There were incidents where suspects were tortured and mutilated by Russian security forces, who captured this mistreatment in videos and pictures, following their arrest. The coverage of the attack in the Spanish media has unequivocally condemned this terrorist act against civilians.
The video is fake. Oleksiy Danilov never uttered these sentences. The video has been confirmed as having been generated by artificial intelligence from two previous interviews with Danilov. According to BBC Verify, "the two interviews used to create the fake video can be accessed on YouTube, one -dated 19 March- features Danilov and the other -dated 16 March- Ukraine's military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov".
The press service of the Holy See denied the claim in a comment to the fact-checking website POLYGRAPH.info. The false report continued to feature on the main website of RIA Novosti, Russia's leading state-owned media organisation.
Ukraine's Centre for Countering Disinformation said Ivan Syrskyi is the son of Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi's ex-wife. Colonel-General Syrskyi did not adopt Ivan, which is why Ivan is not his stepson. Ivan and his mother have been living in Australia for 14 years. Oleksandr Syrskyi does not communicate with them and is not responsible for the actions of his ex-wife's son. Ivan Syrskyi is a private person and his actions cannot be attributed to the Ukrainian authorities.
In the video, issued on 20 February 2024, Ivan Syrskyi did not ask Putin to grant him Russian citizenship or say he wanted to cast a ballot. Answering a question in the Russian Consulate General in Sydney whether he was planning to ask for a Russian passport, he said: 'I am planning.' He also said: 'Glory to Russia' and some other phrases, without mentioning Putin. Ivan Syrskyi actually asked for Russian citizenship in 2021. This was 3 years before Oleksandr Syrskyi was appointed Commander-in-Chief.
The assertion that collecting signatures is easier and more democratic in Russia than in France, thereby enabling smaller candidates to compete, is contradicted by reality.
Twelve candidates participated in the 2022 French elections. In contrast, only one independent candidate competed in the 2024 Russian elections: Vladimir Putin.
The claim about NATO expansion misrepresents the process of NATO enlargement. NATO does not expand, but considers the applications of candidate countries that want to join exercising their free will to decide alliance affiliation. NATO enlargement is not directed against Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a 10-point peace plan at a EU-Ukraine summit in February 2023. The EU unequivocally supported Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's peace formula. It is up to Ukraine to decide when it will hold talks with Russia.
Russia's aggression against Ukraine was unprovoked and unjustified. Contrary to Russian claims, Ukraine had not planned to attack Russia, and did not commit genocide in the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Ukraine was striving to implement the Minsk Agreements, but the Moscow-backed military formations there were constantly disrupting their implementation.
The assertion that Vladimir Putin's 24-year rule represents a triumph for democracy is misleading, especially considering that no other candidate has a realistic opportunity to challenge him in the elections. It is also crucial to note the incarceration of election observers, such as Golos co-chairman Grigory Melkonyants and the jailing of political opponents under harsh conditions.
This disinformation story is a distorted reference to a New York Times report, the content of which is being disingenuously twisted to support pro-Kremlin justifications for the invasion. The original NTY article explains how contacts between US and Ukrainian intelligence started in 2014 but only deepened in 2016, two years after Russia's aggression had started with the illegal annexation of Crimea and the engineering of an armed conflict in Donbas. According to the NYT article, the network of CIA bases was also established on that second date.