On June 29-30, 2023, Georgian- (1,2) and Russian-language (1,2) Facebook accounts and pages (1,2) disseminated the information that, according to Politico, the lives of 20 million Ukrainians will be needed to return the territory of Ukraine. Some of the posts also feature a screenshot of a Politico article, on which we see the title: “20,000,000 Lives for the Sake of Freedom,” and in the text, we read that this number, as it turns out, is almost the entire working-age population.
The disseminated screenshot is fabricated. Politico never published an article claiming that it will cost 20 million Ukrainian military lives to regain the lost territories.
The photo disseminated on Facebook is fabricated. No articles with similar title or content can be found on the website of Politico.
As for open sources, the identical text is found only on Russian-language news sites (1,2) and Telegram channels (1,2), which indicate either other Telegram channels as the source, or do not name it at all.
The information was also fact-checked by Reuters. According to the publication, archived versions of the outlet’s homepage saved in June 2023 did not show the headline.
After the start of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, the narrative (1,2) that the counter-offensive is unsuccessful is being actively spread in the Kremlin media and social networks, which is evidenced by footage of destroyed equipment and maps of the liberated territories.
About the sources
Writer Merab Ratishvili regularly spreads disinformation of anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian content, as well as conspiracy theories. “Myth Detector” has repeatedly debunked the false information spread by Ratishvili in the past.
Georgian-language Facebook user Zaqaria Kvirikashvili and Russian-language account Николай Балаясников often spread false information with anti-Western content.
Archive links: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
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