Top-PsyOps of the Week (18.05. – 24.05.2026): how 'debts' were counted in Kharkiv and how 'Swan Lake' was played in Beijing

At this exact moment, two Ukrainian women with suitcases walk past his office in Düsseldorf. One of them stops, hears this, sighs, and says: — Mr. Lawyer, what Indians? My godmother and I are just returning to Bohodukhiv for the weekend—we need to jar some cucumbers and weed the zucchini. But don't you worry, from Monday we are yours again: we'll come to renew our German papers because the holidays at home are over!

The publication Business Insider published an analytical review of migration processes in the world based on the recent report of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). According to these data, for 2025, the net migration gain in Ukraine amounted to about 1.7 million people—meaning exactly that many Ukrainians have already returned home.

This information instantly generated a chain of manipulations in the internet space. A striking example was a post by one of the talented creators of digital content, a lawyer who is currently practicing in Germany. Through mocking irony that well-known channels were allegedly "hacked," he raises the question: could the news about the return of 1.7 million Ukrainians be a deceitful "lure by the Cabinet of Ministers"? To confirm this, the author divides the amount of aid announced by one of the former government officials by the number of evacuees and claims that people are given only "98 hryvnias of allowance." Instead, he convinces that Ukrainians are now massively and systematically returning to live in Belarus, and urges not to believe official Ukrainian sources.

It seemed so strange, especially regarding Belarus, that your columnist decided to look into this news and the figure of 1,700,000 of those who returned.

Fake No. 1–3 (IOM Statistics & Belarus): The author debunks the lawyer’s claims, explaining that the 1.7 million figure comes from verified international mathematical models by the IOM, backed by Ukrainian border control dynamics. The "98 UAH allowance" is an absurd miscalculation; Ukraine runs targeted reintegration programs (up to 50,000 UAH for youth, millions in business grants, and UN-led AVRR financial aid). The claim about mass relocation to Belarus is a myth—only 7,000 Ukrainians are officially registered there, while Belarus itself suffers from negative net migration. The motivation behind such posts is either pro-Russian propaganda to legitimize Lukashenko or the economic egoism of diaspora consultants afraid of losing clients.

The section analyzes the informational attack regarding Kharkiv's alleged "catastrophic municipal debts." Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov clarified that the city has no current corporate debts. The cited 8.5–8.7 billion UAH is cumulative historical debt of the local population since 2010. It is inhumane to demand these funds from people whose homes were destroyed. The real deficit stems from the state's failure to compensate for tariff differences. The narrative was pushed by Russian PsyOps and certain domestic politicians to provoke a conflict between local mayors and the central government.

Russian media attempted to derail a strategic contract for a missile fuel plant in Denmark built by the Ukrainian company Fire Point. Pro-Russian channels weaponized local tabloid sensationalism to fabricate a "corruption scandal" and claim the project was halted. In reality, Danish ministries and journalists confirmed that construction near the Skrydstrup airbase is fully active, aiming for a 2026 launch, and no anti-corruption probes exist.

The text breaks down the musical repertoire played by the PLA military band during Putin's visit to China. As analyzed by entrepreneur Eduard Rubin, the tracks (Polovtsian Dances, The Tale of the Kalendar Prince, Dance of the Little Swans) served as a calculated Confucian humiliation, framing Russia as a weak, dependent vassal begging for resources. Furthermore, the painting gifted to Putin by Xi Jinping is criticized as a cheap, poorly photoshopped print made from press photos rather than a genuine artwork, visually placing Xi in the foreground and pushing Putin to the background to signify his lower status.

The review concludes with a Rakuten Viber poll of 15,000 Ukrainians. It reveals that 29% faced account hacking attempts, and 52% know someone who did. Shockingly, 38% still use no data protection tools, underscoring the vital need for both digital and media hygiene.

Read more in the Ukrainian edition....