The man who resisted a suspect in the murder of 6 passers-by in a shopping center in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia, is not Russian. StopFake managed to contact his friend, who also became a hero of Australian stories about the tragic event. He told us that they are both from France.

Kremlin media and some netizens began spreading fake information that the Russian was the “only” person who rushed to the suspect who killed 6 people in a shopping center in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia.

«Six people have been killed in a knife attack by an unknown assailant at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping center in the Sydney suburbs. At the same time, there could have been more victims of the attack, but the criminal was stopped by a Russian hero,» Tsargrad writes.

In its «news», the propaganda attaches several videos. The first one allegedly shows the same «Russian» holding back the attacker on the escalator. The voiceover of the journalist says that he shouted to the suspect in Russian «stay away (move away)». However, she does not say that he is Russian. The second video shows footage without an accompanying voice, but it seems to show a man shouting something similar to «stay away» to the attacker. In both cases, it is impossible to hear what exactly he is shouting and in what language.

StopFake also came across news from a number of media outlets that attributed other nationalities to the man. For example, the Russian RBC reported, citing the Russian embassy, that the man was Ukrainian. The Australian WAtoday reported that he was French. After such information was spread, StopFake decided to check who the person who fought back against the attacker actually was.

One of the most comprehensive reports with comments from the hero of this tragic event was published by the Australian TV channel 7news. The article states that the suspected murderer was obstructed by several people: Damien Guerot, Silas Despreaux and Ryan Bramble. The first of them, according to the story, is the person who was holding the attacker on the escalator in the propaganda video and whom the media called a Russian. The second man, Silas Despreaux, is a friend of Guerot. StopFake tried to contact both of them on social media to clarify the details. Silas Despreaux replied to us and said that they were both from France. At the same time, as Despreaux clarified, he himself grew up in Ukraine from the age of 2 to 12. Damien Guerot did not respond to our messages at the time of publication.
Earlier, StopFake debunked the information that the captain of the ship that crashed into the Baltimore bridge was a Ukrainian.