The Institute for the Study of War did not release this video or report such observations.
In the pro-Russian section of the network, a video is circulating, allegedly created by the Institute for the Study of War. It claims that after Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election, Ukrainian soldiers began to surrender eight times more often than before. This “news” was also reportedly commented on by Euronews editor-in-chief Claus Strunz, who called it a “completely logical” development. The implication is that it’s now clear to everyone that Ukraine is doomed, so soldiers are only thinking about saving their own lives.
However, this story was made up by propagandists. The Institute for the Study of War has not posted any such video or statistics on its website or social media, and does not produce video content at all. This is a fact we noted earlier when debunking another piece of Russian disinformation that claimed 2 out of 10 Ukrainians were dying during compulsory mobilization. There are no such reports in any reputable Western media outlet, including Euronews. While Euronews editor Claus Strunz has expressed support for Donald Trump on his personal social media, he hasn’t commented on the consequences for Ukraine after Trump’s ascendancy or claims of mass surrenders by Ukrainian soldiers-probably because this story is entirely fictional.
There is no independent or reliable data on the actual number of Ukrainian soldiers who have surrendered, as such statistics are only available to the Russian side and are therefore not credible. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, has reported that the government is aware of more than 100 cases of Ukrainian soldiers executed by the Russians after surrendering. There may be many more such cases, although verifying and legally documenting these crimes is challenging.
Another debunked piece of disinformation about Donald Trump’s election victory can be found in the article Fake: Money Collected in Poltava Ukrposhta Branch to Kill Trump.