Is it true that Zelensky was compared with a black hole in the advertising of the museum on Times Square in New York?

In November 2022, Russian media wrote about a commercial, allegedly demonstrated in the center of New York. The video showed a photo of the Ukrainian president with the signature "Black hole (one guy from Ukraine)." Later, the cover with a reference to this video was allegedly published by the Spanish satirical magazine. We checked the veracity of these two messages.

News about video rejects massively dispersed over the network of November 8 last year. On the viral 34-second record, about which he wrote a number of Russian-speaking media and Telegram channels, a media facade is captured on one of the Times Square buildings-squares in the central part of Manhattan. In the second second of the video on the media screen, a broadcast of the alleged advertising of the American Museum of Natural History begins: first, the planet with the signature “Mars (not chocolate)” is shown, then the Galaxy with the signature “Milky Way (not Chocolate)”, and at the end there is a photograph of Vladimir Zelensky with the words “Black hole (one guy from Ukraine)”.

Publications about this commercial appeared on the sites "Russian newspaper" And "Izvestia", TV channels"REN - TV" And "Moscow 24","Public news service" And "Federal News Agency". On the portal "Reporter" the essence of the video Explained So: “... a discussion has unfolded in American social networks. The opinions of people were divided. Some publications clarify that a black hole is probably meant not some physiological characteristics of a person or spicy emotional and psychological states related to this, but a certain cosmic (astronomical) concept, but linked to the absorption of money at the speed of light. ” Also, the texts of some resources mentioned above indicate that it is not known what this action is - a hacker attack or planned advertising campaign, but that no one expressed doubts that the video really showed.

Viral video was also published in the Telegram channels of the media manager Kristina Partic (38,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), TV presenter Ruslan Ostashko (520,000), showman Andrei Bocharov (122,000) and site URA.RU (96,000), as well as in channels "Live broadcast"(683 000), Colonelcassad (326 000), "Truthfulness"(285 000),"Open Ukraine | Open Ukraine"(222 000),"Observer"(217 000), Voblya (180,000), "Federation"(151 000),"Sheikh Tamir"(150 000),"From the scene"(138 000),"I am in the know"(107 000),"Sexton"(82 000),"Military observer"(64,000) and"Before everyone else. Well, almost. Special operation"(13,000). In addition, the video can be found in the RUTUBE account "Solovyov Live",VKontakte"In the verified public program"News", In the official Facebook*-count of the Russian embassy to Bangladesh, on YouTube, "Picabu", V Twitter And Livejournal.

The most widely video spread in the Russian -language segment of the Internet and social networks. “Verified” did not find any mention of the video with the corresponding advertisements in authoritative foreign media. More importantly, in foreign social networks there is neither filming from another angle, or at least written reports of eyewitnesses that they saw such a video. Given that Times Square is one of the most crowded ones (in 2022 there are every day there Passed about 300,000 people) and Popular Among tourists in New York, it seems extremely suspicious that the news of this ambiguous advertising Distracted In English only after they wrote about it on Russian -speaking resources.

At the end of the viral video, you can see the logo of the American Museum of Natural History. At the same time, neither on sitenor in verified social networks The museum is not such a video. Last year, “verified” several requests to the press service of the New York Museum, but did not receive a response. Recently, museum representatives responded to our colleagues from the project Les Observateurs TV channel France 24. Press Service She saidThat this is “a fake video that distributes false information”, and added: “Advertising [of our museum] is not broadcast to Times Square. This is an unauthorized and unacceptable use of the logo and symbols of the museum. ”

In the upper right corner of the recording, you can notice the Fox News Digital logo-the web platform of the American television channel Fox News. Neither we nor our French colleagues managed to find such a video on the channel resources. The channel itself denies any connection with viral personnel. “This video was not broadcast on Fox News Channel and was not published on Fox News Digital,” It is said In a message sent to Les Observateurs.

We found out what kind of outdoor advertisement on Mediapolnaya Times-Square shown in a viral video, the company replies Silvercast Media. “Verified” sent a request to the press service of the company, but did not receive an answer. However, the observer France 24 contacted Gary Grossman, the co -founder of Silvercast, and he replied that the video is fake. By the way, this is not the first fake video associated with media facades - we are already Disassembled Two false messages On the appearance of fake advertisements on the screen in the center of Moscow.

