Fake #1 Santa Claus is banned in Ukraine
Russian propaganda stated that congratulations from Father Frost, a kind of Santa Claus character, are prohibited for children at Christmas in Ukraine. In particular, it was stated by Olga Shpilevskaya, director of the Russian Mir TV branch in Belarus, in the “Editors Club” program on TV channel “Belarus 1”.
“Well, you know, they went even further in Ukraine. For children to be raised correctly, Father Frost and the Snow Maiden were banned. Father Frost and Snow Maiden, the traditional ones, are banned there. Now a certain Saint Nicholas comes to congratulate them. It is not at all clear who is he and where he comes from,” she said on December 30.
Earlier, the Telegram channel ZhS Premium reported the same fake news. On December 17, the propaganda media published an image of a Ukrainian-language advertisement as confirmation.
“The ban on Santa Claus in Ukraine is taking on perverted forms. Animators dressed as fairy-tale grandfathers are promised to be fined and beaten,” propagandists said in their post on the Telegram channel.
In Ukraine, they really celebrate St. Nicholas Day. The character is the prototype of the Soviet Father Frost, a kind of Santa Claus character. But Father Frost is not under ban there.
Thus, on December 28, a man dressed as Father Frost congratulated those gathered at Sofiyskaya Square in Kyiv on the upcoming 2024, and in Odesa the same character wished Happy New Year to passers-by.
On the Ukrainian Internet, there are many advertisements offered to order animators in the costumes of Father Frost and the Snow Maiden. The host of the program Weekly Top Fake had a telephone conversation with one of them and asked if there was a ban on the costumes of these fairy-tale characters in Ukraine. It was denied in reply:
“We haven’t experienced this. No, it is not prohibited by law. <...> We have celebrated the New Year: and there were orders from both Santa Claus and Father Frost in his usual appearance, and St. Nicholas as well.”