Russian fake: Ukrainian soldier sells shrapnel removed from his body

Propagandists fabricated a Facebook ad post, using photos from the Internet

Pro-Kremlin media outlets and z-Telegram channels are spreading information that a Ukrainian soldier has allegedly put up for sale the shrapnel that was removed from his body. He allegedly posted this ad in the Facebook group "Kharkivska Barakholka” [Kharkiv Flea Market]. According to the text of the "ad," Maksym Hermanov is convinced that every Ukrainian must pay the price for the country as he paid in Avdiivka. The shrapnel seems to be sold for one or two thousand hryvnias each piece. The "ad" itself is illustrated with a photo, with a comment below from one of the users with the word "repost".

This is a fake. Although the user Maksym Hermanov is indeed a member of the FB group Kharkivska Barakholka, he has not yet posted an ad in the group, according to Facebook analytics.

At the same time, the user who allegedly left a comment under the ad for the shrapnel sale recently commented on the post with the word "repost" in the group. However, she left such a comment under completely different posts related to lost animals.

In a comment to Ukrinform, the group's administrator said that they had not posted an ad for the sale of the shrapnel.

In addition, the photo used by the Russians to illustrate the fake ad can be found on various specialized western resources. For example, it was used in a Military Factory article about the American M67 grenade. According to Wikipedia, this grenade is not in service with the Russian army.

Russian propaganda often resorts to fabricating photo and video content about Ukraine. Usually, the topic of such fakes depends on the newsworthy events in our country. At the end of last year, they were actively creating fakes about mobilization in Ukraine, in particular about Territorial Centers for Recruitment and Social Support, which allegedly come up with various schemes to attract citizens to the Ukrainian army. One of these fakes, which was refuted by Ukrinform, related to electronic summonses that Ukrainians in Zhytomyr region allegedly began to receive via the Diia app. 

Dmytro Badrak