Is it true that a poster in support of Ukraine with the inscription “Go forward” was placed in the Paris metro?

In blogs and the media you can find a photograph of a poster in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, on which is written in French: “Go forward.” Judging by the photo, the poster is located directly opposite the platform. We decided to check whether such a poster really exists.

On the afternoon of December 19, 2022, two photographs of the poster appeared on the Telegram channel of the Ural news agency Ura.ru along with a note entitled “An ambiguous banner in support of Ukraine appeared in the Paris metro.” It was alleged that the photographs were taken by a reader of Ura.ru. The explanation for the photograph was as follows: “The poster hangs on the other side of the tracks, and the association “Forward across the rails” arises, that is, to the next world.” In addition, the post contained an additional interpretation: “The traces on the Ukrainian flag may be a hint that the refugees have already taken refuge and it is time for them to return home. This is how local residents perceived the poster.” Following Ura.ru, they wrote about the Parisian poster RIA FAN, "Ukraine.ru"and many famous bloggers - for example, Kristina Potupchik, which has been caught more than once in the spread of fakes.

At first glance, the poster appears real. Advertising is placed on the walls of Parisian metro stations in this way. Moreover, both the tracks and the walls are similar to the Paris Metro. The original photograph was most likely taken at Nation Station, on the Line 6 platform. In any case, the tiles and the lines separating the different colored tiles are very similar.

The same walls are visible in this video from the Nation station:

However, neither Parisian newspapers nor French social network users wrote anything about the poster from the Ura.ru publication. Which is strange, because this is one of the largest transfer stations in the French capital, and the inappropriate call to “go forward” would most likely have been noticed. This happened, for example, in early November in St. Petersburg, where the local bakery chain “Boucher” placed a poster at one of the metro stations with the inscription “Boucher for a step forward” - passengers were separated from it by tracks. The advertisement sparked active discussion on social networks about it. wrote and urban media.

Moreover, the pictures posted on the Telegram channel Ura.ru, and then distributed to other media, are the only “evidence” of the existence of the poster. No one took this poster from another angle. For comparison, only in publications of the St. Petersburg edition of Fontanka presented five different photographs of the Bush advertisement (and one video), another photo published newspaper "Paper".

In photographs published in Russian media and in Russian-language Telegram channels, the Secours populaire logo is clearly visible at the top of the poster. The QR code in the lower right corner of the poster also leads to the main website of this charity organization. Secours populaire is also involved in helping Ukrainians. On March 2, 2022, a detailed reportage about a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory. Then, in early March, the organization announced fundraising for Ukrainians affected by hostilities, which continues to this day. At the same time, the poster allegedly placed in the Paris metro is not in the public archive on the Secours populaire website.

At the request of “Verified”, project journalists Les Observateurs France 24 TV channel contacted the organization for comment. Secours populaire responded: “We have never printed such posters and do not place our posters in the subway.” French journalists also received comments from RATP, the company that operates the Paris Metro. They also stated that there was no such poster in the subway.

Thus, we can conclude that there was no such poster in the Paris metro. The only evidence of its existence is two photographs that first appeared in a Russian-language publication. The appearance of a poster in support of Ukraine with an ambiguous message in one of the most crowded places in the French capital, at a metro station, would have led to a large number of posts on social networks, but we did not find any photographs taken by passengers. Finally, both the organization whose logo appears on the poster and the metro operator deny the existence of this poster.

Cover photo: social networks

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

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