Latest fact checks & sources

The disinformation is based on an official statement from the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, published on March 7, the anniversary of the creation of the International Legion of Ukrainian Military Intelligence. The statement notes that “The Legion united volunteers from more than 50 countries of the world, who, after a full-scale invasion, came to the aid of Ukrainians and began to fight the troops of terrorist Russia,” the report says.

Pro-Kremlin outlets falsely portray as a coup d’état the Euromaidan revolution, which constituted of popular demonstrations that began in Kyiv in November of 2013 and brought hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to the streets to protest against a political decision of Viktor Yanukovych’s government, which at the last minute withdrew from a long-negotiated political association and free trade agreement with the EU, choosing instead to accept a $15 billion economic bailout to Russia.

There is no evidence that the US or the West are trying to destabilise Russia or interfered in the 2024 presidential election. This disinformation story aims to divert any Russian responsibility for the death of Alexei Navalny – a frequent target of pro-Kremlin disinformation. The reasons for his death remain unclear.

No credible evidence was provided to back the claim. Russia has for several years refused to invite OSCE election observers for elections in Russia. The last time OSCE observed elections in Russia was in 2018. As the Vice Speaker of the Federation Council, Konstantin Kosachev stated: “The likelihood of the OSCE PA being invited to observe the upcoming presidential elections in Russia is zero.”

The statement that the sanctions have not destroyed the Russian economy is manipulative and misleading. The restrictive measures from the EU, the US and their partners have damaged it severely. Russia’s economy in 2022 contracted by 2.1 per cent. It is expected to grow by 2.6 per cent in 2024 due to military spending, but it can lead to overheating in the long run. Even senior economic officials in Russia recognise this. ‘We might go fast, but not for long,’ Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina said in December 2023. The increase in military production has led to the neglect of other economic sectors. Foreign Direct Investment has dropped to insignificance. The fact that Russia has to purchase drones and other kinds of military equipment abroad is another indication of its economic problems.

There is no evidence that Ukraine has used chemical weapons during the war, started by Russia. Instead, this is an attempt to deflect responsibility away from Russia’s actions, with many Western leaders having genuine concerns that Russia could use chemical weapons.

The article does not provide any evidence to support the claim. France rejected the allegations, saying it was helping Ukraine defend its sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity but had no mercenaries in Ukraine “unlike certain others.” France labeled the assertion as ‘another clumsy Russian manipulation.’

On 26 February 2024, the French president Emmanuel Macron said “no option should be discarded” to bolster military support for Kyiv at a conference attended by leaders of Ukraine’s allies, but recognized there was “no consensus”. The aim of such a statement was to discourage Russia from further escalation of the invasion of Ukraine. France like many other states are assisting Ukraine in its self defence.

A viral video purports to show a segment from a FRANCE 24 French-language news bulletin, in which the anchor claims that French President Emmanuel Macron has postponed his trip to Ukraine due to an assassination attempt intercepted by French secret services. However, this claim is false, and the video is a deepfake. Both the sound and headline of the original France24 broadcast have been changed.

The very title of an OSCE report disproves claims of illegal trafficking in Ukraine: OSCE Special Representative and Co-ordinator for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings has no evidence of illegal organ transplantation in Ukraine. Moreover, the person presented as a former OSCE observer, Vera Vayiman did not work for the organisation.

Over the span of two years, countless civilian targets across Ukraine has been hit by Russian missiles or artillery. Russia brags about the precision capabilities of these weapons, thus the strikes are clearly designed to target civilian objets with the knowledge that non-combatant are likely hit.

This statement is a manipulation around the protests of EU farmers and discussions about limiting the exports of Ukrainian agricultural products to the EU, aiming to promote the recurring disinformation narrative that attributes aggressive and imperial intentions to Poland.

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.

Back in December 2023, Russian authorities announced their intention to organise ‘voting’ in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine: the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions of Ukraine. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasised that Russia, with its ‘elections’ not only grossly violates the Constitution and legislation of Ukraine, but also neglects all the norms and principles of international law, in particular the UN Charter.

The ‘Arbitration Court of Crimea’ is a fictitious body; its decision is not recognised by any democratic country. This illegitimate court employs judges accused in Ukraine of high treason – they betrayed the oath of allegiance to the people of Ukraine and began working for the occupier.

There is no evidence that Ukraine has used chemical weapons during the war started by Russia. Instead, this is an attempt to deflect responsibility away from Russia’s actions, with many Western leaders having real concerns that Russia could use chemical weapons. Ukraine is a part of the Chemical Weapons Convention. Ukraine strictly adheres to its international obligations on the non-use and non-proliferation of chemical weapons – this fact has been repeatedly confirmed by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), operating under the auspices of the UN.

Ukrainian and Russian are two distinct people, despite multiple attempts of the Kremlin to deny it. Ukraine is a well-defined nation-state with a long history and its literature and identity, despite foreign rule for long periods. Ukrainians and Russians belong to the Slavs ethnolinguistic group, but they are not a single nation. The “all-Russian big nation” is an imperial Russian and Russian revanchist ideology that is a favoured pro-Kremlin narrative aimed at weakening the national identity of Ukrainians, as well as undermining the state sovereignty.

The 2020 National Security Strategy of Poland states that the most serious security threat for the country is the neo-imperial policy of the authorities of the Russian Federation, pursued by means of military force (aggression against Georgia, illegal annexation of Crimea and military actions in Eastern Ukraine).

Russia has stated that if its assets are seized it would retaliate by seizing Western assets in Russian territory, and there could be other economic consequences, but nothing of the scale this disinformation story suggests. By stoking fears of apocalyptic repercussions, this disinformation narrative aims to dissuade audiences from backing this measure.

For a state with no expansionist designs on Ukraine, Russia has been active in illegally occupying it over the past decade. In February 2014, Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. In autumn 2022, it used sham referenda in an attempt to annex the above-mentioned oblasts, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.