Soviet Symbolism on the Brandenburg Gate: Fact or Fiction?

Pro-government Belarusian media falsely reported that, on the evening of May 8, the iconic emblem of the Soviet Union, the hammer and sickle, was proudly displayed on the Brandenburg Gate — a national symbol of Germany and Berlin's most famous landmark. The Weekly Top Fake team checked whether this was true.

A post published on May 8, 2024, by the Telegram channel Minskaya Pravda, alleged that Soviet symbolism was projected onto the Brandenburg Gate. The post included a photo and video showing the Gate lit up in red with the hammer and sickle symbol on its columns.

The Telegram channel’s authors quoted media reports speculating that the projection may have been hacked.

Since the Weekly Top Fake team could not find reports of similar incidents in German-language media, they contacted the Berlin police for comment.

“According to the assessment based on all the available information at the disposal of the Berlin police, the videos and photographs circulating on social media depicting the alleged projection on the Brandenburg Gate are deemed to be optical/graphical fabrications,” the police response stated.

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Bernstein contrasted pensions in Latvia with contributions to “NATO’s coffers.” However, he mixed up the amounts and agencies

Are minorities more important than the majority in the EU? We fact-checked Piatrouski’s statements regarding the Treaty of Lisbon

Participants in a Belarus 4. Brest talk show claimed that living standards are falling in the Baltic States while Belarus’s economy is accelerating. WTF fact-checked the claims against wage and GDP data

After YouTube removed the channels, Eismant claimed that state media content had received a “huge increase” in views on other platforms. We checked publicly available data

Fact-checking: Brandenburg Gate Falsely Reported Have Displayed Soviet Symbolism