Public Health Fakes: Ukrainian military infected an International Legion fighter with an unknown disease. Issue #52

Disinformation: The Ukrainian military infected a soldier of the International Legion with an unknown disease

Users, referring to the Associated Press article, are spreading information that Ukrainian soldiers of the 14th separate mechanized brigade allegedly infected a Polish fighter of the International Legion with an unknown disease in the Kharkiv region. After becoming infected, the Polish fighter was allegedly put into a medically induced coma to buy time to fight off an unknown disease and was later transferred to a hospital in Rzeszów, where he spread the virus. As a result, 10 people have reportedly died in Poland from the illness, and 100 others have been infected.

What’s the reality?

An August 25 Associated Press article states that Poland is investigating the cause of an outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the city of Rzeszów, which killed 7 people and infected more than 100 others. Authorities have begun checking water fountains where the bacteria may have grown, since the infection comes from inhaling droplets of water that contain the Legionella bacteria. The disease is not transmitted from person to person.

Weapons for Ukraine are transported through the city, so Deputy Minister-Coordinator of Poland’s special services, Stanisław Żaryn, said that the services will check Russia’s involvement in the spread of the disease.

The news also indicates that all the dead were elderly and had concomitant diseases. The article was not about International Legion fighters. We also did not find information about the cooperation of International Legion fighters and 14 separate mechanized brigades in the Kharkiv direction, as well as news about the hospitalization of a Polish fighter.

The first case of legionellosis infection was discovered on August 17 in Rzeszów. The next day, 105 water samples were taken in the city, and another 8 were taken in the neighboring counties. State Regional Sanitary Inspector of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Adam Sidor, said that legionella bacteria were found in 4 of the 9 water samples taken from the waterworks in Rzeszów. At the same time, no bacteria were found in the water sample from the apartment of the infected spouse. He indicated that in the near future epidemiologists will publish reports that will help establish the exact cause of the sudden spread of the disease.

As infectious disease doctor Lidia Stopyra explained, the situation when legionnaires’ disease suddenly started in several places independently of each other is strange. Presumably, the cause of the spread of the disease may be the water supply.

On August 26-27 in Rzeszów, utility workers flushed the water supply network and added a 20 times higher dose of chlorine to the water. As of August 28, the number of dead has increased to 11 people, infected — 114 people. The disease spread to 4 voivodships: Podkarpatcke, Wielkopolskie, Malopolskie and Lublinske.

Not a single case of legionellosis has been registered in Ukraine over the past year. Hostile media regularly spread disinformation about disease outbreaks in the country. These messages began to be heard especially actively after the explosion of the Kakhovska HPP. Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the health care system of Ukraine, claiming that the system is unable to respond and resist epidemics. Intimidation of Ukrainians and the spread of mistrust of authorities in society is one of the enemy’s goals. At the same time, while demonizing medicine in Ukraine, enemy resources devote laudatory odes to the health care system in the Russian Federation and in the occupied territories.

Disinformation: Japanese tactical first aid kits for humanitarian aid are being resold in Ukraine

Users on the network are spreading information that Japan has donated 200,000 medical kits to Ukraine for the Ukrainian Armed Forces free of charge. However, these same medical kits are allegedly being found for resale in pharmacies at a price of 2,640 hryvnias per kit.

What’s the reality?

First, there are no details or references in the user posts as to who discovered the store selling Japanese first aid kits. Users do not specify which first-aid kits — the model and their contents — they found on sale, and also do not give at least one example of a pharmacy where such humanitarian cargo can be found. Also, if you type the phrase resale first aid kits into Google, you can see that identical posts were published as far back as February 28, 2022.

Kremlin resources spread such messages to blacken the Ukrainian health care system and show that the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “do not receive” proper medical care. On the contrary, the state is allegedly taking this aid for itself. Also, such omissions discredit Ukraine in the eyes of the international community: allegedly, Ukraine “steals” all the aid, so it makes no sense to increase its support. At the same time, the Russian mass media constantly emphasize that they provide assistance to the residents of the temporarily occupied territories, while in reality, they are shelling them and committing war crimes.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Japanese non-governmental organization “Peace Winds Japan” has delivered more than a million units of medical drugs to Ukraine. In July 2022, Japan provided Ukraine with 60 tons of medical supplies, including tactical first-aid kits. At the same time, we did not find any reports about the transfer of exactly 200,000 first-aid kits from Japan.

On the websites of some online stores and pharmacies, you can actually see tactical military first-aid kits for sale. However, the first-aid kits handed over by Japan differ in shape and color from those sold on the websites. In addition, pharmacies and stores have a large selection of tactical first-aid kits, which medical facilities purchase separately. The price of such first-aid kits ranges from UAH 2,700 to over UAH 5,000.

In addition to states, international organizations also support Ukraine. In total, since February 24, 2022, the World Health Organization has transferred about 3,300 tons of medical supplies to Ukraine. Also, the Japanese government, together with UNICEF, delivered vaccines, drinking water, sanitation and hygiene products, etc., to Ukraine. Since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, countries and international organizations have sent Ukraine about 12.8 thousand tons of medical aid worth more than UAH 13.5 billion.