Is it true that graffiti with Zelensky in the image of acne and feces appeared in Berlin and London?

In January 2023, two pictures of street arts were encouraged in social networks, the authors of which presented the president of Ukraine in an unsightly form. We checked whether such drawings really appeared in Germany and Great Britain.

Berlin

On January 4, many publications appeared on the Web with a photo of a 3D graphist, allegedly shot in the capital of Germany. According to social networks and the media, the authors depicted Zelensky in the form of a purulent acne with a face and clenched fists on one of the streets of Berlin. Photos of this drawing were published by Telegram channels "Russia now"(350,000 views at the time of writing this analysis),"Solovyov"(318 000),"Dmitry Vasilet"(226,000),"Army 🅉 18+"(215 000),"Observer"(212 000),"Scott Ritter in Telegram"(209 000),"Sheikh Tamir"(158 000), Voblya (155,000), "PE Donetsk Z"(132 000),"Zl⭕️"(121 000),"Urgent news"(117 000),"What happened?"(112 000),"Special operation z"(107 000),"Uncle Glory"(100 000), Putin TG Team (90,000), "Yakov Kedmi"(90,000) and"Coachman"(35,000). In addition, the picture was enclosed in VKontakte (examples of public posts here, here, here, here And here) and twitter (here, here, here, here And here), appeared in "Zen" Livejournal, and also about it was talked to Somenewssites, among which "Federal News Agency".

Photo of Berlin graffiti, as in cases with pictures of similar 3D-rice in Warsaw, Paris, Madrid and New York, initially appeared on Instagram*-acound @typicaloptical on the eve of its mass distribution, that is, January 3, 2023. The authors published a picture in the form Nine individual publications and entirely in the story. At the same time in the Telegram channel "Dmitry Vasilet"(545,000 subscribers) by the author of graffiti They called it Banksy. At the time of writing this material, Typical Optical posts with photography have already been deleted, but Saved Archive copy. “Zelensky is the largest pimple in the world. In 2023, we must squeeze him out, ”anonymous artists signed the picture in English.

In some Internet publications Markthat the place for the art object was chosen a sidewalk in Berlin, "on which many legs passes." At the same time, we could not find a single picture of graffiti from a different angle, as if not a single passerby photographed or posted this drawing on the network, which seems unlikely, since we are talking about a crowded place. In addition, despite the signatures and tags that the photo was taken in Berlin, we could not determine the location of the alleged placement of graffiti.

German factor from Correctiv Installedthat the photo was not taken at all in Berlin, and indeed not in Germany. On the wall in the background of a viral picture, they noticed certain dates and suggested that this place could be in the Swiss Zurich. More precisely, in the area of ​​the renovation of the historical building Swiss Life Brannhof On Banghofstrasse Street. The conjecture of Correctiv was confirmed by Pio Zulzer, the head of the communications department of the Department of Civil Construction and Waste Management of the City Hall of Zurich. He specifically went to the alleged place of placement of graffiti and said that there was neither a drawing nor his traces on the asphalt. The fact of Correctiv’s fact also visited the place (the date is unknown, but the analysis was published on January 9) and the agency AFP (January 12) and took their photos.

Zulzer also said that in the stall, which is captured in the photo, chestnuts are fried all winter. Representatives of Correctiv talked with the seller in this stall, and he remembered the person who pretended to be an artist, but actually drawing Karakuli, and not work from a viral photograph. The same chestnut merchant told and AFP correspondent. In addition, the German publication turned to the Zurich waste department and processing of waste, responsible for cleaning the streets. Communications manager Tobias Nussmann told Correctiv that neither on a Banghofstrasse, nor anywhere else in Zurich, it was reported about such a street art, respectively, there was no need to wash it from the sidewalk.

The earliest publication, in addition to the original in Typical Optical, was “verified” in the Telegram channel “Earlier of anyone. Well, almost. Special operation ", where a post about Berlin graffiti appeared January 4, 2023 at 11:00 Moscow time. After fasting in the same channel It began And the massive spread of fake graffiti from Madrid, on which Zelensky was represented in the image of locusts.

