Last week Russian propaganda was quite productive in fake news and disinformation regarding Kherson and the Kherson region. “Indians” in the Kherson steppes, criminal prosecutions over Russian rubles and bathhouses that do not exist. What else Russian propagandists lied about – you will learn from our material.
Kherson “Indians”
One of the key topics for enemy media over the past few weeks has been migrants from eastern countries who allegedly are relocating to Ukraine en masse. Citizens of India and Pakistan have become a real horror story. They allegedly impose their traditions on the local population, take jobs and destroy families while Ukrainian men fight at the front. Propaganda media from the left bank of Kherson region did not skip this topic either. How the Russians scare Kherson residents with “Indians” and what collaborator Volodymyr Saldo has to do with it – read in our article.
“So, residents of Ethiopia, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh have in fact begun to be ‘brought’ to Ukraine en masse, most likely for a rapid entry into the European Union. However, who needs the EU in a country at war with hundreds of thousands of ‘illegals’ – now a big question. But wasn’t the Maidan for that, right?”, – were the first to manipulate this topical issue the authors of the Telegram channel “Free Kherson”.
Later a thematically similar channel “Podpolye Kherson” spread AI-generated photos, including one in which an alleged citizen of India helps the TCC with the mobilization of Ukrainian men.
The topic drew the most interest from an information cesspit called “Kherson ZH”. Here, in addition to the usual narratives, enemy propagandists even invented big “true” stories about the lives of Indian citizens in Ukraine: “I read about a guy from Punjab. He signed up to build bridges. He arrived. But the bridge turned out to be somewhere near Kharkiv. And they are building it not like that, but for military needs. Shelling every day. The guy complains, like, I’m not a soldier, I’m a bricklayer, what the hell am I doing here under fire? But he can’t leave, his passport is with the foreman. For breaking the contract a fine, like for 500 heads of sacred cows. And there are hundreds of such stories”.
By the way, photos and videos created by artificial intelligence have indeed begun to appear on the Internet, showing happy citizens of India allegedly photographed against the backdrop of stelae with the names of settlements of the Kherson region. These publications are mostly spread by Ukrainians themselves, probably thus ironically mocking the absurd Russian lies.
As for the expansion of migrants into Ukraine overall – that’s also a myth. Yes, in 2022 Ukraine issued 3.1 thousand residence permits to foreigners and stateless persons for temporary residence in Ukraine in connection with employment. This is the total figure, which includes newly issued permits and renewals. In 2023 there were 2.7 thousand such permits issued, in 2024 — 3.8 thousand permits, in 2025 — 4,975 permits, and in the first 4 months of 2026 — 1,733 permits. So the figures are minimal.
And now the most interesting part: mass migration of Indian citizens to Kherson region really can happen, or is already happening, albeit on its occupied part. The thing is that at the end of 2025 the so-called “governor” of the left bank of the region Volodymyr Saldo met with representatives of the business elites of the mentioned state. He noted that “he is ready to consider attracting labor migrants to strengthen agriculture provided that all details are carefully worked out.” That is, the collaborator effectively invited Indians to move to the part of the region controlled by the Russians.
So, the scare stories about “crowds of Indians” allegedly traveling en masse to Ukraine turned out to be another Russian fake. Propagandists frighten people with fabricated stories, AI images and manipulations, although the real migration figures remain negligible. The irony is that while Russian media shout about “settling Ukraine with migrants”, collaborator Saldo is actually calling Indian workers to the occupied part of Kherson region.
Jail for rubles
According to Kremlin media, in Kherson one can be suspected of collaborationist activity and arrested simply for carrying Russian currency in one’s wallet. Of course, these reports are fake. Moreover, enemy propagandists did not invent anything better than to illustrate this nonsense with a photo from two years ago.
The backstory of this fake began with a publication on one of the Ukrainian outlets of a video supposedly shot in a Kherson supermarket. It shows a woman who “flashed” Russian rubles in her wallet.
Enemy propaganda immediately picked up this video, stating that “Kherson residents are waiting for the RF” and “rubles continue to circulate in Kherson”. Then – more. The Russians, based on these publications, invented a story that the woman had already been arrested by the SBU and accused of collaborationist activity.
“A video went viral online: in Kherson one of the shoppers filmed a woman whose wallet contained 5,000 Russian rubles. The SBU’s reaction was instantaneous. For this “offense” the henchmen of the Kyiv junta, breaking down the door, burst into her house and arrested her. She was notified of suspicion of collaborationism”, – claim the authors of the Telegram channel “Free Kherson”.
The Russian side tries to back up its claims with a photo of SBU officers together with the detainee, whom they call the “owner of Russian currency”. However, this shot is dated 2024. It indeed shows a collaborator who cooperated with the occupation “administration” locally, but she has nothing to do with the supermarket incident.
We also failed to find any official information from the Security Service of Ukraine regarding this “case”. Moreover, carrying foreign currency, even Russian, in a wallet is not considered a crime in our country. So the Russian liars disgraced themselves again.
The bathhouse that does not exist
As a bonus – we’ll tell you about a bathhouse. And not just any bathhouse, but the one next to which Ukrainian cars are burning. According to the Russians, their mythical partisans burned an Armed Forces vehicle near the bathhouse in the village of Velyka Oleksandrivka.
“Partisans of the movement “Russky Kherson” continue sabotages in the rear of the Western Ukrainian Nazis, who were massively brought to our region. In Velyka Oleksandrivka, while AFU soldiers were relaxing in the bathhouse with local women, our agents burned their pickup to a crisp (pity it wasn’t with them)”, – the Russians say.
The whole story, of course, does not sound very plausible. One small detail forced us to be skeptical – there is no bathhouse in Velyka Oleksandrivka. We could not find it even among online listings. So we contacted local residents, who also confirmed its absence.
By the way, if there really is a bathhouse or sauna in Velyka Oleksandrivka – write to us in the comments.
Thus Russian propaganda continues to churn out fakes about the Kherson region – from invented “crowds of Indians” to arrests for rubles and sabotage that do not exist. All these stories are built on manipulations, old photos, AI-generated images, and outright fabrications. The main goal of such disinformation is to sow fear, distrust and create the illusion of chaos in the region.