Fake#1 Due to the Wagner Group rebellion,  Poland put the army on high alert

Fake date 25.06.2023 

On June 23, Friday evening late, the founder of PMC Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, accusing the Russian military leadership of a missile attack on the rear Wagner camp, announces the start of the ‘March of Justice’.

On the night of June 24, after capturing and blocking the headquarters of both the Russian Southern Military District and the facilities of law enforcement agencies in Rostov-on-Don, the Wagner Group moves in a column in the Moscow direction.

When his forces came within 200 km of Moscow, the head of PMC Wagner Prigozhin, who had previously stated that nothing would stop the 25,000-strong army of mercenaries, turned his fighters back.

Then Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, that Alexander Lukashenko has been engaged in the case, doing his best in negotiating with Prigozhin.

This story caused Poland to put its military on high alert, former Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksii Arestovych said in an interview with Mark Feygin on June 24:

Oleksii Arestovych: And if it was staging, would [President Andrzej] Duda put the Polish armed forces on high alert? 

Mark Feygin: On the other hand, he is obliged, he should not delve into it.

O.А.: Why is he obliged? Lithuania hasn't put, Finland hasn't, and some of the other countries bordering Russia not.

M.F.: These countries are not comparable in size.

O.А.: Wait, at least they should've put their armies on alert according to the general response scenario. Poland done.

The Telegram channel Bild Russian also texted that Andrzej Duda put the armed forces on high alert. 

Then this story was picked up by the Russian and Ukrainian media, referring to the President of Poland on Twitter. However, that day there was only one post published, saying nothing about high alert: 

“In relation to the situation in Russia, this morning we have held consultations with the Prime Minister and the Ministry of National Defense, as well as with allies.

The course of events beyond our eastern border is under constant monitoring.” 

Also, there is a mention of Poland's army combat readiness in a tweet by the Head of the National Security Bureau Jacek Siewia. However, its meaning contradicts the messages of Bild and Arestovich.

“The Polish Armed Forces are in constant readiness since February 2022 and the level has not been changed in response to recent events. We are monitoring the situation in consultation with the allies and we treat it as an internal matter of Russia”, Jacek Siewia stated on June 24. 

From all this, it follows that the PMC Wagner rebellion hasn't provoked putting the Polish army on high alert.

Fake#2 Belarusian TV confused two Moldovan protests with each other

Fake date 18.06.2023

Both in Ukraine and Moldova, the celebration of Victory Day has been postponed from May 9 to May 8. According to Belarussian propaganda, this sparked protests in Chisinau. 

Here is what’s claimed on the state-run TV Belarus 1, in the program Around the Planet, June 18:

“Fascism will not pass. No distortion of history. Moldovans again gathered in Chisinau streets in protest. This time, locals stand for Victory Day. They opposed the new name and its postponement to May 8th.

Recall, that earlier the ruling party proposed a new name for the celebration — Day of Victory over Nazism and of Remembrance the fallen in World War II”.

There were indeed protests against the Victory Day postponement — near the Moldova parliament building.

But Belarus 1 TV shows the video with a rally near the Constitutional Court of Moldova. There was another protest — against the liquidation of the opposition pro-Russian Shor party.

This is not the first time when the viewers of the Around the Planet program are shown a video that is nothing to do with the news covered.

For example, in May, a rally on the border of Poland with the Czech Republic and Germany was wrongly presented as a protest in Warsaw.

Fake#3 Covered in flowery wreaths to his knees, President Macron shows his high status

Fake date 16.06.2023

The personal qualities of Alexander Lukashenko and President Emmanuel Macron of France have been discussed on the air of Radio Minsk on June 16.

Both psychologist Alyona Dziodzina and host Alyona Rodovskaya commented on how Lukashenko, wearing a wreath of white, red, and green flowers around his neck, behaved during his January visit to Zimbabwe.

And then they moved on to the case of Macron's visit to French Polynesia in July 2021: 

“Literally for a couple of seconds, we will go off the air to show the video in full.

