Original article (in Montenegrin) was published on 28/02/2022
From the moment when at dawn on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to conduct a military operation in Ukraine, the eyes of the whole world have been focused on the war that began.
From the moment when at dawn on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his army to conduct a military operation in Ukraine, the eyes of the whole world have been focused on the war that began.
The world media report on the Ukrainian crisis from minute to minute, and in addition, this topic is widely covered on social networks as well.
For instance, on the Facebook profile of “Mojkovacki fantom”, we can see numerous posts related to the war in Ukraine, and one of the most recent included a photo of the President of that country, Volodymyr Zelensky, alluding to the fact that the first man of Ukraine joined the armed forces to fight against the Russian army
“Zelensky has also set off”, this is the description of the photo which shows the Ukrainian president wearing a piece of military equipment, armor, and a helmet.
By searching for a photo of Zelensky via Google Lens, we came across the site ice99.com, where the photo was published on February 19, five days before the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was busy yesterday. He first inspected by boat near the line of contact in the Sea of Azov. After the escalation of the conflict in the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine, he carried out an urgent inspection of the front lines in Donbas and returned after a short conversation with the front troops”, stated the website from where the photo of Zelensky was taken and later posted on Facebook.
The British BBC also reported on Zelensky’s visit to Ukrainian troops.
“The visit was part of the president’s two-way offensive: showing support for his country’s troops, while also warning allies in the West that attempt to “calm down” Moscow is dangerous. On the front line in Shirokin, President Zelensky shared tea and chatted with soldiers in the area of the demolished house”, BBC stated in an article.
In addition, the announcement that insinuates that Zelensky joined the soldiers is best denied by the statement of the President of Ukraine himself.
“We have information that the main target of the enemy is me, and then my family. I am staying in the capital with my people”, Zelensky said in a video message, noting that he must not reveal his location, Al Jazeera Balkans reported.
What we have concluded so far from all these facts is that the photo of Zelensky was actually taken a few days before the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition, the information that Zelensky joined his army was not published at any relevant address, and such claims are especially unfounded if we take into account the fact that the President of Ukraine is, as he said, at a secret location.
Therefore, we assess the post shared by “Mojkovacki fantom” as fake news.
The “fake news” rating is given to the original media report (entirely produced by the media that published it) that contains factually incorrect claims or information. Content that is assessed as fake news could have been created and disseminated to misinform the public, that is, to present a claim that is completely false as fact.