This video was recorded by Ukrainian volunteer Denis Khrystov, who goes by the call sign «Dutchman». In an ironic manner, he suggested that the residents of Sudzha evacuate to the frontline areas of Kharkiv and Sumy regions, which regularly suffer from Russian shelling.
Information is spreading online that the Ukrainian authorities have allegedly begun to move residents from the «seized» districts of Kursk Oblast to the territory of Ukraine. In support of this, Russian channels and groups are spreading a short video in which a military man in uniform calls on residents of the town of Sudzha to evacuate to the territory of Ukraine. The man says that Sudzha residents can be saved by leaving a request on social media or coming to a gathering point near the Lukoshko store in the city center.
«A drug addict from the Armed Forces of Ukraine started taking civilians from Sudzha to Ukraine,» pro-Russian Telegram channels comment on the video.
Pro-Russian Telegram channels mostly spread only the part of the video where the man calls on the residents of Suzha to leave for Ukraine. StopFake has reviewed the full version of the video. It was published on August 13 on the YouTube channel Hollander_83, which belongs to a volunteer Denys Khrystov with the call sign «Dutchman».
Denis Khristov, who has been involved in the evacuation of civilians since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, ironically suggested that the residents of Suzha evacuate to the frontline areas of Kharkiv and Sumy regions, which are regularly subject to Russian shelling.
«The Ukrainian people will be happy to provide you with housing in the border areas of Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Of course, only if their houses are not destroyed by Russian artillery,» Khristov said to the camera.
At the end of the video, the man noted that he «continues to save the Russian-speaking population from Russian militants.» It is known that as of August 8, Denis Khristov was evacuating people from Orlivka in Donbas, 200 km from Sudzha.
It should also be noted that the Ukrainian authorities have not yet officially made any statements regarding the evacuation of residents of Sudzha or local residents of other settlements in the Kursk region to the territory of Ukraine. Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine stated that Ukraine is not interested in «taking» the Kursk region. The ministry also emphasized that the Armed Forces of Ukraine fully comply with the laws and customs of war and international humanitarian law. Only military personnel are targets for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
At the same time, after the start of the Ukrainian operation in Kursk region, residents of Sudzha have been complaining en masse about the lack of centralized evacuation by the Russian authorities and the inability of the city’s emergency services (interview with Russian outlet Medusa, interview with the Ukrainian news service TSN).
Earlier, StopFake journalists analyzed the propaganda narrative that all refugees from Ukraine allegedly voluntarily leave for Russia.
