Russian fake news: Ukrainians allegedly disconnected from public utilities for not appearing in military commissariat

Russian propagandists continue an information campaign targeting mobilization efforts in Ukraine. Recently, Z-oriented Telegram channels have spread a photograph of the announcement, which was allegedly received by local residents in the city of Rivne. According to the document, a house situated on 48 Stepana Bandery Street will be disconnected from public utility services, allegedly due to the fact that many of house residents “did not appear in a military commissariat with draft notices”. In order to resolve this situation, all men from that building were invited to visit a military commissariat within the next three days at the following address: 4 Hrybnyka Street. The announcement was allegedly issued by Rivne Regional State Administration.

This is another Russian fake news story. When fabricating it, Russian propagandists made a number of grammar mistakes. In particular, the Ukrainian word ‘viiskkomat’ should be spelled with a double ‘K’, as it is an abbreviated form of ‘viiskovyi komisariat’ [military commissariat]. Meanwhile, Russian propagandists used two spelling variants in the so-called ‘announcement’. They also wrote ‘z povistkoiu’ [with a draft notice] instead of ‘za povistkoiu’ [under a draft notice], which is a mistake.

In addition, there are no military commissariats in Ukraine at the moment. In 2022, they were fully reorganized into territorial recruitment and social support centers.

Moreover, in the Rivne region, there is no territorial recruitment and social support center situated on 4 Hrybnyka Street. Most likely, the authors of the fake story simply mixed up the name of the street. Rivne-based territorial recruitment and social support center is situated at the following address: 4 Hrabnyk Street, Rivne.

In a commentary to Ukrinform, the representative of Rivne Regional State Administration confirmed that the above ‘announcement’ was another fake story.

By spreading fake narratives, Russian propagandists pursue two objectives at once. Firstly, they make attempts to sow panic within Ukraine against the background of the adoption of a decision on the draft bill on mobilization.

Secondly, they try to discredit Ukraine’s military and political leadership before international partners, as if the Ukrainian authorities were conscripting citizens against the law, allegedly shutting them out even in routine matters.

Undoubtedly, Ukraine’s mobilization efforts are one of the most popular topic among Russian ‘fake-makers’. In the latest fake stories, territorial recruitment and social support centers became especially popular.

In particular, in late 2023, Russian propagandists produced a fake news story about military summons being sent through the Diia app in the Zhytomyr region.

Dmytro Badrak