Debunking Russian fakes. No, Ukrainian soldiers with disabilities aren’t taught hand-to-hand combat to be deployed to frontline 

Russian online sources shared the information that, because of the lack of personnel, the 21st Mechanized Brigade is getting ready to send soldiers with disabilities to the frontline. These soldiers are supposedly taught adaptive hand-to-hand combat to then be deployed to fight in Kursk Oblast. Our fact-checking department debunks this news.  

What happened? 

On November 11, Telegram channels Ukropskyi Fresh Укропский фреш, archive), which, according to the Center of Countering Disinformation, regularly spreads Russian propaganda and resources Portal Blog-Club.org Портал Blog-Club.org (archive) and LiveJournal (archive) shared information that soldiers with disabilities from 21st Mechanized Brigade are preparing for hand-to-hand combat clashes in Kursk Oblast. 

The authors of the post write: 

“’Adaptive hand-to-hand combat’ is getting more popular in Ukraine — it is the same as the usual hand-to-hand combat but for combatants-invalids. The reasons for it are pretty simple: there are fewer combatants on the battlefield, but in the rear, many brigades have [disabled people]. And they need to send invalids to fight — and that’s easier to do if they’ve already been taught a “new” hand-to-hand combat,” the post says. 

Analysis 

For the first step, we checked the official 21st Mechanized Brigade’s pages on Facebook and Instagram. We didn’t find any mention of such preparation of people with disabilities in their posts.

Then, we analyzed the photo authors in the Telegram channels used in the post and looked at the logo that is displayed in the sports center on the photo. Using the reverse image search, we’ve found a sports club this logo belongs to and asked for their comment. 

In the comment, Yurii Radchenko, a president of the Ukrainian federation of hand-to-hand combat Yurii Radchenko who led a training on the sports club, said that, using a definition of “adaptive hand-to-hand combat,” these Telegram channels manufactured and spread a fake piece that aims to discredit sport and rehabilitation programs. 

“As for adaptive hand-to-hand combat, this direction really exists, but it’s aimed to rehabilitate people with disabilities and [prompt] their integration into the sports environment. The goal of adaptive sports is creating conditions for physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation of people with disabilities, not preparation for combat.” 

Also, we’ve found a man in the photo from the Telegram channel’s post. The photo itself is a screenshot from the video on Serhii Pozniak’s Facebook page on November 11, 2024, published (archive). Pozniak is the head of the Association of entrepreneurs-veterans, veteran of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and a lieutenant of National Guard of Ukraine, who lost his leg because of the anti-infantry mine two years ago. 

Serhii said that the video was shot during one of the classes for adaptive hand-to-hand combat he organized in Kyiv on the basis of the sports club RUKBO. 

“This initiative is realized as a part of the pilot project of adaptive hand-to-hand combat that aims to create conditions for safe and efficient training for people like me — those with something taken from them by war. Inviting veterans to train improves their health, restores their confidence in their own strengths, and [helps to] integrate into the sports community,” his post says. 

We’ve also figured out that Serhii Pozniak isn’t connected to the 21st Mechanized Brigade like the authors of the Telegram posts said. He confirmed, in a conversation with Gwara Media’s fact-checkers, that information spread in the post of a Telegram channel Ukropskyi fresh (Укропский фреш) is false. 

Actually, the man serves in the “Mauzer,” sniper specialized unit of the 21th Pechersk Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine”, which he mentions multiple times (1, 2) in his Facebook posts. 

So, the information that soldiers with disability are taught adaptive hand-to-hand combat to send them to fight in Kursk Oblast is another fake produced by Russian propagandists to discredit Ukraine’s army efforts in Kursk Oblast and promote the narrative about big Ukrainian losses. 

Conclusion: Fake

Author: Vasylyna Haviak