During 400 days of the full-scale resistance, the Center for Countering Disinformation increasingly finds disinformation campaigns of the russians, which are designed for a long time, have a certain popularity and influence on the population.
The recent russian hoax about the Ukrainian military firing on a car carrying a woman and a child shook the media, but after it was revealed, everyone quickly forgot about it. Specialists of the CCD analyzed this video and found that such “work” appeared in the enemy media not by chance and is part of a large-scale campaign of the russian federation, the purpose of which is to incite inter-religious enmity and demonize Ukraine in the eyes of Muslims.
More about the fake:
On March 27, 2023, at 1:31 p.m., the russian Telegram channel “Dva Majora” published a footage from the video recorder from March 24, 2023, accompanied by the following text:
“…A serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine called a Muslim woman with a child a “pig” for overtaking a military column”
On March 24, 2023, in the front-line zone, the soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stopped a convoy car that was passing by them, in which there were a woman and a child.
A Ukrainian serviceman rudely presented a woman with claims for a “traffic violation” (apparently, he was upset by being overtaken by a military convoy). After studying the documents, he needed to speak Ukrainian.
Seeing that the woman, judging by the establishment data, is a Muslim and speaks russian, he deliberately began to call her a pig.
After she asked not to insult her, the serviceman for some reason fired several times near the car with civilians.
The ideology promoted by Nazi battalions in all military formations of Ukraine is extremely simple: one nation, one faith, one language. Everything is like the Third Reich, nothing new. It is very suitable for limited enemy soldiers who have no idea that March 24 was the first day of the holy month of Ramadan for Muslims.
This video material began to spread rapidly in russian and pro-russian Telegram channels and mass media with an emphasis on the terror of the russian-speaking population. It was in this vein that the fake gained resonance, and the manipulation of hatred against Muslims disappeared.
Why did the russians choose Muslims as an object of propaganda?
Not being able to gain an advantage on the battlefield, the kremlin decided to increase the mobilization of the russian federation precisely at the expense of Muslims. This is an age-old method of selecting national minorities, which are used for “meat” and later as fertilizer for Ukrainian black soil.
Previously, the Center investigated the issue of russian participation in the war against Ukraine, and it turned out that it was national minorities who suffered the most. North Ossetia, Buryatia, Tyva, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chukotka and Volga region are the leading regions in terms of the number of military deaths per thousand population.
The russian command deliberately sends soldiers of “non-russian” appearance to the front lines in order to emphasize the formal justification of the attack on Ukraine under the slogan “the multinational people of the russian federation are fighting fascism”, but in fact the kremlin “throws into hell” people from the most remote parts of the country in order not to provoke anti-war protests in large russian-speaking cities.
The participation of representatives of the russian republics in the war against Ukraine is another reminder of their “second-class status” in modern russia.
The second and no less important factor was the date of the beginning of the great religious holiday of Muslims – Ramadan. Prior to this, the propagandists received manuals, in which it is indicated that with the help of fakes and disinformation campaigns, they should inflame the inter-religious conflict between Ukrainians and Muslims, which should turn into a religious war.
Key narratives promoted by hostile media: “Ukraine is a godless/satanic state”, “Ukraine does not respect Muslims and Islam”, “russia is a friend of Muslims and defends Islamic values”, “Muslims of the world must fight godless Ukraine side by side with russia”.
It is worth admitting that the largest and most successful provocation of the enemy was a video production where allegedly Ukrainian servicemen use the holy book of Muslims – the Koran as a board for cutting fat.
This fake received more than 10 million views and caused a storm of emotions among representatives of the Muslim world.
The video was published on March 15, 2023, which is not accidental, because this day is considered the international day of countering Islamophobia.
After the appearance of a video about the use of the holy book of Muslims for cutting lard, the following video of a similar nature was published in the Telegram channel “D///IHAD”. In it, persons posing as servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine use the Koran to light a fire.
It is also important to note that in parallel with the distribution of the video about the Koran and the disdainful attitude of Ukrainians towards it, the russians distributed a video in which the russian attack aircraft of the 70th regiment of the 42nd motorized rifle division conduct a communion ceremony before going to combat positions.
The mentioned comparison is a manipulation, the purpose of which is to expose the Ukrainian servicemen as godless criminals, and the russians as conscientious believers and defenders of religious values, who, not on camera, curse these same Muslims with “blackness” and “ridiculous”.