As indicated at the beginning of the analysis, the video was encouraged only on November 8, 2022, and according to the service TGSTATwhich allows the search for Telegram, the earliest publication was placed In the channel "World News" on October 23. At the time of writing this text, such a channel no longer exists. At the same time, on Twitter you can meet postsWhere the video with advertising is blocked “in connection with the complaint of the copyright holder, but we were not able to establish who owns the right to a viral video.

In less than a week, on November 14, the alleged cover of the Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves dispersed over the network, the authors of the picture on which allegedly made an advertisement with Zelensky and a black hole (as well as to the famous photo "Kiss on Times Square" of 1945). How reported In some publications, according to the plot of the caricature of "people on the street, it is pretty sick of the face of the Ukrainian president." The translation of the text on the cover is also given: "as annoying as Dikpik (photo of a naked member, which will be spaced for girls without their request)."

The viral image appeared, in particular, in the Telegram channels of the media manager Kristina Partic (55,000 views) and radio host Armen Gasparyan (78,000), as well as in channels "Bullet"(180 000),"From the scene"(129,000),"Special operation z"(123,000),"Kostyan Cat - Official Channel"(98 000),"Gossip"(90 000), Russia 🇷🇺 Live (87 000), "Briefly"(61 000),"War History of Weapons"(49,000),"Political scientist of the 21st century"(33,000),"Nose"(25,000) and"Before everyone else. Well, almost. Special operation"(12 000). In the channel "Release Kraken!"(87,000) noted:“ If that, this is all a reference to the plot of the American program, on which they wanted to demonstrate the sound of a cosmic black hole, but eventually showed Zelensky. Lyap liked the public so much that they don’t think to forget about him. ” Also, the viral image can be found in VKontakte (examples here And here) and twitter (here And here).

There was never a mentioned case when on the air of the American television show, the speech of Zelensky instead of the sounds of a black hole was never. "Checked" Disassembled That viral video with Lyap (they talked about it back in mid-October 2022) and found that the record was mounted, as well as the advertising of the museum on Times Square. Then could the cartoons of the Spanish magazine beat a fake video in their work, which gained popularity only in Runet? In theory, of course, they could. However, we checked archive covers on the official website EL Jueves, as well as magazine accounts in Twitter, Facebook And Instagram* And they did not find there the cover from the photo of Zelensky on Times Square.

The viral caricature indicates that this is the issue under the number 2373. At the same time, on the resources of the publication represented Another cover under the same number, it is dedicated to the topic of public health and health.

This is far from the first fake cover, which is disassembled “verified” - this time, as often It happened earlier, the authors of the fake used incorrect fonts and barcodes. For example, on the viral cover barcode, the number is 02365, although it must correspond to the release number (2373). Number 2365 I went out In September 2022, there was also no Zelensky on its cover. And if you carefully consider the numbers (especially 2, 3 and 4) on viral and real covers, you can notice that they are written in different fonts.

The earliest mention of the fake cover we found by keywords in the Telegram channel "Denacification UA”(33,000 views), where the post with her was published on November 14, 2022 at 12:59 pm Moscow time. Posts "Denacification UA" mentioned At least At five ours parsing In connection with distribution Fakes.

Thus, these videos and cover with fake advertising are examples of a narrative that spreads Russian propaganda and which can be described quote From the channel Kristina Podkheshchik: "Now Zelensky is associated with the Americans (and to a greater extent Europeans) with a black hole, where their money disappears without a trace." At the same time, the entire narrative is mainly supported by fake messages and misinformation (according to hundreds of questions, as of November 2022, the majority Americans And Europeans They supported both the economic and military support of Ukraine). "Verified" has already repeatedly disassembled fake graffiti, video And covers magazines allegedly comparing Zelensky (and Ukraine) with a black hole.

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

Photo on the cover: Screenshot "Checked" / social networks

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

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3. Is the photo true in which Bidden put his hand on the buttocks of Zelensky?