You can often read on the Internet that the mayor of the Yakut capital did not meet the demands of local migrants. We checked whether this actually happened.

Here’s what a popular news story on the RuNet says: “The mayor of Yakutsk, who refused to remove pork from the menu of school canteens at the request of Muslims, commented on his decision: "Muslims must understand that they must integrate and learn to live in Yakutsk. They must understand that it is they who must change their way of life, and not the Yakutians who so generously welcomed them. Muslims must understand that the Yakutians are not racist, not xenophobic. Yakutia accepted many immigrants before Muslims arrived here. Just like other peoples, the Yakutians are not ready to give up their identity or their culture. And if Yakutia accepted someone to their land, then it is not the mayor who welcomes foreigners, but the Yakut people as a whole. And finally, they must understand that in Yakutia, with its Tengri roots, New Year trees, Ysyakhs and religious festivals, religion should remain a personal matter for everyone. For Muslims who do not agree and do not feel comfortable in Yakutia, there are 57 beautiful Muslim countries in the world, most of them are sparsely populated and are ready to welcome them openly. hugs" (spelling preserved. - Ed.).

This information is popular both on social networks (more than 5,000 reposts on Facebook, 249,000 views in "VKontakte»), and on other news resources (9111.ru, JoyReactor, website Armenian Museum of Moscow and Culture of Nations). Some sources even indicate the name of the mayor - Aisen Sergeevich Nikolaev.

An attentive person may be struck by the wide variation in publication dates: for example, on the resource “I cried"The post appeared in November 2016, and in "VKontakte"(with mention of Nikolaev) - in December 2021. And although in the latter case everything is presented in the present tense (“Now the mayor will be persecuted”), it is not difficult find outthat Aisen Nikolaev held this post from 2012 to 2018, and now heads the entire republic. There are also coordination errors (“in Yakutia with its Tengrians”, “ready to welcome with open arms”), which cannot be presented in a statement by an official of such a rank. Another problem is that information about Nikolaev’s actions before November 2016 is not found at all. They are not included in official reports after this date. Not to mention the fact that Russia is a multi-religious country (only Muslims here lives about 20 million), in which such a sharp statement could not go unnoticed.

But on the Pikabu resource you can find publication dated November 24, 2015 with almost verbatim the same text, but... about the mayor of Quebec, Canada. From another similar news you can find out that this was the mayor not of the city of Quebec, but of the suburb of Montreal - Dorval, which is part of the province of Quebec. Strange, isn't it? Further - more. If we turn to English-language sources, we will find similar news about the mayors of Australian towns Maryborough (2016) and Joondalup (2019). This could be mistaken for a flash mob if the text of the news did not match exactly to the translation. In addition, if the Yakutsk mayor’s office did not particularly react to this information, then, for example, in Dorval, it was refuted.

However, neither Canadian nor Australian cities claim primacy in this fake news story with elements of xenophobia. It all started in 2013 with the Belgian town of Ath, and the main character of the viral news became its mayor, Marc Duvivier. Soon, in response to the rumors, a refutation appeared on the municipality’s website. Duvivier stated, that “not a single person, whatever his nationality or ethnicity, has made such a request to municipal services.” Moreover, the mayor filed a complaint with law enforcement agencies. Nevertheless, the story not only survived to this day, but also migrated to other countries and cities.

Interestingly, a similar incident actually occurred in France in 2018. Far-right mayor of the French city of Beaucaire Julien Sanchez canceled alternatives to pork in school canteens, saying that "religious exceptions on menus violate the law" and that "in France, the republic takes precedence over religion." However, this was after the fictitious monologue of the Belgian mayor became a traveling plot point. Note that in recent decades in the West there has appeared a lot various “canards” that incite hatred or at least promote a harsh attitude towards migrants, especially those professing Islam.