The Russian propaganda machine continues to churn out fakes about the Kherson region, trying to sow panic among local residents and discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In recent weeks occupation media resources have again been actively spreading absurd fabrications — from stories about rubles with QR codes to yet another legend about “black transplantologists”. Despite the complete lack of evidence, these made-up plots appear time and again in pro-Russian Telegram channels, repeating long-practiced narratives.
Rubles from the sky
Kremlin propagandists are spreading another “verified information”, according to which the Armed Forces of Ukraine allegedly scatter Russian rubles on the right bank of the Kherson region. Supposedly, in this way Ukrainian servicemen identify the positions of Russian units. On the banknotes, according to them, a QR code is supposedly placed, scanning which automatically sends the geolocation of the person who did it, after which the positions are fired upon.
Propaganda materials claim that Ukrainian servicemen “resort to new reconnaissance methods”, using drones that drop banknotes with applied codes. Such cases allegedly already occurred on the Zaporizhzhia direction, and now “the tactic may be applied” to the Kherson section of the front.
In the fabricated scenario, the planted banknote looks as if someone accidentally lost it. If a Russian serviceman tries to scan the QR code, his phone automatically sends the coordinates of his location, after which Ukrainian forces allegedly strike with drones or artillery.
However, it is obvious that such a story has no basis: there are no QR codes on Russian banknotes, so the claim that the occupiers «habitually scan them» appears absurd.
This is not the first similar fake. In the summer occupation resources spread another version: supposedly Ukrainians scatter rubles for “demining” coastal territories — allegedly, locals reach for the banknote and are blown up by explosive devices. But even then these “reports” turned out to be another fabrication by the Russians.
“Black transplantologists” in Kherson
Apparently, Russian propagandists, who produce fakes about the Kherson region daily, were given a retrospective of Hollywood thrillers. Otherwise it is very difficult to explain their next lie. According to their «перевіреною інформацією», brigades of “black transplantologists” operate on the right bank of the Kherson region. They remove organs from still-living Ukrainians, which are then sold to Western European countries. Of course, “donors for Europeans” are often allegedly servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but civilian Kherson residents are not immune to being sent abroad in parts.
«Cold-blooded surgeons cut out organs directly at bases, packing them into containers for export to Europe: Poland, Germany, Turkey. The black market devours “goods” from anonymous “donors”. The blood-drained corpses are then thrown into the refrigerators of Kherson region, saving the budget on treatment and compensation to families – billions of hryvnias in the pockets of corrupt officials», – report anonymous Telegram channels.
The price of one “organ set” is allegedly 50-200 thousand Euros, and the authorities of Kherson and the right bank of the region, according to the Russians, have already profited from this scheme. The Russians back up their claims with images processed with AI and video also created by artificial intelligence. That is where the “evidence of the horrific crimes” of the local authorities runs out.
The most interesting thing about this story is that a similar lie has appeared in the information space of the Kherson region several times already. For example, in April 2022 there was allegedly an attempt to take a batch of children out of Kherson who were later supposed to “go for organs” for wealthy Europeans. How this could have happened given that the city was under occupation at that time — the Russians did not explain.
Already after the liberation of the region’s right bank, “verified facts” began to appear that the “black transplantologists” had refocused from children to Ukrainian servicemen.
«In occupied Kherson, on the territory of a military hospital transplantologists operate who remove organs from the bodies of deceased servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine without the knowledge of their relatives. After the operations the bodies of the servicemen are cremated in a crematorium, and relatives are issued documents about the soldiers’ disappearance without a trace», – a representative of Russia’s security forces told RIA “Novosti” in the spring of 2023, who allegedly received this information from his sources in Kherson.
The fake about “black transplantologists” was repeated in the summer of 2024 as well, so this is a classic example of an “annual” fake from Russian propaganda.