This autumn, Russians plan to hold the so-called “elections” for 79 municipal associations and “legislative bodies” (occupation administrations) in parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia Oblasts, and also the “by-elections” to the “state duma” in the occupied Crimea.

At the same time, Ukrainian troops continue to liberate the occupied territory and are on the verge of a breakthrough. The increasing number of explosions on the territory of Russia, the destruction of the strategic objects of the aggressor, and the landing of the Ukrainian military in the occupied Crimea indicate the inevitable failure of Putin's venture in Ukraine. Finally, more and more countries are agreeing to support the security guarantees of Ukraine and to join the exercises of Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighters.

However, the opponents of Ukraine are not interested in any explanations. The notorious Fox News journalist Tucker Carlson, referring to the mentioned interviews of Zelensky, concluded that the "main defender of democracy in the world" decided to "abolish democracy in Ukraine." Carlson's disinformation narrative about the “Zelensky dictatorship” and “cancellation of elections” was quickly picked up by other American figures, including US House of Representatives member Marjorie Taylor Green and a journalist Glen Greenwald. Civil Network OPORA investigated who else had joined the discreditation campaign in the American segment of Twitter and Facebook, and what key disinformation narratives about the Ukrainian elections are spreading in these social networks.

According to research carried out by Civil Network OPORA, 76.6% of Ukrainians perceive residents of the occupied territories as victims of circumstances and hostages of the occupation forces. This applies to residents of territories that were occupied after February 24, 2022, as well as residents of Crimea and certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts that have been under Russian occupation since 2014. OPORA’s analysts Anatoliy Bondarchuk and Dmytro Bashtovyi delivered a presentation of research results at Ukraine Media Center - Ukrinform press event held on August 23, 2023.

Last week (August 14–20), an important news was the decision of Denmark and the Netherlands to transfer 61 F-16 aircraft to Ukraine. Also, Ukrainian pilots have already begun testing on Swedish Gripens aircraft, which in the future will make it possible to get these 4th generation fighters.