Last week, Russian propagandists media rejoiced at the Russian army's advances at Soledar and put forward demands for Ukraine to stop fighting and crawl to the negotiating table. They also spread ridiculous fakes about Ukraine's preparations to use chemical weapons. Russians claim that sanctions are not working. In addition to that, Russian media keep saying that Washington has got the EU, which has become completely dependent on American energy, under its heel. Surprisingly, some domestic problems finally broke to the surface – in particular, shortages of certain medicines in Russia were reported. However, while explaining the reasons, the propagandists manipulated the facts to convince the audience that the shortages had nothing to do with the war in Ukraine. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

The only way to get a peace guarantee is to land American Tomahawks on Russia’s airbase for strategic aviation.Authors: Editorial Ukraine is getting Patriot air and missile defence systems. One from the US and another one from Germany. We could bargain, of course, asking for more – at least two or three from each country. But it doesn’t really matter how many systems we eventually get. We will receive other military support, including different defence systems; although not many, again, we’ll be able to protect civilian critical national infrastructure. It has not been protected yet, as evident from Russia’s latest missile strike on Ukraine, when a rocket destroyed a turbine at one of the thermal power stations, putting it out of use for a very long time.Read this article in Ukrainian

The continuing supplies of weapons to Ukraine, which are soon to include Western tanks, have been causing growing concerns on Russian media. Russia is losing grip over the Caucasus and Central Asia, but is too proud to admit it. To save face, its propagandists are putting all the blame on “the machinations of the West”. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

“First, they pulled the nail off my little finger. Then my middle finger. The second time was not as painful as the first time. The pain was so immense I didn’t know what hurt more: when they were making a meat chop out of me with the rifle butt or when I stopped feeling my hands. They tortured me with an electric current. They called this ‘electrophoresis’ or ‘a phone call to Zelenskyi’,” says Oksana Minenko from Kherson. Her story is an account of the horrific crimes committed by the Russian occupiers in Ukraine. Oksana is 43 years old. For the past four years, she was happily married to 37-year-old Oleksiy Khvostyk, a lieutenant of the National Guard of Ukraine.Translated by Tetiana SykesRead this article in Ukrainian

The Intercept news outlet, which specializes in investigations, discovered evidence of cooperation between Russia and China in the field of propaganda. Leaked correspondence from the Russian State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK) reveals that government officials and media executives from Russia and China discussed the exchange of news and social content as early as 2021. TEXTY publishes the main excerpts of the investigation. These documents are also available in the Aleph database that provides access to leaked correspondence of Russian officials.Read this article in Ukrainian

Russians are desperately trying to hide their concerns about Ukraine’s rearmament behind fake optimism. While seeking international support for their aggression, they keep fueling internal conflicts in Ukraine by calling its people to rise against the government and dishing dirt on both Zelenskyy and Zaluzhnyi. This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.

TEXTS spoke with a soldier who is currently fighting in a frozen trench in eastern Ukraine. The military asked not to be named.Translated by Dmitry Lytov & Mike Lytov.Read this article in Ukrainian

There are many parallels between the history of Ukraine and Kazakhstan. In particular, both countries were once Soviet republics and both have been going through a painful process of decolonization in recent years. The sooner they both go through this path, the sooner they can move on.As the Kazakh academic Aynash Mustoyapova notes, there are two important things that our peoples should realize in order to achieve a new interpretation of history.We published the abstracts of her speech on the YouTube channel of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies.You can subscribe to the channel about Ukraine and the Middle East here (in Ukrainian)Translated by Dmitry Lytov & Mike LytovRead this article in Ukrainian

Last week’s publications on Russia media kept the focus on Russian army's battlefield success and swore that Russia would soon have hi-tech weapons no other country can match. They also painted a bright future for the Russian car industry (which is only as bright as the screen you are reading this from) and offered fake sympathy to Germans who have been allegedly fleeing to Russia for a cheap winter break. On top of it all, they came up with a story about an Islamic mufti who had been sent to Crimea by the SSU to destabilize the local religious communities.

The new sanctions which target Russia’s energy sector are making Russian economy suffer. With no battlefield success to report, Russian propagandists have been gloating about the discomfort caused by the recent blackouts in Ukraine and once again attempting to sow the seeds of discord among the Ukrainian people.This monitoring report covers these and other topics of the disinformation spread by Russian state media and online parajournalists to manipulate public opinion.