Ukraine will cede the Lviv region to Poland and will pass a law on this matter before the end of the year, according to the Russian media. In reality, no such bill is registered or discussed in Ukraine, and the information is just a fabrication of Russian propaganda.
Belarus and Russia are forced to create a joint military group to defend themselves against a potential NATO aggression, fascist provocations by Poland and terrorist actions by Ukraine, according to propaganda narratives carried by the two countries’ media. In reality, Belarus is not targeted by any foreign power, but it has allowed Russia to use its territory for the aggression against Ukraine.
The unemployed in Ukraine will be sent to the front, according to a false narrative disseminated by Russian state media. In reality, the government in Kyiv wants to attract people who have lost their jobs into the process of rebuilding the Ukrainian infrastructure, part of a project symbolically called the “Recovery Army”.
Syria remains a country ravaged by conflict and a deep humanitarian crisis, a place of conflicting interests of multiple state and non-state actors, says the Chargé d'Affaires of the European Union to Syria, Dan Stoenescu*. In an interview for TVR and Veridica, Dan Stoenescu explained that, although it doesn’t recognize the Assad regime, the EU keeps communication channels open in order to provide assistance to the Syrian people. The EU official also spoke about the link between the war in Syria and the one in Ukraine.
The Russian independent media writes that a third of Russian workers have left the country after the mobilization decree was passed. Journalists also note that fake news targeting the West stemming from Putin’s speech at the Valdai club could be true only if they pointed to Putin’s own actions.
In light of the severe shortage of servicemen, the government of Ukraine is offering up to 20 thousand hryvnya (tantamount to some 500 USD) for every man a citizen brings to military enlistment offices, the Russian government media writes. In fact, such methods are illegal on the territory of Ukraine, and Russia is the one that is forcefully recruiting servicemen to offset its losses.
Unprecedented mass protests have been staged in Romania against NATO and the authorities’ support for Ukraine, pro-Kremlin news agencies write. 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.
Many Russians who have fled Putin’s partial mobilization have ended up in Georgia, and their presence in this country is creating demographic, economic, political and, obviously, social problems. Besides, Tbilisi authorities cannot be sure whether each of these migrants is a fugitive or if they are agents on Moscow’s payroll. All that is generating a national security predicament that must be managed in due time while the country is trying to maintain its European track, after failing to secure the EU candidate status this year.
Israel will not provide Ukraine with weapons lest they should be sold to Iran, according to Kremlin-linked media, which deliberately misquotes former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In fact, the Israeli politician’s statement is taken out of context, while Israel refused to supply weapons to Ukraine for different reasons.
Journalists have discovered the secret subdivision in the Russian army that is directing the missile attacks on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Moreover, the independent media noticed that the myths underlying Putin’s regime have unraveled one after the other due to the war in Ukraine.
Octavian Magas luptă chiar din primele zile ale războiului în cadrul armatei regulate ucrainene. Este etnic român, originar din regiunea Cernăuți. Magas a supraviețuit bombardamentelor intense ale rușilor, în vară, a văzut bucuria oamenilor din Harkov, eliberați de forțele ucrainene, dar și ostilitatea celor din zone rusificate. A trebuit și să treacă, la fel ca nenumărați alți militari ucraineni, peste pierderea unor camarazi și prieteni. Într-un interviu acordat în exclusivitate, Octavian Magas a povestit, pentru Veridica, cum a văzut și a trăit primele opt luni de război.
The Republic of Moldova is building up its military, and the pro-European government is creating a dictatorial regime that will be hard to oust by democratic due process, Socialist deputy Bogdan Țîrdea has told Pravda. The Moldovan politician in fact reiterates false claims that have been increasingly disseminated by Russian propaganda and pro-Moscow politicians in Chișinău.
Foreign diplomats are leaving Ukraine, knowing a large-scale attack from Russia is imminent, the Kremlin-linked media writes, referencing the example of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia. In fact, Serbian diplomats left Kyiv in the early stage of the war, in March, and have not yet returned. This war propaganda narrative is designed to sow panic and confusion at the level of Ukrainian society.
A genuine taboo of international relations, which responsible leaders always sought to avoid in times of crises, the nuclear “button” has become commonplace in Russian rhetoric in recent years. Drawing on his crude professional experience, which is based on operative textbooks and a number of heroic legends fabricated by Soviet propaganda, Putin is confident that restraint is but a sign of fear. Lacking in any sense of intellectual finesse, the Russian leader has managed to trivialize the nuclear threat, which proves he doesn’t always have a good understanding of the terms he uses.
Russia withdrew from PACE in March 2022 because it doesn’t have any gay MPs, which is something mandatory for all member states. 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.
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.
