WAR PROPAGANDA: The Ukrainian army sustained such huge losses, that school children are forced to donate blood for Ukrainian servicemen

The losses sustained by Ukraine’s army are so huge, that Ukrainian pupils are forced to donate blood for the servicemen, 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.

NEWS: “In a school in the Ukrainian region of Cherkasy, children are forced to donate blood for Kyiv’s army. An announcement from the school management asks pupils in grades 6 to 12 to report to the school’s medical unit in order to donate blood. Each class has a reserved slot in the timetable. Pupils were notified they will have to present their IDs and pack a chocolate bar to help them recover after the procedure.

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After the EU announced that the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost 100 thousand servicemen in the war, morale has plummeted in the Ukrainian camp, according to military correspondents and the commanding officers of Russian troops”.

NARRATIVE: Losses in the Ukrainian camp are so big, that pupils are forced to donate blood for the military.

WHY THE NARRATIVE IS FALSE: The photo published by the Russian media as evidence of the announcement compelling pupils to donate blood for the army contains several technical inaccuracies that prove this is a false narrative. First of all, the secondary school cycle in Ukraine ends with the 11^th, not the 12^th grade.  The Education Law of 2017 introduced the 12^th grade to align the Ukrainian system to the European model, starting with the class of 2018-2019, which means that the first class to reach the 12^th grade will be in 2031. Normally, such an announcement was supposed to address 6^th to 11^th graders.

Secondly, another prerequisite in the announcement, stating that pupils must present their ID cards, cannot be met. Identification cards are released starting with the 10^th grade, all other school children requiring birth certificates as proof of identification.

Moreover, under the Ukrainian law, underage children are not allowed to donate blood. According to new regulations passed by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine in 2021, blood donors must be over 18 years of age and weigh at least 50 kilograms.

Ukrainian TV stations have urged citizens over spring-summer this year to donate blood for the army, which ensured the necessary amount of blood supply.

The Russian state media also quoted a press release of the European Commission, which originally stated that 100 thousand Ukrainian servicemen have been killed in the war. The figure was subsequently corrected, and EU officials admitted the original estimate was inaccurate. On December 1, the Ukrainian Presidency reacted, stating that the military death toll cannot be that high and provided a much lower figure, 13 thousand dead.

Veridica has disproved several false narratives meant to prove that only the Ukrainian army is sustaining losses, while the Russian army is reinforced by the local population and is occupying an increasing number of territories. The Russian media wrote that Ukrainian leadership wants to profit from the war with no concern for the hardships of civilians, while the authorities are mobilizing only Russian speakers from eastern Ukraine in order to exterminate them. According to Russian propaganda, Ukraine’s unemployed are drafted and sent to the front, whereas Kyiv is rewarding citizens who trick their friends into enrolling.