We continue to refute disinformation spread by Russian propagandists online. This week the occupants, as always, lied about the situation in the captured cities of the Luhansk region. This is our review.
Previous articles on the topic can be found by clicking on these links (October 1 - 9, October 10 - 16, October 17 - 23).
"Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed Popasna"
The “Lentab” website, which is controlled by the “LPR” terrorist group, wrote that one of the most destroyed towns of the Luhansk region — Popasna — will not be rebuilt. This is not new, since the occupiers hinted at this during summer. Now it is a ghost town which has been turned into a military base by Russians. The article claims that the Ukrainian military destroyed Popasna, which is not true at all.
For instance, on May 5, CNN published a 22-minute video shot by a surveillance drone over Popasna. As American journalists emphasize, “it has illustrated the stunning destruction being inflicted on settlements across the eastern regions of and Donetsk.
It’s also another insight into the importance of drones in modern warfare, as well as the Russian approach to combat and the last-ditch resistance of Ukrainian units.
The drone video shows that every property in the middle of the town is destroyed or damaged. Most appear to have been hit by Russian artillery or rocket fire”.
The fact that Popasna was destroyed by Russians is confirmed by the occupiers who fought in the Luhansk region themselves.
In an interview with the Telegram channel “Baza”, one of the Russian soldiers said that, in his opinion, Ukrainian cities should be burned to prevent losses among Russians.
In the same interview, the same soldier told how he, as a member of the Wagner group, killed a female resident of Popasna because he did not like the contents of her phone.
In general, the occupiers are constantly trying to shift the blame for the destruction of Popasna and other cities of the Luhansk region to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This is stated in almost every post in a couple of local Telegram channels.
Another “renovated” hospital
Propaganda websites continue to cover the “restoration of hospitals in the Luhansk region by specialists from Russia”. Earlier, the occupants “renovated” hospitals in Shchastya and Stanytsia Luhanska, but this week Markivka was “lucky”.
But there is a catch — as in previous cases, the repairs in the hospital were carried out before the recent Russian invasion.
According to the Luhansk regional military administration, the occupants are planning to “renovate” only those hospitals where Ukrainian authorities have already carried out expensive renovations and purchased modern equipment.
At the same time, the list does not include any destroyed hospitals in Lysychansk, Rubizhne, Popasna, Kreminna and Severodonetsk.
“The list of hospitals where the money will be invested does not include those that really need significant renovations, and not just money. In particular, in Lysychansk, Hirske, Popasna, Sievierodonetsk, Rubizhne, Kreminna.
No one wants to take patronage over the destroyed facilities. They will not be open by winter and not even by summer. There is nothing to boast about,” - noted the Luhansk regional military administration.
“Life is getting better”
The situation with communications is critical in the captured cities of the Luhansk region. None of them are ready for the cold weather. There is no heating, electricity, or gas in entire districts, and local apartments are uninhabitable.
This is how the house of some residents of Severodonetsk looks like from the inside:
However, this does not prevent propagandists from lying about the “rapid restoration” of cities by Russians and the “improvements” brought by the “Russian world”.
“Spotters are everywhere”
The occupants continue to abduct people in the Luhansk region. They are calling some of the civilians “spies” and “spotters”. On October 17, local channels reported that in the Starobilsk district Russians kidnapped a teenager Andriy Cherny and hid the details of his whereabouts from his relatives.
On October 28, a Russian-controlled media published a video where the frightened teenager was presented as an “UAF accomplice”. On camera, Andriy said that he was allegedly passing information about the movement of the Russian equipment to his brother, who is a Ukrainian soldier. Now the teenager is threatened with 20 years on bogus “treason” charges. This video has been spread all over the propaganda resources.
“Ukraine will remain without electricity”
This week the occupiers continued to spread misinformation about the situation with electricity in Ukraine.
The main Russian fake news were debunked by the Center for Countering Disinformation:
According to the Ministry of Energy, the combined heat and power stations (CHPs) and thermal power stations (TPPs) that were shelled by the enemy produce about 30% of electricity, the rest is produced by other energy sources. This amount is enough for Ukraine.
“The authorities are trying to hide the consequences of the war by introducing emergency shutdowns”.
Nuclear power stations cannot increase or decrease energy production in a short period of time. That is up to CHPPs and TPPs, and if they are damaged, a load failure occurs, which NPPs are not able to quickly compensate for. To restore the damaged power facilities, emergency shutdown schedules have been introduced.
“If the shelling of CHPPs and TPPs continues, the situation will become critical for Ukraine in winter”.
There is a risk of failure of the TPPs and CHPs’ pipeline systems during winter, but the number of air defense systems in Ukraine is growing. The EU countries are to provide Ukraine with generators, so do not panic and get ready for a hard winter.