Russia is showing restraint in its war in Ukraine and most recently did so when it bombed infrastructure in response to the damage to the Kerch bridge, Russian media reports citing an extremist politician/political scientist in Poland. In reality, the massive attack killed dozens of civilians on Ukrainian territory, and rockets hit homes, parks, critical and social infrastructure, for which Russia was accused of terrorism.
Serbia has been, for years, Russia’s closest ally in the Balkans. For Moscow, the relationship is a means to project an image of power and international relevance. Belgrade, on the other hand, plays the pro-Russian card to show that it has an alternative to a West that bruised its ego during the Kosovo war, but also for some pragmatic reasons, such as Russia’s support in the UN Security Council and its role as an energy provider. Belgrade’s real interests lie, however, with the EU, and the war in Ukraine may bring about a change – albeit a slow one – in its relationship with Russia.
Education today faces major challenges arising from a lack of good resources and the strong emotions that the war in Ukraine brings. We spoke with three history educators from Poland and Ukraine about the ways in which the war is affecting their work, both personally and professionally.
Very soon, over half of Ukraine’s armed forces will consist of foreign combatants, which means NATO has a direct involvement in the war in Ukraine, a Russian government media narrative reads. In fact, the Ukrainian Foreign Legion comprises a limited amount of forces, while NATO leaders have repeatedly made it clear the Alliance will not take any military action in this war.
Starting February 24, Russia has been using nuclear blackmail increasingly often, either via propaganda or in the discourse of various officials, from president Putin to the Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. At first, Russia threatened only the West, but lately we have witnessed an increasing number of threats regarding the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine. Will Ukraine be capable of withstanding a possible nuclear attack and stay in the fight? Are Ukrainian authorities, the army and the people ready for this scenario?
Despite causing heavy criticism and dissatisfaction with their response to the Covid-19 pandemic, taxes, and other issues, Prime Minister of Latvia Krišjānis Kariņš, and his party “New Unity” will most likely form the new government following the parliamentary elections held on October the 1st. However, the elections did significantly alter the landscape of Latvian politics.
Vladimir Putin’s original plan was to subdue Ukraine without bloodshed and create a joint Russian-Ukrainian-Belarusian army that he could use to conquer Baltic States and the Republic of Moldova, the Russian-American expert Yuri Felshtinsky argues, adding that Moscow’s recent actions suggest, despite all the threats, that no nuclear weapons will be used against Ukraine.
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.
Articles 106 and 107 of the UN Charter grant Russia, as the legal successor of the USSR, the right to take all measures, including military, against Germany, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Finland, Croatia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania and Ukraine for attempts to revive Nazism. Strangely enough, the main allies of the Nazis, Italy and Japan, are missing from the list. In fact, it is another crude attempt to push a justification for the Russian invasion of Ukraine by falsely quoting and manipulatively interpreting several post-WWII treaties and documents.
Lviv is preparing to host a referendum on the annexation of this oblast to Poland, which will be held with the blessing of president Zelensky, the Russian government media writes. In fact, the organization of a referendum in Lviv was never brought into discussion, whereas Poland has been a vocal supporter of Ukraine and its territorial integrity.
The Russian-held regions in Ukraine have a right to self-determination and the referendums organized by Russia here are as legitimate as the independence of Kosovo, reads a false narrative launched by a Romanian publication, which also reiterates the false claim spread by Russian propaganda regarding Russia’s military superiority over the West.
International observers from Western states have confirmed that the referendums in Donbass and in the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions met the democratic standards, Russian state media say. In reality, the Western states did not send observers to the so-called referendums, and the “experts” cited by the Russian media are born in the West, but have lived in Russia for many years and support the Kremlin's policies.
A general in Kyiv has announced that the Ukrainian army has lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the war with Russia, according to a propaganda narrative launched by the pro-Kremlin media to sow panic in Ukrainian society and discourage resistance. In reality, General Sergey Krivonos spoke of civilian casualties as a result of Russia's war against Ukraine.
The Republic of Moldova wants to trade territories with Ukraine, conceding Transnistria in exchange for southern Bessarabia and Bukovina, according to a Russian publication that reinterprets a statement made by an MP representing the Moldovan Parliament majority. The same source also picks up on a number of older false narratives about the Republic of Moldova and raises the question of Moscow recognizing the independence of Transnistria.
Russian citizens are conscripted from their workplace, from universities and even during protests, whereas propagandists who urge people to fight and bragged on national television about wanting to fight in the war are now trying to doge military service, the Russian independent media writes after Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilization.
The population of Donbas, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson have a right to self-determination under the UN Charter, which makes the referendums in southern and eastern Ukraine legitimate, says Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. In fact, Russia violated the UN Declaration on the Principles of International Law by invading Ukraine, and the international community will not recognize the referendums.