Photos and videos of buildings of people taking refuge in underground subways in Ukraine have dominated social media – showing how Russia’s invasion of the country has ruined lives.
As the fighting continues for the third day in a row, information warfare has taken center stage in the fog of war, with unverified claims aimed at setting up favorable narratives.
One such story is about the ‘Ghost of Kiev’, a Ukrainian fighter pilot flying a MiG-29 that shot down six Russian Air Force Sukhoi-35s.
It was also backed by former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who put a picture of a fighter pilot in the cockpit, calling him the ‘Ghost of Kiev’, who has won over six Russian pilots.
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, , (@poroshenko) February 25, 2022
While most of these claims come from unofficial sources, a staggering figure of Russian deaths has been reported by Ukraine’s deputy defense minister. In a Facebook post, Hannah Mallier wrote that the Russian military had lost 2,800 soldiers in the first two days. He has since been widely cited on social media and news reports.
Since the start of the Russian military’s open large-scale offensive on the territory of Ukraine, the invaders have already lost about 2,800 military personnel, about 80 tanks and more than 500 armored vehicles, said Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hannah Malyer.
— MGGongdze (@MGongadze) February 26, 2022
Hannah Mallier claimed that in addition to the troops, Russia has lost 80 tanks, 10 aircraft, 7 helicopters and 516 armored vehicles.
Following her claims, The Kiev Independent reported on Russia’s losses, saying that 3,500 Russian soldiers were killed. The damage included 102 tanks, 536 armored vehicles and 14 fighter jets. The information has been given to the Ministry of Defense.
See our story for more on Russia’s losses so far:https://t.co/mHWzSLEt1L pic.twitter.com/GDOscuxYIY
— Kiev Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 26, 2022
To put things into context, according to the Watson Institute, Brown University, the US military lost more than 7,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2001 in military operations that began after 9/11.
While it was difficult to get official numbers on Russian soldiers’ casualties, a tweet from the foreign ministry indicated that thousands had died.
, DPM Irina Vereshchuk: Ukraine has asked the International Committee of the Red Cross to help extricate the bodies of the dead ???? Russian soldiers from Ukraine. “There are thousands of bodies???? We urge the ICRC to step up with this humanitarian mission”, he said.
— MFA of Ukraine???? (@MFA_Ukraine) February 26, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky himself posted a video accusing him of giving fake information about the Ukrainian military laying down arms.
Zelensky posts another video filmed in central Kiev.
“There is a lot of fake information online that I tell my army to lay down arms, and that it is being pulled out of there,” he said.
“I am here. We will not lay down our weapons. We will defend our kingdom.” pic.twitter.com/VKVY4XRUip
— Kiev Independent (@KyivIndependent) February 26, 2022
Russia, on the other hand, continued to brand the Ukrainian resistance part of the neo-Nazi conspiracy.
, director #putin: In the central districts of major cities, including Kiev and Kharkov, Banderaites and neo-Nazis are laying down heavy weapons, including the MLRS. Basically, they are working the same way terrorists use people all over the world as shields pic.twitter.com/n5BFVvn3ZP
– MFA Russia???? (@mfa_russia) February 25, 2022
Russia has been aggressive with its cyber warfare strategy, attacking several Ukrainian websites as attacks by their military forces.