It is not difficult to debunk this fake, because it contains the main components of the production, namely:
lack of faces in the frame;
the use of russian words in the Ukrainian language (in particular, one of the participants in the video says: “Guys, can’t you light a ‘’bonfore?”, referring to a bonfire);
theatricality of the actions in the video;
russian propaganda through its own media network, as well as with the help of pseudo-experts from the Muslim world, actively spread this fake to the international Muslim audience, in particular to Turkey.
According to Taras Dzyuba, a specialist in the Office of Communications of the Office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine:
“the russians had 2 goals in spreading these fake videos. First, Turkish and other communities of the world have already reacted to the provocation. That is, the russians purposefully spread these videos in those countries where Islam is the main religion.
The second goal of this information and psychological operation of the kremlin is to influence its own population.
There are also many Muslims in russia. The russian authorities are especially interested in the Caucasian regions, where they are recruiting soldiers who at least don’t drink.”
Another provocation aimed at discrediting the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Ukraine as a whole before the Muslim world was a video recording of a tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fighting near the destroyed, as it was established, the United Islamic Cultural Center in the city of Bakhmut. The video recording is accompanied by a manipulative text:
“Battles in Bakhmut: A tank of the Ukrainian Armed Forces hid behind a mosque and opened fire. In this way, Ukrainian terrorists operate everywhere, taking cover in houses and even churches and mosques that are holy for believers.”
On May 15, 2022, the Muslim center was damaged by russian shelling. According to the head of the Muslim community in Bakhmut, russian shells hit the roof and courtyard of the mosque, causing considerable damage to the building.
Despite the damage, the Muslim center has become a refuge for Ukrainian servicemen who practice Islam.
So, on December 9, 2022, a group of ten Muslim soldiers defending Ukraine in various units prayed to Allah in the Bakhmut mosque.
The center confirms the authenticity of the video, in which a tank with markings of the Armed Forces of Ukraine opens fire at the advancing enemy near the Muslim center in Bakhmut. At the same time, the Center draws attention to the fact that the destruction of the unfinished Muslim center is caused by shelling carried out by the russian Armed Forces, who are trying to capture the territory as a result of their offensive actions.
Given the overwhelming enemy forces and the destruction of significant infrastructure in the city of Bakhmut, the Center believes that the use of the Muslim center as a shelter was not a deliberate action, but rather a tactical necessity. Therefore, widespread manipulative messages in russian Telegram channels, allegedly “a Ukrainian tank is covering itself with a Muslim mosque, using it as a shield”, are unfounded and far-fetched.
As we can see, even after the refutation of this fake, due to its mass distribution and resonance, we have to admit that the enemy achieved some success in this provocation. In the future, this may be reflected in the positive mobilization of russians who practice Islam. After all, they are in a certain information bubble and are aware of the reality already in Ukraine, most often on the battlefield or, if they are lucky, in captivity.
Conclusion
The enemy’s disinformation campaigns are becoming increasingly large-scale, and russian propagandists are learning from their own mistakes. Constant mocking of primitive fakes by Ukrainians helps them not to make similar mistakes in the future. However, it is worth noting that Ukrainians also develop critical thinking every day and have learned to detect even high-quality kremlin fakes.
All the enemy campaigns listed in this article are united by a common denominator. russia is trying to create the following contrasts in people’s perception with the help of information influence techniques:
Ukraine is a godless state, it oppresses its own faith and mocks other religions, for which it should be punished;
russia is a friend of Muslims and protects Islamic values;
Muslims of the world must fight against godless Ukraine side by side with russia.
Enemy media also broadcast the narrative that the war has shown the true face of Ukrainians and the conflict is turning into a “holy war of good and evil.”
In fact, the main goal of the kremlin is the banal increase in mobilization and provocation of Muslim believers.
The national policy of the kremlin is focused on the transformation of national republics and places of compact residence of the indigenous peoples of russia into socially backward regions, where local youth are saved from poverty by signing contracts with the armed forces of the russian federation.
There is a traditionally high level of unemployment in the areas of compact residence of national minorities, lack of employment prospects in large cities.
Discrimination on the basis of nationality, numerous manifestations of xenophobia are the main motive for the conclusion of military contracts by youth with a non-Slavic appearance.
So, the Kremlin authorities are deliberately exterminating their small ethnic groups in Ukraine, hoping that this will provide an opportunity to declare the solution of the “great historical task” of creating a “united Russian people.”
That is why this whole farce in the midst of Ramadan can be called a big disinformation campaign that incites Muslims all over the world against Ukraine, and the Kremlin is a creature that drinks the blood of its national minorities and dances on their bones to satisfy Putin’s imperial ambitions.
