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Antifake / Factcheck

13 мая

Ukrainian Banks Impose Cash Withdrawal Limit on Military-Age Men. ZhSPremium’s false claim fact-checked

Can Ukrainian men of conscription age withdraw only 100 hryvnias per day?

Authors:
Editors:
Fake appearance date: 05.05.2024
On May 18, 2024, a law on mobilization will come into force in Ukraine. Since May 4, some of its parts have already been in effect. Commenting on the news, the Telegram channel ZhSPremium falsely reported that Ukrainian banks have imposed restrictions on cash withdrawals for men of conscription age. The Weekly Top Fake team fact-checked their claim.

Here is a post by the pro-government media outlet ZhSPremium, published on May 5, 2024, and stating that Ukrainian men of military age can withdraw only 100 hryvnia per day from the card.&

“The law on mobilization has not even come into effect yet, and 'draft dodgers' have been hit hard. Banks have already limited cash withdrawals for people who haven't updated their information at the military enlistment office.

The limit is set at 100 hryvnia per day – that’s about $2.54. The funny thing is that this is about half a dollar more than the “threshold of survival” as the UN calls it.” 

As confirmation of the claim, the media outlet attached the following picture of the alleged ATM message.

During the fact-checking, the WTF team did not find such restrictions for men of military age in the Ukrainian mobilization law. Local media also did not report such news.

Through a Google search, journalists found the original photo of the ATM. The inscription on his screen about one hundred hryvnia was probably created using a photo editor. Highlights and silhouettes on the screen are identical.

The photo was published on a review site back in 2021. It was posted by a user under the nickname Sergey. He left a complaint about a non-working Privatbank terminal in the city of Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv region.

The Weekly Top Fake team also reached out to PrivatBank's press service to comment on the ZhSPremium's post. Here is their respond:

“This is an absolutely fake image. The fake message is even inserted with Photoshop on the screen of the bank's self-service terminal, not an ATM. Cash cannot be withdrawn from a self-service terminal. The authors of the fake have probably never been to Ukraine and have never used the services of our bank. Of course, the bank does not have such limits on cash withdrawals. The only limits for banks are the rules and restrictions established by the NBU for the period of martial law.”

The bank's press service clarified that according to the decree of the National Bank of Ukraine dated March 21, 2022, the maximum cash withdrawal amount per day is 100,000 hryvnias (about $2.5 thousand).