Russian propaganda creates video fakes about May 9 symbols in Berlin and New York

Russian and Belarusian media outlets, including those that cater to foreign audiences, Spanish- and Turkish-language news sites, and numerous Russian bots on Telegram, YouTube, and X, as well as some Ukrainian media outlets, are spreading a video that they claim is from the center of Berlin.The video shows one of Germany’s best-known landmarks, the Brandenburg Gate, which is allegedly illuminated by the Soviet Union flag. In the posts, propagandists claim that Russian hackers hacked the projection on the Brandenburg Gate.

This is a fake. Not a single German or other reputable world publication wrote about this "incident." Ordinary users of Instagram, X, and Snapchat also did not post photos or videos showing the Soviet flag on the Brandenburg Gate.

The majority of these posts were shared by bots that posted the same image and video with the same geolocation in the center of Berlin.

"After evaluating all the findings available," the Berlin police confirmed to Ukrinform that the video was fabricated.  

"The video and photos of the projection on the Brandenburg Gate circulating on social media are an optical/graphic fake," said Jennifer Bähle, senior commissioner for the Berlin Police.  

It is worth noting that on May 8, a banner reading "Russian soldiers, get out of Ukraine!" was hung near the Brandenburg Gate.

Z-Telegram channels are spreading another video fake about Time Square in New York. There, a banner in the English language, featuring the colors of the St. George's ribbon, allegedly congratulates Americans on Victory Day.

This is a fake created with the help of graphic editors. The original video, a recording of a 12-hour walking tour of New York City, was displayed on May 2, 2024. The propagandists cut out a few seconds of it and superimposed the graphics they needed.

Earlier, Russian propaganda invented fakes about French troops in Donbas.

Andriy Olenin, Olha Tanasiychuk