«Disinformation, fakes, toxic news. Can you withstand it? It’s poisoning. An antidote is needed. Friday, 11:00. On the first wave of free Kherson the filter-show «Antidote». Your informational immunity». This jingle listeners of Kherson’s Radio X.ON hear weekly since September 2025. Radio host Kateryna Tsymbaliuk and correspondent of the «Center for Journalistic Investigations» Petro Kobernyk talk about fakes of Russian propaganda related to the Kherson region and refute them.
Russian propaganda – about the Kherson region
The establishment of a bridgehead not just on the right-bank part of the Kherson region, but in Kherson, in the Korabel neighborhood. «Liberation» of Kherson from «Ukrainian occupation» in the near future. An allegedly deadly road accident caused by TCK employees in which a cyclist died. Kateryna and Petro debunked this and many other pieces of false information in their program.
«The Russians didn’t even bother to film a staged video with allegedly dead people, TCK employees who supposedly killed these people. My colleagues and I analyzed every frame, every second of that video. And we found a bunch of inconsistencies. The bicycle the man was allegedly riding can only be bought in Russia… They (Russians, – MOST) say that it was on November 19 in Kyselivka, but at that time the village was rained on for two days, and in the video the road is dry. Our police ‘checked’ the license plate numbers of the ‘Ukrainian terrorists’ car. These numbers are registered in Henichesk district. That is, most likely, the video was shot somewhere on the territories of Kherson region occupied by Russia», – says Petro Kobernyk in one of the programs.
Kateryna Tsymbaliuk in the same program talks about one of the main components of Russian disinformation – creating content that would instantly affect the audience’s emotional sphere, preventing rational evaluation of what is heard or read.
«The first thing propagandists rely on, – says Kateryna, – is our emotions. So now Petro has gone and ‘bombarded’ you with facts. They didn’t really expect that. They count on us to perceive headlines emotionally, some sentences, something else that touches the painful aspects of our lives. They know our vulnerable spots and will press on them».
In more than ten episodes of the program Kateryna and Petro have debunked dozens of Russian fakes about the Kherson region, which were aimed at residents of the parts of the region temporarily occupied by Russia (TOT), and people in territory controlled by Ukraine.
The goal of the disinformation spread among residents of TOT of the Kherson region is discrediting, dehumanizing and demonizing Ukraine, forming the perception of it as «neo-Nazi». Disinformation aimed at residents of the right-bank part of Kherson region deoccupied in 2022 is spread with the goal of creating an atmosphere of fear there, uncertainty about the future and, most importantly, distrust of Ukraine.
«We help maintain information hygiene»
Kateryna Tsymbaliuk says that the idea of a project to debunk Russian propaganda fakes had been in the air for a long time, and it was pushed into realization by Kherson journalists who «infected» the radio people with their conviction of the need for such a program for the Kherson region.
The program – a volunteer project that has no funding.
«We can be heard not only on the right bank, but also on the left, on TOT. So the idea had to be implemented. We all see what happens on social networks, what feedback there is, what people fall for, how they react emotionally. We just need to help them cope with this informational onslaught. We call it – maintaining information hygiene, maintaining your informational health. Like any health, it requires care and some professional advice», – says Kateryna.
Latest episode of the Antidote program
The radio host admits that at first she doubted whether the people of Kherson would like or be interested in the program. Now, more than two months after the release of the first episode, Kateryna confidently says that the project «took off».
«There are responses. At first I thought that our audience would only be people who listen to the broadcast. But because we post the recording of the program on social networks, Telegram channel, people go there and listen. And then feedback appears. And that’s very pleasant. You understand that you are doing a useful thing. People receive practical advice. They hear which fakes are spreading, in what style Russian propagandists work. Listeners get a dose of positivity, because we try not to overload people, but to slightly shift their focus, even to entertain them a little», – says the host.
Journalist Petro Kobernyk became co-host of the filter-show «Antidote» at the invitation of Kateryna Tsymbaliuk. «Katya called and said: «I heard you are engaged in debunking Russian fakes. I’m also interested in this topic. Let’s do it together on the radio air. Don’t you want to try yourself as a co-host?» I say: «Let’s try». Although I hadn’t worked on radio before, I was more involved in video content. And so, as you see, it took off. People listen», – tells Petro.
Kateryna Tsymbaliuk believes that media professionals in all Ukrainian regions should make programs like «Antidote». «Russians spread fakes not only about Kherson. I think that shows like ours, maybe in a different format, with different emphases, should be in every region of Ukraine, because debunking Russian fakes is extremely important. We understand that both a physical war and an information war are being waged against us. And if in Kherson region the physical front line is the Dnipro River, then the territory where the information war is waged is much larger», – notes the media professional.
In Petro Kobernyk’s opinion, Ukraine’s victory in the information war with Russia will primarily be good mental health of our citizens. «Our mission is to help people keep their heads «cool», not polluted by Russian propaganda», – he says.
The authors and hosts of the filter-show «Antidote» on Radio X.ON believe that their project is here to stay, and are determined to debunk Russian propaganda fakes for however long there is a need.
Serhii Nikitenko, regional representative Institute of Mass Information in the Kherson region