Russian propaganda trying to manipulate topic of support for Ukrainian army through fake postcards and ads

Propagandists faked postcard from Ukrainian children to soldiers and 'ad' from funeral home

Kremlin-controlled Russian media outlets, Telegram channels and accounts on social media platform X are spreading disinformation that Ukrainian schoolchildren were given "postcards" to write their wishes to soldiers defending Ukraine on the front lines. However, a photo of this "postcard" shows a map of Ukraine without the territories temporarily occupied by Russia - Crimea, Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

This is a fake. Russian propagandists likely created this postcard in a graphic editor, printed it and photographed it. All the graphic elements in the picture can be found online. In particular, images of military personnel holding hands are available on websites that custom-make images with such a print.

Another picture, located in the right part of the "postcard," belongs to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It was published online back in 2016.

But the field for writing wishes is of Russian origin. It can be found on a Russian website with templates for writing letters to soldiers of the occupation army. The original photo shows a ribbon in the colors of the Russian flag.

Another fake, being spread by the Russian media and Telegram channels, is an "advertisement" from the Cherkasy-based Yanhol funeral home. The "ad" offers discounts on funeral services with the slogan "Take care of your husband in advance."

This is a fake. As in the first case, the advertising booklet is also fake, since there is no funeral home with the name "Yanhol" in Cherkasy or the Cherkasy region.

The template for the "ad" itself can be found on the website of a Russian school for learning the Serbian language. The propagandists slightly changed the ornament using a graphic editor.

Such fakes are aimed at imposing the opinion that Ukrainians are allegedly ready to give up the territories temporarily occupied by Russia. In addition, through their narratives, the propagandists want to show that "ordinary Ukrainians" seem to despise the Ukrainian military and simply want to profit from their deaths.

At the same time, according to a sociological survey conducted this year by the sociological service of the Razumkov Center, the Ukrainian Armed Forces enjoy the highest public trust among government and public institutions as 95% of respondents trust them.

Earlier, Russian propaganda spread a fake that Ukrainians would single-handedly repay a multibillion-dollar loan from frozen Russian assets.

Andriy Olenin