The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has not concluded that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire is linked to ‘colossal losses’ of Ukrainian forces. Propaganda fabricated a video by adding fabricated information.
Kremlin propagandists began spreading the false claim that President Zelensky had proposed a 30-day ceasefire with Russia due to “colossal losses of the Ukrainian armed forces”. According to agitprop, this was supposedly concluded by the American think-tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which allegedly published a video with this news.
“Institute for the Study of War: Zelensky’s call for a 30-day ceasefire is linked to heavy losses in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, with untrained mass units being thrown to the front and dying within days or even hours” the propaganda video claims.
After such information began to circulate, StopFake decided to check whether analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) had actually drawn such conclusions. As it turned out, the propaganda had once again fabricated the story.
The ISW publishes daily reports on the Russian-Ukrainian war on its website. Therefore, StopFake tried to find the alleged “conclusions” on the organisation’s official website. However, after reviewing the material published in recent weeks, no information was found to suggest that it was “colossal losses” that led Zelensky to propose a ceasefire. While the American Institute’s reports do mention the possibility of a 30-day ceasefire, this is more a summary of statements by Ukrainian, Russian, American and European politicians than an analysis of the reasons for such a proposal (for example, in the reports of 28 April or 9 May).
As for the source of the “news” – the alleged video from the Institute for the Study of War – it is a fabrication by propagandists. No such video exists on the ISW’s official website, on YouTube, or on its account on X (formerly Twitter). Apparently, Russian propaganda has once again used the name of a reputable organisation – this time the Institute for the Study of War – to create yet another fake about Ukraine.
It’s worth remembering that on 28 April, Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced a three-day “ceasefire” to begin around 9 May. Volodymyr Zelensky then made a counter-proposal: a ceasefire lasting at least 30 days. According to him, there is no point in limiting efforts to achieve real peace to the proposed short-term period.
Previously, StopFake also debunked claims that 2 out of 10 Ukrainians die during compulsory mobilisation.
