Alleged Ukrainian soldiers verbally abuse a woman and her baby. A shot is fired. But the video turns out to be fake.
KIEV/Moscow – “Ukrainian military officials stop a woman with her baby for allegedly violating traffic rules,” the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom captioned the video, which was shared on social media. When one of the soldiers hears her speaking Russian and finds out that she is Muslim, the “brave” Ukrainian yells at her. Then “he threatens and insults her, calls her ‘pig,’ scares her baby, and fires multiple shots.” As far as the comment of the Embassy of Russia on Twitter.
For Russia’s war propaganda and Kremlin supporters on the internet, the scene is a jackpot. The video is being shared and disseminated, even the Russian Embassy in London and the Russian Foreign Ministry are posting it on their Twitter channels. In a tweet from the Russian Foreign Ministry that has already been deleted, the alleged soldiers of Ukraine were, according to the report of the Editorial Network Germany (RND) even called “Nazis”.
Russia in the Ukraine conflict: propaganda video not made at the front
The only disadvantage is that the video allegedly taken at the front is revealed to be a fake based on geological clues. “This is not a Ukrainian military. This video was taken 30 kilometers behind the front lines,” the community-based geolocation platform judged GeoConfirmed. In her analyzes she concentrates on the Ukraine conflict and checks reports for their plausibility. The alleged Ukrainian soldiers are apparently Russian soldiers or pro-Russian fighters.
The information from the organization Geoconfirmed and other communities – such as Eyes on Russia, which specializes in propaganda from Russia – is referred to in intelligence circles as Open Source Intelligence (OSINT). This is security-related information collected from freely available sources, including social media, news platforms and other public websites. Geoconfirmed was founded by volunteers on the first day of the Ukraine war (February 24, 2022).
Russia propaganda against Ukraine: Fake video exposed thanks to geolocation
Using these sources of information, the Geoconfirmed team and other volunteers were able to pinpoint the exact location of the scene in the propaganda video. To do this, they used conspicuous landmarks, such as trees, a power line and large white stones at the side of the road, which can be seen in the video clip, the reports RND further. The result was clear. The video was not taken at the front, as claimed by Kremlin supporters, but in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk in the Donbass. The exact coordinates were also given and according to RND confirmed by local residents.
Several points gave reason to doubt the authenticity: The almost perfect scenery of the video for the Russian war propaganda was a first clue. Ukrainian soldiers harassing a woman and her child because she speaks Russian fits very well into the Kremlin’s narrative. The alleged victim is also said to be a Muslim – and according to the timestamp, the video was taken on March 24, 2023, which marks the beginning of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, according to the information provided by the RND. Recently, Moscow has tried more and more often to portray Ukraine as an Islamophobic country.
Ukraine conflict: Russian embassy sticks to fake message
Added to this is the appearance of the allegedly Ukrainian soldiers. If the video had actually been taken in the frontline, the armed forces would have been more careful when exiting their vehicle. Although they have their weapons with them, they carry them as if they felt safe. In addition, the yellow markings on the helmet and uniform are unusual. Currently, Ukrainian soldiers would use green badges.
A very basic piece of information also made people sit up and take notice: The video comes from a dashcam (small camera that is mounted behind the windscreen) in the woman’s vehicle. And you can hardly get through military checkpoints at the front with one. Because these have been banned since last year so as not to reveal the movements of Ukrainian troops. After the unmasking, it should be noted that the Russian embassy in London neither removed the post from its Twitter channel nor corrected the message (as of March 30). It is also not the first incident of this kind. (n / A)
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