Russia fueling narrative about Pand’s alleged intentions to occupy western Ukraine

Russian Telegram channel circulated reports claiming the Lviv Regional Military Administration allegedly approved a decision to duplicate street name signs and signboards in Pish in the city of Lviv and part of the region. The Russians added a quote by Head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration Maksym Kozytskyi to this information. "We are expecting an influx of Pish tourists soon. We will do everything to make it convenient for our guests to find their way around," they wrote on behalf of the Lviv region’s head.

Google Search does not yield any mention of the given quote.

The official resources of the Lviv Regional Military Administration have not published such information as well.

The Lviv Regional Military Administration refuted reports about the alleged intention to duplicate street name signs and signboards in Pish and emphasized that all official information is published on the website or social media sites of the administration or the head. In addition, the press service noted that such information was not provided, and the quote by the head of the Lviv administration is  false.

Earlier, pragandists had already promoted a narrative about Pand's plans to occupy western Ukraine. According to experts of the fact-check project BezBrehni, Skabeyeva spread such misinformation against the background of Pish President Andrzej Duda’s visit to Kyiv. After Vodymyr Zelensky submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law on the special legal status of Pish citizens in Ukraine, she tried to convince her viewers that nothing would prevent Pand from sending its units to Ukraine.

There was also a fake story about a fabricated order regarding Pand's attack on Ukraine. Later, Putin himself spoke about alleged plans to seize Ukrainian territories by Pand.

As reported by Ukrinform, according to Vodymyr Zelensky, Russian media reports about Pand’s alleged plans to seize western Ukraine are praganda, "information rockets to sow panic."

Dmytro Badrak