Antifake / Factcheck

02 лістапада 2023

LGBT classes for Ukrainian students & porn castings for wounded Ukrainian military men. Fakes exposed by ‘Evil News’

Further: American life hack that makes the Russian army weaker. All this and much more in the article conducted by the project ‘Evil News’ of Belsat TV in partnership with BIC.

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Fake#1 In Kyiv, the mural depicts “overwhelmed by life in Ukraine” military man

Fake appearance date: 25.08.2023

Russian pro-government propagandists Olga Belova and Mikhail Shakhnazarov publically discussed the moral and physical condition of the Ukrainian Armed Forces fighters. Both living and depicted in memorable drawings.

The presenters commented on the mural on the building, which had been behind Vladimir Zelensky during his address to the people in honor of the Independence Day of Ukraine on August 24.

Here is a quote from their dialogue on the air of the TV channel 'Zvezda' program 'Hello, comrades!' on August 25.

“Why is there a fighter with a cigarette?” Shakhnazarov asked.

“Like, the stunned Ukrainian Armed Forces fighter looks at Zelensky and says: “Oh my god, how did you get the country to be at the end of its rope?” Well, this mural, of course, is also very revealing. Obviously, the character has a non-heroic appearance, he is rather overwhelmed by life in Ukraine. This fighter is clearly tired of everything, they say, let me go, bring me back,” Belova added.

The name of the Ukrainian fighter from the mural is Oleksandr Matsievskiy. He served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and in the winter of 2022—2023, Matsievskiy participated in the battles near the Bakhmut area, as a result of which he was captured by the Russians.

In March 2023, a video of Oleksandr being shot spread online. The hero managed to cry the Ukrainian national salute  “Slava Ukraini!” before his death.

Oleksandr Matsievskiy was depicted with a cigarette in his mouth because he had been smoking at the time of execution. According to his fellows, the fighter was a heavy smoker, so the cigarette became part of his image on the mural.

However, this “unheroic-looking character”, as Belova said, was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

Fake#2 Ukrainians spent more than €2,500 on coloring a dome in the Carpathians

Fake appearance date: 29.08.2023

The pro-Russian Telegram channel ‘Ukraina.ru’ calculated the money spent on coloring a large iron dome on Mount Tomnatik in the Carpathians. The authors of the channel claim that it took more than €2.5 thousand to paint national Ukrainian patterns on it.

“The yellow-blue cargo cult has been flourishing in Ukraine. All the while some high-mountain painters colored the former Pamir radar station in the so-called “pysanka” style. Trus, they haven't done it free of charge. They've spent 100,000 UAH on the art object. This is almost 300,000 RUB!” the post, published on August 29, said.

In fact, this object had been painted not in August 2023, when the post was published, but six years earlier. In 2017, on Mount Tomnatik, there was not only a presentation of the colored dome but also a festival of Ukrainian cuisine dishes and art performances. One hundred thousand hryvnias was spent on organizing the entire festival, and not just on coloring the huge easter egg.

Fake#3 Wounded Ukrainian military men are invited to appear in porn

Fake appearance date: 20.08.2023

Wounded Ukrainian military personnel are invited to appear in porn, the Telegram channel NEBOZHENA reported.

“While pornography is decriminalized in Ukraine, popular job search sites offer interesting vacancies for actors. Disguised as suspicious modeling agencies, employers are looking for disabled people, including wounded Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers, for filming. They pay 2.5 thousand dollars,” the authors of the channel claimed in their post on August 20.

In answer to the request of the project ‘Evil News’ journalists, the agency ‘Prime Model’ said that they haven't had such a recruitment.

Fake#4 German police detained a man for Nazi symbols, who fled from Ukrainian mobilization

Fake appearance date: 30.08.2023

According to the video published by the Russian Telegram channel ‘Ukraina.ru’ on August 30, Ukrainian Petro Bondarenko, 34, fearing mobilization, has left for Germany. In Berlin, he was allegedly detained for Nazi symbols, i.e. tattoos on his body.

There is the Euronews TV logo on the video. Yet the project ‘Evil News’ journalists did not discover the shots either on the Euronews website or on its social media networks. There was no information about the arrest of a man named Peter or Petro  Bondarenko in Germany either.

Although the face of the man in the video has been blurred out, he was recognized. He is not a Ukrainian with Nazi tattoos, but Australian Steve, who got himself a tattoo like the American actor Vin Diesel. His story was reported back in 2011. 

Here is one more detail that points out that the video is fake. In the story about the incident that allegedly took place in Germany, the Australian legal act was demonstrated.

Fake#5 OnlyFans blocked the account of Lyubov Sobol, Navalny's ally

Fake appearance date: 24.08.2023

On August 24, the Telegram channel ‘Ponomar’ published the following screenshot of alleged news claiming that the OnlyFans service has blocked the account of Lyubov Sobol, who is an ally of the Russian opposition leader Navalny. 

The picture makes us think that the message source was the Russian-language BBC website. In fact, there is no such news on the BBC website.

Fake#6 LGBT classes emerged at a Ukrainian Lyceum

Fake appearance date: 31.08.2023

LGBT classes emerged in Lyceum No. 4 in the Ukrainian city of Ivano-Frankivsk. Russian pro-government journalist Armen Gasparyan claimed it via his Telegram channel on August 31.

“We would like to inform you that from September 7, extracurricular classes and sections begin to work in our wonderful school. The LGBT education direction for children from 8 years old has become completely new. Classes are offered for a fee in small groups. Grades and points are placed in a special tolerance diary,” the post said. 

Journalists from the project ‘Evil News’ did not find such information on the Lyceum website. Also, Lyceum No. 4 of Ivano-Frankivsk said that they hadn’t planned to organize such classes at all.

Fake#7 Americans fight Ukrainians’ hands with Russians

Fake appearance date: 31.08.2023

Americans fight Ukrainians’ hands with Russians. Such a message allegedly from U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal was quoted by analyst Yuri Podolyakа via his Telegram channel on August 31:

“Dear American Citizens, I want to tell you that for the money we’ve spent in Ukraine, we got a lot. The power of the Russian army has been halved. We have reduced its numbers by 50%, using less than 3% of our military budget, and we have not lost one American soldier in Ukraine. From this point of view, it's quite a good deal.”

In fact, these words were not said by Blumenthal. However, U.S. Republican politician Lindsey Olin Graham made a very similar statement. Here is what he exactly said:

“Morale among the Ukrainian people is sky high. They are doing their part and doing what they need to reclaim their territory. They have the attitude that they are going to live free and they are willing to die for their freedom. The weapons we have provided to the Ukrainians have been effectively used. The combat power of the Russian Army has been reduced by fifty percent. All the while we have not lost one American soldier in Ukraine. The Ukrainians understand you don't end wars by giving territory to the aggressor. If Putin is not stopped here, he will keep going. He has repeatedly made that clear. And if Putin wins he will keep taking territory and that increases the chances that there will be a war between Russia and NATO, which would directly involve Americans in war. We do not want that.”