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Anti-Russian Сonspiracy: Russia’s Ukrainian Grain Narratives

Ukrainian grain and Russia's blockade of Ukrainian ports have become one of the central themes for Russian propaganda since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The range of Russian narratives on this topic is vast: from statements that Russia is "not involved" in the shelling of Ukrainian grain storage facilities and grain export port infrastructure, to stories about a "global conspiracy" against Russia, which is "not allowed to trade" grain, stolen from temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories.

StopFake collected and analyzed the main Russian narratives about Ukrainian grain.

Odesa Missile Strike Fakes: “Ukrainians bomb themselves,”, “HIMARS hit Odesa” and “UN not condemning…

On July 24th Russia's Defense Ministry confirmed that Odesa was shelled by Russian armed forces. The information that a warehouse was hit with Harpoon missiles is likely untrue. The Ukrainian Military's press office said that Russian Kalibr cruise missiles damaged a pumping station. The types of explosions that rocked the port of Odesa do not indicate that an ammunition depot was struck. The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres explicitly condemned the strikes on the port. This attack took place less than 24 hours after Russia signed an agreement freeing up grain export from Ukrainian ports.

There’s no evidence that Ukraine’s president has a net worth of $596 million

There is no proof that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has a net worth of $596 million or receives a monthly income of $11 million.
Leaked financial documents showed Zelenskyy had several assets like real estate property and cars, but not enough to corroborate the claim made on Facebook.
A report by Forbes found the Ukrainian president's net worth was closer to $20 million to $30 million.

Our ruling
A Facebook post shared a screenshot from a website claiming to show Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's net worth as being $596 million while receiving a monthly income of $11 million and a salary of $780,000.

The website featured in the Facebook post offered no corroborating evidence for the claim.

Leaked financial documents showed Zelenskyy did have some assets, but nowhere near what's being claimed on the website and Facebook post.

A report by Forbes found his net worth to be much smaller, around $20 million to $30 million.

We rate this False.

Video from 2018 used in misleading post claiming Russian president recently arrived in South Africa

With Eastern Europe in turmoil following the invasion of Ukraine, a Facebook post shared hundreds of times claims Russian President Vladimir Putin is 'in South Africa'. The post includes a video broadcast showing Putin arriving in the country for alliance talks. However, this is misleading: the video was filmed in July 2018 ahead of the 10th summit of the BRICS group, which was hosted by South Africa.

Clip shows video game, not Ukrainian victory in Sievierodonetsk

But a video being shared on social media a few weeks later perhaps buoyed Ukraine's supporters. The description in the July 17 post said "Sievierodonetsk's air defenses shot down 55 Ka 52 helicopters."

Dozens of comments cheered on Ukraine, with Ukrainian flags and GIFs congratulating the country.

That's because anyone who watches the video can clearly see that the footage isn't authentic. It's a video game.

We rate claims of this footage's veracity False.

Video dates back to 2017 post about Estonian railway repairs, unrelated to EU sanctioning Russia

A video of a railway track being removed has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times after it circulated in posts that claim it shows Lithuania cutting off transit with a Russian exclave after the EU sanctioned certain goods in response to Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022. Although Lithuania did follow the EU sanctions in blocking certain goods to Kaliningrad, the video has been shared in a false context. It was uploaded in a 2017 post about railway repairs in Estonia, years before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Keyword searches found no official reports about Lithuania removing the railway track.

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