Last week Russian propagandists got so carried away producing fakes and disinformation about Kherson and Kherson region that they even didn’t bother to create a digital copy of Oleksandr Prokudin. However, it turned out so poorly that we are even a little embarrassed for them. In addition, the occupiers, as usual, “forcibly crossed the Dnipro” in an unusual way and found mined children’s toys on the left bank. Details in our traditional weekly roundup.
Fake Prokudin
“Ukrainian forces are leaving the right bank of Kherson region and withdrawing from the regional center,” a man very similar to the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration said in a video posted by Russian propagandists on Telegram on September 8. The address by Oleksandr Prokudin was allegedly recorded a few days earlier and was to be made public after the Armed Forces of Ukraine received orders to leave Kherson Oblast. Only it turned out that the footage does not show Prokudin himself, but his digital double, because the clip was generated using artificial intelligence.
“Dear residents of Kherson region. As the head of the Regional Military Administration, I address you with important information. The President has agreed to cede the right bank of the region, opening the way to peace. The withdrawal of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to adjacent regions has begun to minimize the risks from the introduction of Russian troops!” the pseudo-Prokudin stated.
The video supposedly reached the Russians from their “supporters among the employees of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, who hate their leadership and, hiding, are awaiting Russia’s return to the right bank of Kherson Oblast.” According to the occupiers, the recording was prepared in advance and after receiving a “special command from Kyiv” it was to be published. Only this is an outright forgery.
You don’t need to be an expert to notice that the movements of Prokudin’s digital double in the video are not synchronized with the sound. Simply put – his lips do not match the words. The clip itself is an edit of several looped fragments created using artificial intelligence. The voice of the fake head of the Regional Military Administration was also generated by a computer, so it sounds unnatural.
As for the context, it is hard to imagine that the Ukrainian authorities could agree to withdraw the Armed Forces from the right bank of Kherson region. For the third year the Russians, with heavy losses, have been trying to regain the islands below the regional center, so no one is going to give them such gifts. In turn, the “surrender” of Kherson, which the occupiers so dream of, would open them a direct route to Mykolaiv and Odesa, which, of course, is not part of Ukrainian plans.
And one more absurd claim by the occupiers: it turns out Prokudin agreed to record the video because he hopes that the Russians will “forgive” him afterwards.
“The governor obediently and quickly complied. Probably because he hopes for the mercy of Russia, which, he thinks, will forgive him for organizing the withdrawal of the Banderites and Nazis from Kherson region without any tricks,” the Russians concluded their fake video.
Mined toys and books
Russia has stepped up information attacks against the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Propaganda outlets are spreading another fake, accusing Ukrainian servicemen of allegedly violating international humanitarian law. This time Kremlin media claimed that the AFU are mining household items on the left bank of Kherson region — from books and juice cartons to children’s toys. As “evidence” they show photos that, as it turned out, were taken in different places and at different times and have no relation to the region. Thus, Russian propaganda once again attempts to discredit Ukrainian servicemen by resorting to blatant manipulation and lies.
“The Nazis on the Kherson direction openly admit on social networks that they use remote mining, moreover they use mines disguised as everyday items — things that ordinary people or children might pick up,” the occupiers report.
Let’s analyze the “photo evidence” of these imaginary crimes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine that the Russians cite on their information resources. We have three photos that were allegedly taken on the left bank of Kherson region. For example, the photo of a “mined” children’s toy was taken in Kursk region of the Russian Federation and is part of a lie about violations by the AFU of the rules of warfare on Russian territory itself.
The photo of the chocolate bar “stuffed with explosives” appeared online as early as January 2024. The place of filming is not specified. We found the original recording from which the screenshot was later taken. The video is staged and functions as a certain “educational” material for Russian servicemen. Of course, it has nothing to do with Kherson region.
The situation with the “mined” book is even more paradoxical. The photo that, according to the Russians, was taken recently on the left bank of Kherson region first appeared online 11 years ago. According to Ukrainian sources, such “gifts” were left by militants of the so‑called “LPR/DPR.”
So, as we can see, claims about remote mining of items by Ukrainian troops on the left bank of Kherson region are another Russian fake. Besides, it is unclear how this could even be physically possible.
“They ‘captured’ the Antonivskyi bridge, but not there”
Several Russian sources on September 12 published information that the Russian army “took” control of the railway bridge in the area of the settlement of Antonivka, which is on the right bank of Kherson region. The Russians allegedly “stormed” the facility for a long time, and achieved success thanks to… a gas pipe.
“Servicemen of the Russian army carried out a complex combat operation to liberate the Antonivskyi railway bridge in Kherson region. The fighters trained for two weeks to repeat a successful operation near Sudzha. According to descriptions from a serviceman, Russian scouts made their way inside the structure, eliminated the enemy on the positions, tore down the AFU flag and raised the state flag of Russia over the crossing,” the Russians claim. –
And it’s not even that the landing, or rather the “pipe-crossing”, of the occupiers to the right bank of the Dnipro is a fake they have been spreading since 2022. The authors from the “Orthodox” Russian publication “Tsargrad” are so incompetent on Ukraine issues that in the text of the article they called Kherson Oblast Kharkiv. We quote directly:
“Our servicemen from the 127th brigade of the 18th combined arms army of the ‘Dnipro’ group of forces prepared and conducted a complex operation in KHARKIV REGION, taking the Antonivskyi railway bridge under their tight control. The combat mission can be compared to what they carried out in Kursk region under the code name ‘Potok’,” — that’s the “level of journalism” we still have to grow into.
As for the “assault along the pipe”, the propagandists provide no evidence for this aside from their own words. In general this theme is traditional for Russian fakes and the occupiers have been “liberating” Kherson using the gas pipeline for several years. For example, on August 9, 2025 they promised to cross to the right bank via the pipe in the area of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant.
It should be noted that fierce fighting is indeed taking place in the area of the Antonivskyi railway bridge, and in this location the Russians do dream of fording the Dnipro, though by a more traditional method. The Southern Defense Forces of Ukraine report that on September 12 on the Prydniprovskyi direction the enemy twice unsuccessfully stormed the positions of our defenders near the named bridge, but, as always, suffered failure.
This material was prepared as part of a project supported by the NGO Institute of Mass Information and CzechAid