London

On January 19, the last picture of Graffiti with Zelensky from Polish artists from Typical Optical at the time of writing this article was encircled. On it, the president of Ukraine is depicted in the form of a pile of feces, from which the pillars of smell in the colors of the Ukrainian flag rise. It is reported that such a street art appeared somewhere on the streets of London. Graffiti was written about this in Telegram channels "Scott Ritter in Telegram"(221,000 views),"The first folk"(203,000),"Summarians of Yuri Podolyaki"(156 000),"Ostashko! Important"(110 000),"What happened?"(107 000),"Uncle Glory"(104 000), Putin TG Team (82 000), "News.rf"(56 000) and"Before everyone else. Well, almost. Special operation"(14,000), in communities in VKontakte (examples here, here, here, here And here) and on Twitter (here, here And here).

The Polish art group Typical Optical posted a photo of her next creation Instagram (again in the form of nine posts and storiz) and in recently created Telegram-canale (published a whole picture) on January 18, 2023. The English -language signature for the post reads: “Shit happens in Europe. Thank you, Zelensky! " According to hashtags and geotheg, this street art appeared in London.

LEAD Stories Installedthat the location was once again indicated by the artists incorrectly. In fact, the photo was not taken in London and not at all in the UK. In the background of the picture, the facade is noticeable "Lindt chocolate houses" - buildings of the Swiss company for the production of chocolate Lindt & Sprüngli AG, located In Kilhberg near Zurich.

The editors of Lead Stories turned to the press service of the company for a comment regarding the viral photo from graffiti. On January 19 (a day after the publication of the Typical Optical) public relations manager Lindt Home of Chocolate Daniel Khuggenberger confirmed that the photo was taken in front of the “House of Chocolate” in the suburbs of Zerich, but refuted the presence of street art: “There has never been graffiti. So this is a fake. " The same Huggenberger told AFP editors: “This is a fake ... This image never appeared in front of the Lindt Home of Chocolate. We are open almost every day, and none of us has ever seen this picture. And this is a rather busy place. " According to him, the photo was taken in December or the very beginning of January, since it is visible on it by Christmas jewelry, which were removed in the first week of January. Probably, in the same period, another photograph (with graffiti Berlin) was shot in Zurich, which indirectly confirms the same clothing in the person in the frame and the same yellow box for crayons.

In addition, "House of Chocolate Lindt" operates And as a museum, therefore, many tourists and local residents are attracted. However, nowhere in the network there is no other photo of graffiti besides what has become viral. Moreover, the picture of the drawing was again distributed not immediately after the appearance of original publications in the Typical Optical accounts, and after some time in Telegram (the earliest of the posts we discovered was Placed In the channel "Bullet" (198,000 views) January 19 at 11:55 Moscow time). Previously, this channel repeatedly distributed misinformation: for example, there they posted a photo of a non -existent 3D graphfi with Zelensky in Warsaw, More than once shared fake covers foreign satirical magazines, and once a "bullet" I became The primary source of the spread of such a cover.

Thus, neither in Berlin nor in London the drawings of Zelensky considered by us did not appear. The authors from Typical Optical, who previously only mounted pictures in graphic editors, in these cases also indicated incorrect locations. At the time of writing this text is all 27 posts, placed On the Typical Optical Instagram account, marked Moderators of the social network as “false information”.

*Russian authorities They think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social network Instagram, an extremist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.

Photo on the cover: collage "Checked" / @typicaloptical

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Is it true that a monument to Zelensky was erected in Milan in the form of a nose with white powder?
2. Is it true that foreign magazines released these covers dedicated to Zelensky and Ukraine?
3. Is it true that in Berlin a bus with the inscription "Zelensky - Black Hill" accidentally got into a television report on energy crisis?
4. Is it true that one contemporary artist sold his feces for a lot of money?