There is no evidence in the video of the presence of the TCC, military personnel or document checks. In fact, the ‘Easter races’ are a regional tradition: it is believed that the first person to return home after church will have good luck and prosperity on their land for the next year.
Social media users are sharing a video purporting to show men running away with their baskets during an Easter service. The comments claim that the men are fleeing because of the appearance of representatives of the TCC (Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support).
“Men who came to the church to bless their Easter baskets are fleeing with the baskets in their hands after seeing a military commissar,” reads one comment on the video.
This fake is part of Russia’s information campaign to undermine the mobilisation in Ukraine.
In reality, the video was filmed in a village in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, where about a dozen men are indeed running with Easter baskets, but there are no military personnel in the frame, and the men’s behaviour is better explained by local tradition rather than fear of the TCC. The author of the video is heard saying off-screen that “everyone is running to eat their paska [Easter bread]”, and no specific location or church name is mentioned. There is also no evidence in the video of the presence of the TCC, military personnel or document checks.
The video most likely shows an Easter tradition common in the region – the so-called Easter races. On Easter morning, after the church service, worshippers try to get home as quickly as possible, sometimes even running away from the church. It is believed that whoever gets home first will have good luck and prosperity in their household for the next year. If there is a bride or groom in the household, it is believed that they will find a mate that year. Comments below the video also confirm that it depicts this Easter tradition.
Previously, StopFake has also exposed other disinformation about the mobilisation process in Ukraine, for example Fake: British Embassy in Ukraine Recommends Its Citizens to Run Away from Drafting Officers or Fake: 2 out of 10 Ukrainians Die During Compulsory Mobilization — Institute for the Study of War.
