Cover page of Germany’s Titanic forged by Russian propagandists for third time this year

The Kremlin mass media outlets, Z-oriented Telegram channels and pro-Russian X users are spreading on the web the fabricated cover page of Germany’s Titanic magazine, dedicated to Halloween.

It depicts the children wearing the masks of Volodymyr Zelensky, who are holding empty baskets, and one boy dressed in the colors of the Israeli flag with a basket full of candies.

This is another Russian fake. None of Titanic’s issues had such a cover page. It was neither posted on the magazine’s official website nor in its Facebook or X accounts.

The fabricated cover page indicates that it was allegedly issue No. 11, published in October 2023.

Meanwhile, Titanic’s original issue under such number was published in November 2023 and was dedicated to the war-free period of almost 80 years in Germany, i.e. had nothing to do with Ukraine.

The design style of the fabricated cover page also differs. Titanic magazine traditionally uses photographs or photo collages instead of caricatures. Moreover, one can hardly imagine any German publication that would use a similar caricature on its cover page, considering the particular sensitivity of Jew-related issues in Germany.

Both Germany and its neighbor, German-speaking Austria, paid attention to the fake cover page.

In particular, fact-checkers from Germany’s dpa noted that it was not the first time for Titanic’s cover page to have been fabricated. The previous fake cover page depicted a caricature of Volodymyr Zelensky with various military equipment and money flying into its mouth. It appeared exactly a year ago, in October 2022.

Meanwhile, fact-checkers from Austria’s Mimikama wrote that Titanic’s another fabricated cover page, depicting Zelensky and dedicated to Ukraine’s counteroffensive, appeared on the web in June 2023. According to the Austrian analysts, the message behind it seems clear and has become a popular thesis of Russian propaganda in recent days: the West will allegedly stop aid to Ukraine and instead direct all resources to Israel.

Germany has been one of Ukraine’s main allies since the Russian invasion started. In terms of the volume of military and humanitarian aid sent to Ukraine, Germany has been ranked second after the United States. Over 20 months since the war started, Ukraine has received EUR 24 billion in aid from Germany.

Russian propagandists often use the fabricated cover pages of foreign publications. Ukrinform has already refuted similar fake news related to Charlie Hebdo, Courrier International, Franc Tireur, Ananda Vikatan, Humor Times, etc.

Following Hamas’s terrorist attack on peaceful settlements in the State of Israel and the start of hostilities in the Gaza Strip, Russian propagandists began to actively spread the fake news related to Israel and Ukraine.

Recently, pro-Russian sources have posted a fake video, showing the anti-Israel street billboard ads in New York, allegedly ordered by Ukrainians, as well as a fabricated news report on the Israeli armored vehicles labeled with Russian Z and V symbols. Additionally, a Russian-fabricated promotional video, allegedly showing a Ukrainian warrior who calls for joining the ranks of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), was circulating in the Ukrainian YouTube segment.

Andrii Olenin, Olha Tanasiichuk