Russian social media claims that a Ukrainian court sentenced a woman to 10 years imprisonment for corresponding with a sister in Russia and posting a picture criticizing a Ukrainian nationalist leader, are propagandist fakes. The woman was in fact convicted for sending Ukrainian military locations to the invading Russian army.
Social media users are spreading fakes claiming a woman from the central Ukrainian city of Cherkasy received a 10 year prison sentence for posting a picture criticizing the Ukrainian nationalist leader Stepan Bandera and corresponding with her sister in Russia. They do not provide any evidence whatsoever to confirm this allegation.
“Democracy and freedom of speech in Ukraine, the city of Cherkasy. The crying woman Tatiana Drobot, has just heard her sentence: 10 years in prison for publishing a picture criticizing Na** [Nazi – ed.] Bandera and for corresponding with her sister in Russia!” – a Facebook user writes.
StopFake decided to fact check these Russian claims, and discovered that unsurprisingly they are a perfect example of Russian disinformation, containing a trace of fact, and a lot of lies. In October 2022, Tetyana Drobot from Cherkasy was indeed sentenced to 10 years imprisonment, not for criticizing Bandera or corresponding with her sister, who lives in Russia, but for providing Ukrainian military geolocation information to the invading Russian army.
Using a Google image search, we were able to find the source of the image being used to spread this particular Russian fake. The photo was taken by Cherkasy online newspaper 18000 during the Tetyana Drobot trial. A local journalist reports that Drobot received the ten-year sentence because she conveyed Cherkasy fortification locations to the Russian army and justified the Russian occupation of Ukrainian cities online.
This information is confirmed in an October 18, 2022 Cherkasy Prydniprovsky District Court press release, the court where Drobot was tried.
“According to the case materials, the accused transmitted Ukrainian military locations to her sister and acquaintances living in Russia through the Viber messaging platform, calling on the Russians to fire at those positions in order to weaken Ukraine’s defense capabilities in the Cherkasy region,” the court said.
In addition, the court statement further notes that the convicted woman also called for changing Ukraine’s borders and incited hate and international strife.
StopFake has debunked similar Russian disinformation, such as the fake about an Odesa man who was allegedly sentenced to 15 years in prison for displaying a Russian flag.
