Fake#1 After the Wagner Group rebellion, Putin will emerge even stronger, POLITICO experts believe 

Fake date 26.06.2023

On June 24, Yevgeny Prigozhin and Wagner Group rebellion ended after negotiations with the Russian leadership and with the mediation of Alexander Lukashenko. PMC Wagner units stopped about 200 kilometers from Moscow and then returned to their base. The founder of the Wagner Group has flown out to Minsk.

Commenting on the Russian mercenary 'March of Justice', Russian host Olga Skabeeva claimed via her Telegram channel that Vladimir Putin would emerge even stronger now. 

According to her, the experts of POLITICO made such a conclusion by analyzing the rebellion's consequences for Russia.

The following quotation was provided as proof: 

“A professor of political science at Michigan State University Frantz:

“Given that others with arms did not join Prighozin’s rallying call — Putin will probably emerge even stronger.

One of the possible ways is a show of force by large-scale campaigns in Ukraine.”

A senior fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Nonproliferation Sokov: 

“I do not anticipate any impact on the war. I do not anticipate any weakening of Putin and the regime from this event. In fact, his support among the military might increase — both from Shoigu and top brass, but perhaps more importantly from generals and officers at the frontline.

The POLITICO article does include these quotes. However, not two, but 14 experts on Russia were interviewed.

The majority is of the opinion that ‘Putin is vulnerable and the Russian state is decrepit’, and that ‘Putin’s image of invincibility has been tarnished’. 

Only two experts see in the rebellion some positive effects for the President of Russia. They are Russian Nikolai Sokov and American Erika Franz.

Erika Frantz did say that Putin's power is likely to be strengthened, although the Wagner rebellion will have a strong negative impact on Russia at the front.  

“The visible crack in Putin’s armor could prove to be a major motivator for Ukrainian forces and, importantly, the world powers who back them. And, should Putin lose the war, opportunities for political change in Russia may present themselves that did not exist otherwise,” she says.

Fake#2 Ukrainians accuse "Titan" submersible's crew of wasting money

Fake date 22.06.2023

According to the Telegram channel ZhS premium, media all over the world are outraged by the reaction of Ukrainians to the tragedy of the Titan, the submersible that imploded on a voyage to the Titanic shipwreck that had sunk 111 years ago.

Presumed human remains were found in the Titan submersible's wreckage a week after the vessel's catastrophic calamity was confirmed.

“Who said that Ukrainian propaganda is bottomless? Not at all.

Even the depth is known — 3.5 thousand meters below sea level.

At such a depth, a submersible with tourists plunged to look at the Titanic shipwreck has gotten stuck. 

A special video shows how Ukrainian propaganda reproaches unlucky voyagers for spending $250,000 on this extreme tour instead of donating money to Ukraine. Saying that, it serves you right. 

Even accustomed to the escapades of  Ukrainians,  the media all over the world were taken aback by the bloodthirstiness and simply greed of these inhabitants of Europe”, the Telegram channel Zhs Premium texted on June 22.

In confirmation, an author paired the message with a video claiming to be from Al Jazeera. 

The video shows a rally with flags of Ukraine. And the subtitles say: "Ukrainians accuse "Titan" submersible's crew of wasting money". Then follows the story of the submersible's tragedy.

There is not even a mention of any Ukrainian protest against the $250,000 wasted on the voyage to the Titanic shipwreck on Al Jazeera website. However, its video about the submersible Titan became a donor for the ZhS Premium video.

The photo, which the Telegram channel presented as a protest of Ukrainians against the “travelers' money useless spending” was shooted during the Ukrainian rally near the UN office in the German city of Bonn. 

It was dedicated to the tragedy caused by the destruction of the dam at the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station. By the way, the well-known eco-activist Greta Thunberg came to support this rally.

Finally, Al Jazeera itself dispelled doubts, calling the video a fake.

“We want to clarify that the video does not originate from Al Jazeera, and we assert that the content has been fabricated by a third party,”  an Al Jazeera spokesperson told the Reuters news agency.

Fake#3 Russian bombers launch Ukrainian missiles

Fake date 27.06.2023 

The Russian Telegram channel Medved released a video dedicated to Russian military power. In particular, it shows a specific missile in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces.

The video description says: “Russian Tu-22M3 bombers strike with Kh-22/32 missiles from Sumy to Zaporizhzhya.”

The video is about the Russian Kh-32 supersonic missile, but there is another missile shown. The following picture demonstrates what the X-32 looks like.

The BIC discovered the original video, which the Russians attributed to themselves. There is the Ukrainian missile Neptune shown, that destroyed the cruiser Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea fleet.

And here is the missile test video published 3 years ago on the Ukrainian YouTube channel Militarnyi.

