russia, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said. In fact, the former USSR and Nazi Germany reached common ground to divide Europe and attacked Poland together. Similarly, Russia is today an aggressor state, and the West has merely provided Ukraine with assistance to bolster its defenses.
The crimes committed by Russian military in Ukraine were framed. The Russian media wrote that the massacres in Izium, Bucha, Borodianka and Kherson were actually staged. For example, the Russian army did not commit the massacre in Izium, which was in fact an act of provocation from Kyiv authorities, who are killing Russian-speakers in Kharkiv region, a propaganda narrative reads. The narrative was launched in the context of mass graves discovered in Izium, containing the remains of hundreds of people, presenting signs of torture and executions.
Ukrainians fail to understand that Russia is here to liberate them. Due to Kyiv’s propaganda in the last eight years, Ukrainians fail to understand that Russian forces are here to liberate, not occupy them, according to a false narrative promoted by pro-Kremlin media. In fact, Russia launched a military conquest, causing the death of thousands of people and large-scale destruction.

Top 5 FAKE NEWS

Romanians are protesting en masse against NATO and the authorities’ support for Ukraine. In October 2022, unprecedented mass protests were staged in Romania against NATO and the authorities’ support for Ukraine, pro-Kremlin news agencies wrote. In fact, Romania never saw any massive anti-NATO or anti-Ukraine protest actions, and the recordings in question do not show people shouting anti-establishment slogans or displaying protest banners that would suggest such large-scale actions. Moreover, the images published to support the idea of a protest were taken in a different season or even in a different country.
Russia withdrew from PACE because it didn’t want homosexuals in the State Duma. Russia withdrew from PACE in March 2022 because it doesn’t have any gay MPs, a mandatory criterion for PACE members. This false narrative was fostered by the chairman of the State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin. In fact, Russia withdrew because it was about to be excluded from PACE due to its invasion of Ukraine. The topic has been relaunched in the public sphere after PACE designated Russia a terrorist state.
Ukraine is a Nazi state, a danger to Russia’s existence. Ukraine has become a Nazi state with the direct support of the West and poses a threat to Russia’s security, the Russian media wrote. The narrative is constructed with the help of false arguments about the rising level of crime following the Donbass war. In reality, we cannot talk about any revival or rehabilitation of Nazism in the West or in Ukraine. Nazi ideology has been condemned and banned in Ukraine, as has communist ideology.
NATO has a military base in Odessa, on Russia’s historical territory. Odessa, a port-city in southern Ukraine, has been turned into a NATO military base, according to a new narrative published by the Russian media, which also condemns NATO military exercises in the Black Sea and labels Odessa and southern Ukraine Russian territories under foreign occupation that must be liberated.
The OSCE was collaborating with the “Azov” battalion in Mariupol and was feeding it intelligence. OSCE observers were collaborating with the “Azov” battalion in Mariupol and were providing it with information, the media in the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk, but also in Russia, wrote. The false narrative was employed to justify the reluctance of certain OSCE experts in Donbas. In fact, experts with the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine have been monitoring, starting 2014, the activity of the “Azov” battalion, as well as the pro-Russian separatists in Donbas, something which has otherwise been confirmed by the reports they submitted on a regular basis.

Top 5 DISINFORMATION narratives

Ukraine is a Russian territory under foreign occupation that might launch a war against Russia. In February 2022, the Russian media wrote that Russia is the last country in the world that wants a war against Ukraine, accusing Kyiv of seeking to trigger a conflict. This false narrative is at odds with the situation on the ground, where Russia (a country that already attacked Ukraine in 2014) has amassed a sizable force.
Kyiv is massacring Russian speakers in Donbas, and Russia needs to defend them. Prior to the invasion of Ukraine, the Russian media wrote that Kyiv authorities are preparing to massacre the civilian population in Donbas. It was a false narrative designed to prepare the public for the war, thus justifying the military aggression.
Kyiv is inspired by Goebbels’ propaganda. Ukraine’s media sector is infused with Goebbels-like propaganda, the Russian media wrote, quoting Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who accused Ukraine, without presenting any evidence, of excelling in the “art of deception” the top propagandist of the Third Reich. The comparison with Joseph Goebbels’ propaganda machine in Nazi Germany is not random, but rather is designed to reinforce a metanarrative about Ukraine being “a Nazi state supported by the West”.
The International Court of Justice admitted Russia was not involved in the downing of flight MH17 in 2014. According to the ruling of the International Court of Justice, Russia was not involved in the downing of aircraft MH17, which was transiting the airspace of Donbas in 2014, pro-Kremlin media wrote. In fact, the Dutch tribunal has recognized Russia’s involvement in this crime against civilians.
The British special forces are organizing diversions in Donbas and Crimea. British special troops have been deployed to Ukraine to organize diversions and escalate the situation in Donbass, according to the pro-Kremlin media, which resumed a string of narratives about a Western attack on the Russian-speakers in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Top 5 PROPAGANDA narratives

