In mid -February 2023, Russian -language information resources distributed a curious statement by the head of the Estonian Cabinet of Ministers of KAI Kallas. We checked whether she said this.

The statement attributed to Callas is as follows: “With great joy, I inform that today Estonia handed over to Kyiv ten F-16 fighters. While the rest of the countries doubt, we provide assistance. Unfortunately, we do not have aircraft themselves, but the fact of the transfer will become tremendous moral support for the people of Ukraine. If this amount is not enough, then we are ready to discuss the transfer of another 30 fighters. ”

This contradictory statement was distributed by numerous Russian -speaking users "Zena" And Facebookas well as a number of Telegram channels, among which-"The world today with "Yuri Podolyak"","Geoenergetics Info","The world of Mikhail Onufrienko" And "Specifically". Total audience news in Telegram Compiled More than 1 million users.

The issue of supplying the countries of the Western weapons to Kyiv is one of the most popular topics in the Russian and European media since February 2022, and its discussion is often accompanied disinformation. Estonia, which over the past year, did not stand aside from military assistance Passed Ukraine Javelin, howitzers, anti -tank mines and grenade launchers, mortars, vehicles, ammunition and other equipment worth 1.08% of GDP, which makes it world leader By this indicator. Prime Minister Kai Callas called Such steps of the West "Previous to the World."

The Callas statement quoted in Telegram channels regarding the transfer of F-16 fighters to Ukraine began to spread on February 10. The day before in Brussels, an extraordinary two -day summit European council, on which Participation President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky discussed military assistance to this country, including Kyiv’s requests for the provision of modern Western fighters to him. Kai Callas also took part in the discussions, Called EU countries to help Ukraine in the volume that would have been enough to confront the new major offensive of the Russian Federation. She drawn an analogy with the joint purchase of vaccines from the Covid-19 and suggested that you acquire ammunition for the Ukrainian side at the expense of the EU member states.

We would like to pay attention to the conversation of the head of the Estonian government with journalists on the morning of February 9, shortly before the start of the summit. There Kallas, in particular, said: “We have no fighters, so the decision remains behind other democratic countries - can they [provide planes]. But I urge everyone to do everything that is possible, because the price grows with each delay, with each delay. If all countries would have given everything that they provide now in January, the outcome could be different. So I hope that if these countries can [help with planes], they will do it. But this is their decision. "

The video of this speech was immediately published by the American news agency Bloomberg, and soon Kau Kallas was also quoted in Russia - in particular, RIA "News". As you can see, the Estonian prime minister did not say anything about the transfer of missing aircraft.

How did Kallas turn into a viral quote? According to the TGSTAT service, the first news appeared in Telegram at 12:00 Moscow time in the channel called "But my Yandex is a wallet". The description of the channel speaks for itself: “A parody, a satire on political reality. Only proven fakes. " This is no longer first, Not second And not even third The case when the text born in this channel with 18,000 subscribers is taken for a clean coin on the Internet.

Photo on the cover: Wikipedia