RF is preparing a new disinformation campaign about prisoners of war

Russia is preparing a new disinformation campaign around the topic of prisoners of war in order to show that it allegedly treats Ukrainian captives better than Ukraine treats Russian ones. The Kremlin has already allocated resources for media efforts and is relocating Ukrainian prisoners to more comfortable conditions specifically for shooting propaganda stories. These materials are to be distributed primarily to Western audiences. Separately, Moscow plans to involve Russians who were returned from captivity to spread falsehoods about conditions of detention in Ukraine.

The head of the Center for Countering Disinformation, an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Kovalenko, spoke about the preparation of the campaign. According to him, the Russians are deliberately preparing an information product for export abroad.

"Resources have been allocated for media campaigns; Ukrainian prisoners are being moved to more comfortable conditions for shooting relevant media plots, which are intended to be spread to the Western audience. Russia also plans to use Russians who were returned from captivity to spread lies about the conditions of detention in Ukraine," Kovalenko said.

Kovalenko stressed that propaganda and lies remain Russia's usual tools in the war and in discrediting Ukraine. He reminded that Ukraine has repeatedly openly shown the conditions of detention of Russian prisoners, including the quality of food.

"Propaganda and lies remain tools in the war and in discrediting. Ukraine has repeatedly openly demonstrated the conditions under which Russian prisoners are kept and the quality of food. But the Russians will continue to try to lie and blur reality," summarized the head of the CPD.

What the Kremlin is aiming for with this new wave of fakes

The campaign's goal is to influence Western audiences' perception of the war and to downplay the real accusations of cruelty in treatment of Ukrainian captives. The demonstrative "comfortization" of detention conditions in front of cameras is intended to create a picture opposite to the documented cases of torture and abuse in Russian captivity.

How Ukraine has already debunked the fakes about prisoners

Earlier, Informator reported that the Kremlin continues to spread misleading statements about events in Ukraine, and Russian propaganda is again awaiting the "collapse of Ukraine," counting on an internal upheaval due to a lack of victories at the front.

We also wrote that Russia systematically lies about prisoners of war, and the ombudsperson spoke about access of international observers to places of detention of prisoners. He also explained the mechanisms by which Ukraine refutes Russian fakes.