The photo being shared online is not of an improvised explosive device at all, but rather of a used and disassembled disposable e-cigarette. The Lviv police informed StopFake that not a single “miniature explosive device” was found or reported in the city.
An unreliable report about mass cases of miniature explosive devices being discovered on city streets is being actively circulated on social media in Ukraine.
“Warn everyone! It will tear off your arm up to the elbow, 10 pieces were already found in Lviv,” warns one post, which has been shared more than 70,000 times.
However, the photo that is being shared is not an explosive device at all. A photo search indicates that the picture most likely shows a disassembled disposable e-cigarette.
Responding to StopFake’s inquiry, the Lviv police confirmed that not a single “miniature explosive device” was detected in the city.
It is interesting that the same photo, currently being shared online in Ukraine, was previously distributed on Russian social media networks and messengers with a similar warning. In August 2022, such information was spotted in Rostov online groups. The Rostov police also denied the authenticity of the claim.
Although this alarmist message is a hoax, this does not mean that rules for handling explosive devices can be disregarded. UNICEF, together with the Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, the Ministry of Reintegrating Temporarily Occupied Territories and the National Police, prepared several educational videos about the risks of explosive devices that can be found in Ukrainian territories that were invaded by the Russian army.