If the person, who arrives by plane...

We all saw when the president landed in Zimbabwe and when he was met at the highest diplomatic level... Among all diplomatic meetings, it was the highest level. And he was also welcomed with floral garlands.

Please, tell me why Macron needed to be absolutely covered.

The video shows not one, not two wreaths. For what? This is such an external message "I'm open, I'm ready" to win over a person?” Alena Rodovskaya said.

Then Alena Dziodzina continued:

“This is some kind of external demonstration of one’s political status on the territory of the state, which he visits.” 

The presenter and the psychologist discussed a video with Mr. Macron covered in flowery loops extending to his knees.

A little digging reveals it is actually fake. This humorous video was made two years ago and went viral.

In the original video, there are much fewer floral Garlands on the president of France. 

Fake#4 For the Ukrainian authorities, war is a way to get rich due to 'zero customs clearance' of imported cars

Fake date 20.06.2023

Member of the Belarusian rubber stamp parliament Oleg Gaidukevich made a loud statement about the war in Ukraine. War is beneficial for Ukraine, he said, so as the country's leadership is enriched by preferential customs clearance of imported cars.

 “And for them, it is earnings. Look at the numbers, too. How huge is the amount of buying cars from Europe to Ukraine now? The scheme is simple.

Since they have privileges for customs duties, all this turns into a business. Then they resell it to other post-Soviet countries, they earn money, they steal,” Mr. Gaidukevich claimed on state-run SB TV, in the talk show Budni on June 20.

In Ukraine, 'zero customs clearance' had been imposed after the war started. But it’d been continuing only for the period from April to June 2022. And on July 1, it was canceled.

During that time, Ukrainians imported more than 200 thousand cars. 

According to the Automotive Market Research Institute, a spike in the registration of imported used cars occurred in April, May, June, and July 2022. Then about 50-90 thousand used foreign cars were registered. 

Later, there was a decline of up to 15-20 thousand foreign cars per month. The market has maintained this level up to now.

Taking into account benefits, Ukrainians imported a little more than 400 thousand cars in 2022. Which is much less than before the war. In 2021 there were 533,000 items imported.

Fake#5 Minsk economy is growing at a pace close to the best in the world

Fake date 19.06.2023 

The economy of Minsk is reportedly demonstrating recovery growth. According to the January—May data, the growth of the gross regional product (GRP) is almost 5% compared to January. That message was delivered by Political scientist Vadim Elfimov via the state-run STV channel,  program Capital Details on June 19. He also compared this figure with global growth rates.

“Compared to global growth rates, 6% is, in general, an ideal... There is [such a] growth only in China. And 4.8% is very, very...” he claimed on the same day on the air of Radio-Minsk.

However, both the STV presenter and Vadim Elfimov kept silent about one important detail.

Previously, as of January 2023, the level of Minsk's GDP, which is called the gross regional product, was reduced by more than 7% compared to January 2022. And now, 5 months later, the decline compared to the same period last year is already 2.5%.

So almost 5% of recovery growth comes from this difference. That is, the economy of the capital of Belarus continues to be in the red, only at a lesser level.

Noteworthy, the real minus in the pace of development comes from a comparison with the figure for 2021 results, still pre-sanctions, when the economy was doing relatively well, showing 1% growth. 

For Minsk authorities looking for bright sides, the following economic collapse became the new basis for ‘analysis’. Based on the low 2022 indicators of the suffered from the sanctions economy, they publicly present 'the 2023 growth'.

This manipulation is also visible according to the current data of the National Statistical Committee. Among all regions of Belarus, Minsk is an outsider in terms of GDP dynamics.

Although the country's GDP as a whole is growing, for the first five months of 2023 it is 0.9% in plus.

That is, Vadim Elfimov compared Minsk's negative economic indicator decline to China's GDP real growth. Which, by the way, grew by 3% over the year, and not by 6%, as Elfimov claimed.

In terms of GDP growth, it is not China that leads the world, but India with 8% in 2022 and Iraq with 9.5%.