Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 13/10/2022
Ever since the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, issued an order for aggression against Ukraine and started what he claims to be the “denazification” of that country, the narrative about Ukrainians as devotees of Nazism and Nazi symbols has not stopped spreading through the media and social networks.
The swastika, once the symbol of Nazi Germany, is persistently pushed as a symbol of the fight against Russia, often through disinformation – starting with claims that it is promoted by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, through attempts to present every Nazi wearing those symbols as a Ukrainian fighter, policeman, or citizen, to the untruth that Ukrainian refugees draw swastikas on the sidewalks of European cities and that newlyweds from that country are photographed with Nazi salutes…
There is a multitude of such examples. The last person to whom the swastika was “attached” is General Valery Zaluzhny, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Press and IN4S web portals reported that Zaluzhny posted a photo on his Twitter account in which, as they say, a “swastika can be seen”.
“Russian media Ura.ru and Lenta.ru report that the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valery Zaluzhny published on his Twitter account a photo in which it is clearly seen that he is wearing a bracelet with Nazi symbols on his arm. The metal bracelet features various symbols, including a swastika, a symbol found on the flags of Nazi Germany,” IN4S writes.
The Press Portal states that “several symbols, among which is the swastika, the symbol of Nazi Germany, can be seen” on the bracelet
The photo from which the bracelet is zoomed was published on the official Twitter account of Zaluzhny.
This “news” was published by a number of Russian media, including RussiaToday, but also by Maria Zakharova, the spokesperson of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the controversial founder of Megaupload, Kim Dotcom, and the Polish citizen Piotr Panasiuk, who is said to be the local known for spreading misinformation by the local fact-checkers.
LeadStories, an American fact-checking website, explains that it is Solomon’s knot, which can also be seen on the Knot atlas page, which shows 20 variations of Solomon’s knot.
They explain that this design appears in England, but also in many European churches, that it is found in Roman mosaics, but that it was adopted as a Christian symbol.
Newsweek also reported that one of Zaluzhny’s soldiers published a close-up photo of the bracelet in question, which shows that it is not a swastika.
Polish fact-checkers also explain that it is a Celtic symbol.
Unfortunately, there are neo-Nazis everywhere in the world, from Russia, through Ukraine, to America…
However, this does not prove that all these nations are neo-Nazi ones. The facts also show us that Zaluzhny was not wearing a bracelet with a swastika.
Due to all the above information, this post receives the fake news grade.
The “Fake news” grade is given to an original media report (completely produced by the media that published it) that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is rated as fake news can be reliably determined to have been created and disseminated with the intent to misinform the public, that is, to present a completely false claim as fact.
