Russian media are disseminating a video claiming it shows a Ukrainian soldier shooting at a car with a woman and child inside because the woman was speaking Russian. This poorly staged video was shot in Russian occupied Ukraine near Donetsk. The alleged Russian speaking woman and child are never seen, the location of the alleged incident is a spot where Ukrainian military simply could not be present, all and the cross painted on the back of the alleged Ukrainian military vehicle – a symbol that has never been used by the Ukrainian military, all point to the the video being yet another Russian fake.
Pro-Kremlin media and anonymous Telegram channels have been aggressively disseminating a video in which they claim a Ukrainian soldier insults a woman because she is speaking in Russian, fires at the car despite the woman crying that her child is in the back seat.
“The symbol (of the Balkenkreuz ed.) on the Ukrainian military vehicle is notable, these symbols were used by the fascists as they destroyed the Russian people on the territory of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War” writes one of the Telegram channels.
“Ukrainian servicemen have the same attitude towards the local population as the Ukrainian police did during the Great Patriotic War, they behaved worse with locals than the Germans” writes the Vzglyad newspaper.
Nowhere in the video do we actually see the supposed woman and child.
Russian propagandists never tire of looking for “confirmation” of Nazism, which they claim is overwhelmingly prevalent in Ukraine, sowing chaos and persecuting Russian speaking people and Muslims. Russia’s Foreign Ministry Twitter account, which actively pedals the “Ukraine is a Nazi state” Kremlin mantra, also disseminated this fake video, however, after irrefutable evidence emerged that the video was staged, the Ministry quietly deleted the post. Some pro-war Z Telegram channels were also forced to admit that the video was a fake.
StopFake factcheckers and activists were able to geolocate the exact spot where the video was filmed 47.977044, 37.953754. This spot is located in Russian occupied Donetsk province, between the city of Donetsk aned Makiivka. Tree branches, power line pylons and the location of the road confirm the exactness of the geolocation.
A local resident traveled to the spot where the alleged incident took place and also confirmed that the spot is located between Donetsk and Makiivka.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate also pointed out other important details that confirm the fakeness and staging of the video:
- Ukraine’s military has solid crosses on their vehicles. The fake video features a German WWII Wehrmach cross.
- Video recording is prohibited in the war zone.
- The vehicle used in the video was manufactured in Russia, such vehicles have never been delivered to Ukraine.
- The video is poorly edited. At 01:35 the soldier, whom we do not see at this point, shoots his rifle near the car, but we do not hear loud bangs. The car window is seemingly open, and the conversation was taking place through the window. There is no sound of the window closing. When the car drives back you can hear that the window is open. We see shells flying, but there is no accompanying sound.
StopFake has debunked similar video fakes, such as the staged video purporting to show Ukrainian soldiers beating a Brazilian soldier for attempting to desert.
