Russian propaganda has not given up attempts to sow panic among Kherson residents and discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Last week the occupiers simultaneously “closed” ATB stores in the city, accused Ukrainian troops of using civilians to deliver ammunition, and claimed there were robots allegedly mining Kherson streets. We checked whether these narratives correspond to reality.
Closure of “ATB” in Kherson
One of the main tasks of Russian propaganda is to provoke panic among the population of the liberated communities of Kherson region. The occupiers day after day produce horror stories that the regional center “will not survive” the winter and that Kherson is on the verge of famine. Recently new narratives have appeared in the information space: allegedly the ATB supermarket chain is closing in the city. After company representatives debunked this fake, hostile media “took offense” and began to pour out threats.
“ATB is leaving Kherson as of September 20. Why did the Ukrainians decide that if they mock our bank, they themselves will be able to live in peace?” – published on August 29, of course, the “verified” information of the Telegram channel “From Mariupol to the Carpathians”.
Rumors began to spread around the city, so the network’s representatives made the right decision and refuted these narratives at the official level.
“The information being circulated about the alleged complete cessation of operations of ATB stores in Kherson is not true. The closure of individual stores in the city is exclusively related to the security situation. This concerns retail outlets that were affected by enemy shelling, were destroyed or suffered significant damage that makes their further full and safe operation impossible,” the company stated.
The ATB statement caused an “information explosion” on pro-Russian Telegram channels. Their authors “took offense” at the refutation of their lie and began issuing outright threats. On the mentioned channel “From Mariupol to the Carpathians” they promised to destroy all supermarkets in the city by September 20, because, of course, they are “dual-purpose facilities”.
But the most amusing are the Russians’ justifications from the channel “Ukraina.ru”. They claim that the ATB chain is misleading Kherson residents and has already ordered its employees to close supermarkets within five days. The “masters of words” even used literary devices to reinforce their text, including metaphors, and stated: “The management of ATB immediately rushed to convulsively refute the total result, but you can’t hide a needle in a sack.” However, this hot air became a poor excuse for the fact that the Russians simply lied once again.
By the way, narratives about closures are not the first fakes the occupiers have spread about ATB in Kherson. For example, in early August this year a Russian drone attacked a network truck, blaming the company’s owners for it. According to the Russians’ conspiracy theory, ATB representatives were involved in the drone strike, because in this way the Ukrainians allegedly intend to justify the closure of these stores in the regional center. As we can see, all these statements turned out to be clumsy fabrications.
UPD: As of September 6, one ATB in a Kherson residential district is known to have closed. The supermarket was recently attacked by Russian drones, so that was likely the one the network meant when referring to stores that “suffered from shelling.” Other supermarkets in the city continue to operate as usual.
The AFU force Kherson residents to bring them ammunition to their positions
The main task of the so-called Russian “journalists” remains by no means objective coverage of information. They try to provoke emotions in their readers, mostly negative ones. To do this they produce absurd fakes and narratives that, among other things, are intended to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For example, the occupiers spread information that Ukrainian troops force Kherson residents to deliver UAVs, ammunition and essential items to their positions. This decision is allegedly caused by the fact that Russian “drone operators” do not strike civilians. But the situation in Kherson proves the opposite.
“The AFU use the civilian population for their purposes on the right bank of the Dnipro, in Kherson. Peaceful residents periodically carry large backpacks, bring UAVs, food and water. Men and women on carts and bicycles deliver heavy bags to houses on the front line in Kherson, where the control points of Ukrainian UAV teams are located,” the Russians say.
As proof of their words, TASS refers to interlocutors in “security structures.” How exactly do the AFU “force” civilians to deliver them ammunition? According to the propagandists, Ukrainian troops allegedly threaten Kherson residents with “physical violence.” A dubious argument, but remember: this is about emotions, not facts.
The claim that the Russian army does not attack the civilian population is also nonsense. It is mostly civilians who suffer from the occupiers’ actions in Kherson. Some hostile resources do not conceal this and even, on the contrary, boast about their strikes. For example, the authors of the channel “From Mariupol to the Carpathians” state that operators of Russian UAVs hit people in civilian clothes, women and cyclists, considering them “disguised” soldiers.
So TASS’s “sources” are absolutely unfamiliar with the situation in the city, yet at the same time allow themselves to make accusations against the AFU. The purpose of such information “feeds” is to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since Kherson residents know very well who their enemy really is.
Ukrainian robots are mining Kherson streets
Also last week the Russians allegedly spotted robots mining the roads and sidewalks of the regional center. They claim one of them was even destroyed by the “liberators” using an attack drone. However, the occupiers provided neither photos nor videos of the robot’s destruction, so these claims raise serious doubts. Ironically, the “verified information” was relayed to hostile media by a Russian serviceman with the call sign “Whisky”.
“A unit of unmanned systems of the 18th Army ‘Dnepr’, while conducting a reconnaissance flight over Korabel Island in Kherson, detected a Ukrainian ground robotic complex that was engaged in reconnaissance of the area and placing mines on city streets and sidewalks. As a result of a drop, the Ukrainian robot was destroyed,” says “Whisky”.
And this is not science fiction. The Armed Forces of Ukraine do indeed use remotely controlled or autonomous ground platforms for military and logistical tasks in the combat zone. Only they have not yet been observed in Kherson. Usually the Russians film the results of their strikes. The destruction or at least the remains of a “Ukrainian robot” would make the basis for a fine propaganda video. However, we were unable to find any such footage in any of the sources.