Fake: For each "caught" Ukrainian, an officer of TCC receives a UAH 8,000 bonus

A video featuring an unidentified man conversing with an unidentified woman, allegedly the ex-wife of a representative from Ukraine’s Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC)*, is being circulated on social media. The woman claims that the officer receives a bonus of UAH 8,000 for each Ukrainian detained. The conversation takes place on the russian anonymous voice chat platform NektoMe, with the video showing only a phone screen — no faces are visible.

“In Africa, there are animal safaris, and here in Ukraine, there are human safaris. They catch people just to make money; of course, they themselves don’t go to the front line,” the woman states.

In reality, this is yet another example of russian propaganda aimed at discrediting TCC workers and fostering a sense of lawlessness in Ukraine’s mobilization process.

The source of this claim is the TikTok account of Ihor Mosiichuk (@igor_mosiichuk), a former member of parliament who left Ukraine after the full-scale russian invasion and is reportedly cooperating with russian interests. Ukraine’s Centre for Countering Disinformation and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have added Mosiichuk’s account to their list of TikTok channels identified as disseminators of hostile propaganda. 

In February 2023, Mosiichuk uploaded a five-minute video titled, “SHOCK! Ternopil Region military commissars receive UAH 8,000 for each mobilized person.” Although he later deleted the video, the local media outlet Novyny Ternopolia managed to publish a report referencing the claim.

In the latest video, the alleged ex-wife of the TCC representative repeats similar claims made by Mosiichuk, though this time, no specific mention of the Ternopil Region is included. This piece of fake news reappeared almost two years after it was first spread in the media. This demonstrates that such disinformation is cyclical. 

The comments under the video, likely from russian bots, reinforce this narrative by repeating phrases Mosiichuk initially used, such as “human safari” and “hunt for people.” 

Several key elements point to this being a disinformation campaign:

• Since Mosiichuk’s original video nearly two years ago, no credible media outlets have reported such claims.
• Sensationalist terms like “attention,” “shock,” “watch this,” etc., are often used to spread disinformation. In this case, it’s the word “shock.” Such emotionally charged words are popular with “trash media”, which continue to spread false information; 
• Ihor Mosiichuk cites the story of an “old acquaintance” while the woman from an anonymous chat references her ex-husband’s words. No evidence supports these assertions.

The purpose of this disinformation is to disrupt Ukraine’s mobilization efforts. russian propaganda consistently manipulates information, spreading false narratives and fabricated stories of individuals being detained. While actual violations may occur, these efforts aim to create the impression that such practices are systemic

Prepared by Mariana Penska.

* Territorial Centre for Recruitment and Social Support.