A fake about the “TCC catching fugitives in Moldova” has been circulating in the Ukrainian information space for several days. Colleagues from the OBOR issued a brief rebuttal, which can be read at this link. However, the situation is a bit deeper and more multifaceted, so we are publishing a detailed analysis of the situation. Everything that follows is not in my colleagues’ material.
Thus, on April 10, the Tudor Șoilița account posted a video in which the author of the channel, who is apparently a politician from the banned pro-Russian party SOR Tudor Șoilița, allegedly meets Ukrainian police and military in Moldova, walking through the city of Ungheni, located on the border of Moldova and Romania.
When asked what they were doing in Moldova, the Ukrainians briefly answered “we are at a training session”. In the further part of the video, despite the clear answers of the Ukrainians, they spread conspiratorial calls to Moldovan citizens to “think about what is happening”, etc.
According to Noi, “Their presence quickly became a subject of discussion in the Moldovan parliament. At today’s session, on April 11, PSRM MPs demanded detailed explanations from the parliamentary majority and a meeting with Interior Minister Adrian Efros.”
On April 11, it was published that “From April 6 to 13, 2024, a specialized training course on combating illegal arms and explosives is being held at the Center of Excellence for Border Security, Ungheni, Mongolia. Ungheni, a specialized training course “Combating Illicit Trafficking in Weapons, Ammunition and Explosives” is being held. The course is organized by the FRONTEX Agency and Border Police trainers with the participation of representatives of border guard, police and customs authorities of Ukraine.”
On the same day, April 11, Anton Gura, who before the full-scale invasion was known for denying the existence of the coronavirus, and afterwards for distributing videos and posts calling for avoiding mobilization, brought this information to the Ukrainian information space.
With the help of our technical partners, who provide the ability to use artificial intelligence to track malicious narratives, we carefully tracked the spread of this fake news.
Please note how simultaneously, with a difference of 2-5 minutes, the alleged Ukrainian “human rights activist” and the Z-propagandists publish this information.
On April 11, this information was disseminated with the following comments:
- “Ukrainians, run away from Moldova, the TCC has gotten to you”
- “Ukraine is facing an international scandal”
At 20:59 on April 11, Ukrainian fugitive blogger Miroslav Oleshko published the same information with a different comment.
This is also massively spread on social media and picked up by other “human rights activists”.
On April 13, despite the existence of a denial in the material from the OBoz and explanations on Moldovan websites, this information was picked up by one of the channels of the Trukh network.
On April 13, this information, with a different comment, was also disseminated by an Armed Forces serviceman, Ihor Kryvoruchko, who apparently did not have the time or opportunity to understand the events.
Ukrainian police and TCC employees are “just walking around” in Moldova. It would be really cool and funny at the same time if they really went after the evaders. Then I will keep my fingers crossed that I will see them in Monaco as well
he said in his post
And this post is immediately shared in many Facebook groups, giving Russian disinformation a different color and increasing its spread.
Please note that Ihor Kryvoruchko’s post appears at 15:34, and is shared 14 minutes later, at 15:48. There are several such synchronous waves.
At the same time, while at the beginning this information was distributed mainly on Telegram, later Facebook /
There were two “waves” of spread.
Currently, fake news is spread with minimal effort.
To summarize, we would like to draw attention to the following:
- The source is a politician from the pro-Russian party SOR, which is banned in Moldova, who apparently knew about the time and place of the training with the participation of Ukrainian police and military (border guards). And I met them prepared.
- Despite the presence of a quick refutation, the disinformation was synchronized by those in Ukraine who call themselves human rights activists and distribute materials calling the mobilization illegal – and by outright Russian propagandists.
- After the information was published by a member of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it was used for mass distribution on Facebook.
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