That is, the Telegram channel Medved, trying to demonstrate the military power of Russia, presented a Ukrainian missile for a Russian one.

Fake#4 Foreign mercenaries were wounded following the Kramatorsk missile attack

Fake date 28.06.2023 

A Russian missile struck a restaurant in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk on June 27, killing at least 13 people. Also, the award-winning  Ukrainian novelist, essayist, and war crimes researcher Victoria Amelina has died following Russia’s missile strike.

Another 61 people were injured. There were foreign mercenaries were among them, the Telegram channel ZhS Premium claimed. 

“Folk omen. If, after a missile strike, both the Ukrainians and the Belarusian opposition started yelling “crimes of the Russians”, then the hit was right on target.

Ukraine reluctantly acknowledged the presence of foreigners among the injured. This means that the attack was just on the mercenaries, so the topic has not been exhausted,” the propagandists said.

As evidence, they used a screenshot of the publication from the Nasha Niva Telegram channel. 

Ukrainian media and Telegram channels also report that three foreigners are wounded. And BBC News clarifies that all three are Colombian citizens, representatives of the organization Aquanta Ukraine (Stay Strong Ukraine), but not mercenaries. They are from a support group for Ukraine in Latin America.

Colombian MP Sergio Jaramillo, writer Héctor Abad, and journalist Catalina Gomez were wounded in a Russian missile attack on Kramatorsk, Aquanta Ukraine reported:

“Tonight, while having dinner at the RAI pizzeria in Kramatorsk with Victoria Amelina, outstanding Ukrainian writer, and wonderful journalist Catalina Gomez, we have been hit by a Russian cruise missile fired at the restaurant.”

Fake#5 Belarus has nothing to lose from the Stadler Minsk getting out

Fake date 22.06.2023 

The Stadler Minsk company, the Swiss manufacturer of railway rolling stock, was getting out of Belarus, Marius Skuodis, Minister of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Lithuania, said on June 22.

In the evening of the same day, Grigory Azarenok and political scientist Andrei Lazutkin, discussing the Stadler case, explained why foreign investors are useless in Belarus and the country would lose nothing from their getting out. 

“What are the losses for Belarus…  Well, what was the localization of the same Stadler? That is, how many components did we produce for it? Well, it is said about 1%. This is what we really managed to do here. 

Although some kind of cable, a metal panel, rubber, appliances, a generator, a battery — all this could've been produced in Belarus.

But the investor is no fool who relies on you in these matters. He'd better bring ready-made spare parts here, assemble and get railroad cars that could be sold further to Russia.

That is, we did not earn anything from this. 

In addition, in a matter of a worker's salary, the president said that the investor was not a fool, who would pay more than the average salary in the industry in the country was,” Andrei Lazutkin said.

The Stadler Minsk plant manufacturing railway and urban electric transport opened in Fanipol, Belarus, in 2014. The company is part of the Stadler Rail Group. It produces railroad cars, double-decker trains, subway trains, and trams in Belarus.

The BIC has checked whether Stadler is really leaving Belarus. The company has not made any official announcements. At the time of publication, they were even recruiting staff.

Stadler Minsk is still considered one of the truly successful investment projects in Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko said in November 2014: 

«Why we were interested in Stadler. I have spoken about this many times. Did they come here with money? Yes, they did.

Did they come here with new technologies? Yes, they did.

Did they come here with their markets, that is, did they know where to sell their products? Absolutely.” 

Stadler in Belarus was recognized as the best exporter in 2016. And in 2017, the company was named ‘Employer of the Year’ for creating favorable conditions for staff. 

We haven’t learned much about Stadler salaries from open sources. But in 2018, the average salary there was 2,100 Belarusian rubles. At the same time, in Belarus, according to Belstat, the average nominal accrued wages amounted to 954 rubles. And the average salary in the industry in 2018 was a little more than 1,000 rubles. 

Thus, salaries at Stadler Minsk were higher than the industry average. Chairman of the Minsk Region  Executive Committee Alexander Turchin even praised the company.

“The social component is just as important as production success. The Stadler Minsk company is an excellent example of a non-state enterprise, where they think not only about the new project's implementation and making a profit but also about the well-being of all team members,” the official said in October 2020. 

Lazutkin's words that only 1% of components for Stadler trains are produced in Belarus do not correspond to reality as well.

So, So, Director of JSC Stadler Minsk Philip Brunner said in 2019:  

“We can localize trams to a level that we consider optimal, up to 60-70%. It is the maximum since even our Belarusian suppliers have approximately the same level since they purchase components abroad.

For subway trains, the level of localization is 50-60%, depending on the client's requirements.”