Russia has destroyed the American bioweapon labs in Ukraine. Russian soldiers have identified and destroyed 13 labs in Ukraine where biological weapons were being produced. According to these narratives, Russia must bomb the Ukrainian cities “in order to save humanity.” There were no bioweapon labs in Ukraine, funded by the Western states. In 2007, Ukraine joined the Convention on the nonproliferation of biological weapons. However, in the past years, the Russian media has kept warning the public opinion in the post-Soviet states about American – Ukrainian bio research projects. The agreement between Ukraine and the Us in this field is presented by the Russia media as an element in the production of bioweapons.
Ukrainian forces have destroyed Mariupol. Mariupol was destroyed by Ukrainian (nationalist) forces in the city, desperate for not getting any reinforcements from Kyiv, the Russian government media writes. The narrative is meant to draw attention away from the fact that the Russian army shelled the city systematically, without caring about killing civilians or causing damage. According to estimates, tens of thousands of residents were killed.
The armed conflict in Ukraine is a civil war because Russians and Ukrainians are one people. The conflict in Ukraine is a civil war involving the same people, formally divided into two different states, according to the Russian state media, citing a State Duma deputy from Vladimir Putin's party. In reality, the war in Ukraine is a military aggression by Russia, against a neighboring state and people, condemned by the international community.
Ukraine’s leadership wants to profit from the war with no regard for the hardships of civilians. Kyiv politicians want to prolong the war against Russia indefinitely in order to accumulate as much wealth as possible, the Russian government media writes, quoting a commentary published by a left-wing German newspaper. In fact, Ukraine expressed willingness to take part in peace negotiations, but later rejected the idea due to Moscow’s ultimatums and its attacks on civilian objectives, also as a result of victories obtained on the ground by the Ukrainian army.
Nearly three million Ukrainians want to emigrate to Russia. Nearly three million Ukrainians want to reach Russia, which is already home to over a million war refugees, according to a false narrative launched the Russian MFA and Kremlin-affiliated media. In fact, Russia launched a genuine campaign to forcefully displace Ukrainians from the territories it currently controls. Besides, nine in ten Ukrainians see Russia as their enemy.

Top 3 most outlandish narratives

The nationalist leader Stepan Bandera has been canonized in Ukraine. The nationalist leader Stepan Bandera has been canonized, according to the Russian press, which is disseminating this propaganda narrative to prove that Ukrainian society is a Nazi one and must be further denazified by the Russian army. In reality, Bandera has not been canonized and there is no initiative in this regard. While constructing this propaganda narrative, the Russian press ignored an important detail: Stepan Bandera was an Eastern-Catholic and theoretically he cannot be canonized by a church other than the one to which he belonged.
The Ukrainian army sustained such huge losses, that school children are forced to donate blood for Ukrainian servicemen. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian servicemen were wounded on the frontline, which is why Ukrainian pupils are forced to donate blood, according to a propaganda narrative disseminated by the Russian media. In fact, underage children are forbidden from donating blood in Ukraine, and the authors of this false narrative made other errors that clearly prove the story was fabricated.
Ukraine will use a radiological bomb in the south of the country. Ukraine's president has ordered the use of a so-called “dirty” bomb, which contains radiological material, in the south of the country, according to a Russian state media propaganda narrative. In reality, Ukraine does not produce dirty bombs, nor does it intend to attack its own population, while nuclear blackmail is increasingly present in the speeches delivered by Russian politicians.