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In April 2023, two covers of French and Spanish publications with caricatures on Easter, which depicted Vladimir Zelensky, appeared on social networks. We checked the authenticity of these viral images.
French magazine Courrier International
On April 4, the cover was enclosed on the network as if the fresh issue of the French magazine Courrier International dedicated to Easter. According to the authors of numerous online publications, the Ukrainian president steals Easter eggs in French children on a caricature and says to them: “Ukraine needs it!” Also on the cover there is a title "Pain our eggs!" Some posts claim that this drawing is “an allegory for a waste of taxpayer money for Zelensky’s Wishlist”. Probably, this refers to the help of the Western countries to Ukraine.
Similar statements appeared in Telegram channels "Bullet"(159,000 views at the time of writing this analysis),"Ukraine.ru"(105,000),"Ivan Utenkov"(98 000), Putin TG Team (76,000), "Mriya"(60 000), Rogandar News (52,000), "Inosmi"(36,000) and"Tsargrad-TV"(28,000), as well as in VKontakte (examples here, here And here) and twitter (here, here And here).
Courrier International - weekly on Thursdays (however, subscribers can Get a digital version of the release the day before it appears in kiosks). The viral cover indicates that this is No. 1692, which was published on April 6, 2023. "Verified" studied the accounts of the publication in Twitter, Instagram* And Facebook* And there was no similar image dedicated to Easter. No release with such a caricature and in Card index covers on the website Courrier International. Moreover, on the official resources of the magazine a completely different cover No. 1692 was published, announced In social networks April 5. It posts a photo of young men from India - the authorities of this country, by opinion The editors must carry out judicial reform and provide local youth with work and prospects.
The fact that the cover with Zelensky, stealing Easter eggs, is a fake, other details also testify. For example, the barcode in the lower right corner costs 031183, while the real cover indicates the other number - 03183. In addition, fonts on the analyzed cover differ from those used by the publication - this is especially noticeable in numbers 2, 3, 6 and 9.
The earliest appearance of the fake we found in the Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well, almost. Special operation "(15,000 views), where the post with the cover Published April 4 at 12:18 pm Moscow time. Previously, this channel has been distributing inaccurate information many times, which was disassembled “verified”. It is noteworthy that at the end of December, when the Catholics celebrated Christmas, from the same channel It began The spread of the fake cover of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine with a similar composition, only at that time Zelensky stole the gifts of the Magi from Jesus.
Spanish magazine El Jueves
On April 12, another viral image appeared - supposedly the cover of the Spanish satirical magazine El Jueves. The caricature shows the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Zelensky, in the foreground, the basket is drawn in which the scrotum is lying (obviously, testiculas are compared with Easter eggs). Also in the figure there is an inscription that is translated in different publications as “their last Easter” or “their last holy week”.
Publications with the alleged Spanish cover appeared in Telegram channels "Zl⭕️"(115,000 views),"DPR 🅉 info 🇷🇺"(46,000),"Evil journalist"(43,000),"Coachman"(26,000),"Summary"(13,000) and"Lightning"(10,000), as well as on Twitter (here, here And here) and "VKontakte" (here And here).
Under the name of the magazine, it is indicated that this is issue No. 2388. We studied archive The covers on the official website of El Jueves did not find such an Easter caricature there. Moreover, “verified” did not find any information about the cover No. 2388 on the official resources of the publication, including social networks (Twitter, Facebook And Instagram). At the time of writing this analysis, the last issue published in the card file has number 2386, its cover Dedicated Churches - "the oldest business in the world." At the caricature, the artist reminded of the dark pages of Catholicism, such as the Inquisition, Witch Hunting, scandals with corruption of children, etc. In social networks also Placed The announcement of one of the cartoons of number 2387, which will be released next week, but this drawing is in no way connected with Easter (which is logical, because in Spain this holiday was celebrated on April 9).
In the lower left corner of the viral cover there is a barcode, which indicates the number 02375. On the genuine covers El Jueves, this number should coincide with the issue number, that is, No. 2388 should indicate 02388. It is noteworthy that in November 2022 on the network on the network appeared The fake cover of the same Spanish magazine, dedicated to the call of the Russian duo of the pranks of Vovan and Lexus, President of Poland, Andrzeje Duda. She was also at 2375. Apparently, the authors of Fake used the old barcode and forgot to change the numbers. In addition, it can be noted that the inscription font above the name of the magazine differs from the font on real covers, which is most noticeable by the letters A, R, S, Q and E.
According to TGSTAT, the earliest publication with a fake cover appeared in the Voblya Telegram channel (135,000 views), where the post Placed April 13 at 09:13. Although the tank of the canal was imposed on the image, later publications appeared with the cover without it. Therefore, it is possible that there were earlier posts that could not be found.
Update of April 15, 2023. The editors of "Verified" found Telegram channels, in which the cover without a tank appeared on April 12. Among them, the earliest publication was in the channel "Previously of anyone. Well, almost. Special operation ", where is the post Sicked More than 11,000 views.
*Russian authorities They think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns social networks Facebook and Instagram, an extremist organization, its activities in Russia are prohibited.
** Supreme Court of Russia Recognized Azov with a terrorist organization banned its activities in Russia.
Photo on the cover: Collage "Checked" / social networks
Fake
- Is it true that Easter cakes were sold in Ukrainian stores with the symbols of the Azov regiment **?
- Is it true that foreign satirical magazines released these covers with caricatures for Ukrainians at the World Cup 2022, Zelensky and Dudu?
- Is it true that foreign magazines released these covers dedicated to Zelensky and Ukraine?
- Is it true that the Spanish magazine released these covers with Zelensky and NATO leaders?
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