Ukrainian offensive prompts Russian propaganda to create fakes about Ukraine's high losses' in Kursk region

A Ukrainian offensive in the Kursk region, which caught the Russian army by surprise, became another reason for Russian propaganda to spread fakes. One of the main narratives of the Russians, which propagandists try to promote with the help of fakes, is the seemingly colossal "losses" of the Ukrainian army in the Kursk sector.

Russian pro-war Telegram channels have recently begun to spread information that JSC Sumyoblenergo allegedly obliged its employees to donate blood for Ukrainian defenders in connection with "heavy losses" in the Kursk region. As "proof," the propagandists added a photo of an ad on behalf of the power supply company's "personnel department."

The "ad" turned out to be fake. JSC Sumyoblenergo did not post such a message. In addition, personnel issues at the institution are dealt with not by the "personnel department," but by the staff department, the company's press secretary told Ukrinform.

Another fake, aimed at creating disinformation about the "losses" of the Ukrainian army, is a video that was published on the Telegram channel of Apti Alaudinov, the commander of the Akhmat special forces unit and an aide to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. In the video, a Ukrainian soldier participating in an operation in the Kursk region mocks the quality of goods in Russian stores. The video is interrupted by an alleged explosion that seemingly "destroyed" the Ukrainian and his comrades.

It turned out that the video was edited in a graphic editor and the explosion was superimposed. The original video without "special effects" can be found online.

Even Russian colleagues and propagandists from the state television and radio broadcasting company Chita shamed Apti Alaudinov for this ridiculous fake. They wrote on their Vkontakte page that they were "tired of lies" and that people like Alaudinov "disgrace" the Russian army. In addition, the authors of the post emphasized that, according to the editors, it is Alaudinov and the Akhmat regiment who are responsible for the loss of control over the city of Sudzha.

Later, Alaudinov deleted the post with the fake video from his Telegram channel. The post about the ridiculous fake of the commander of the Akhmat special forces unit on the social media site Vkontakte was also deleted by Chita television representatives.

After the start of the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region, fakes are published every day on Russian propaganda resources, which aim to discredit the Ukrainian army and whiten the reputation of the Russian army. For the same purpose, the Russians present the data confirmed by the Ukrainian side in the information space as alleged Ukrainian "fakes."

Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi confirmed on August 12 that Ukrainian forces were conducting an offensive operation in the Kursk region.

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on August 13 that 74 settlements of the Kursk region were under the control of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Earlier, Ukrinform refuted Russian fakes aimed at discrediting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukrainian officials.

Dmytro Badrak