In April 2023, three covers of foreign publications were distributed on the Internet, dedicated to recent news: the scandal surrounding the Dalai Lama, the export of Ukrainian grain and Nazi bank accounts in a Swiss bank. We found out if these are real covers.
British magazine The New European
On April 14, the cover of The New European publication appeared on the Internet. It depicts the following scene: Vladimir Zelensky sits on the Dalai Lama’s lap and says: “I’ll suck if you pay me.” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stands nearby with an expression of dissatisfaction on his face. At the top is the headline: “How much is Britain willing to pay to solve the Ukrainian crisis?” TO the usual plot about Europeans’ dissatisfaction with spending on Ukraine, to which many fake magazine covers are devoted, this time it was added recent scandal with the 14th Dalai Lama, who for unknown reasons invited a boy sitting on his lap to suck his tongue. This supposedly new cover was reported, in particular, by Telegram channels “Live"(633 thousand views), "PUTIN on Telegram"(210 thousand) and "Federation"(58 thousand), as well as users "Zena"
In the upper right corner of the image being circulated, it appears as if it is an April 2023 special issue. In the upper left corner there is the inscription “issue 337”. IN archive The British magazine has such an issue, but it has a completely different cover, and there is no “special issue” mark.
The line above the title of the publication also does not correspond to the actual cover. In the picture being circulated there are three names: Alastair Campbell, Bonnie Greer and George Takei. These are all real people: Campbell - journalist, former press secretary of ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair; Greer - writer, screenwriter and columnist for several British publications; Takei - a famous actor who played in the film epic “Star Trek”. The combination of these three names actually appeared on the cover of The New European, but in completely another issue, No. 330 (February 23 - March 1, 2023).
And the barcode of the fake cover was taken from another issue of the magazine - a 56-page one Easter issue at No. 335.
The practice of creating a fake cover from several existing ones has already become familiar: elements taken from different issues of the publication are added to the cartoon drawn by the authors of the fake: for example, barcodes, headings and technical information.
There is also a gross spelling error right under the title of the publication. The original motto of the magazine is Think without borders. On the cover being distributed there is an error in this phrase: Think without boarders.
The original source of the fake was the Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation", where the post with the cover appeared on April 14 at 12:10 Moscow time (11 thousand views). In April 2023 alone, it was from this channel that the distribution of at least two fake covers began: on April 4 there appeared caricature allegedly from the French magazine Courrier International, April 5 - fake cover Charlie Hebdo.
German newspaper Handelsblatt
On April 19, the cover of the German daily newspaper Handelsblatt appeared on the Internet. The artist depicted Vladimir Zelensky in the image of Caesar, over whom four men in togas and with bags of grain under their arms raise daggers. The togas are painted in the colors of the national flags of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Bulgaria. At the top is the heading: “New terms of the grain deal.” The author obviously meant conflict around the supply of Ukrainian grain to Europe: some countries have imposed a temporary ban on its import due to the threat to their own agricultural sector. This supposedly new cover was reported by Telegram channels “TarikNezalejko"(72 thousand views), "What happened"(62 thousand) and "Mriya"(46 thousand).
The top left corner of the cover being distributed states that this is No. 77, a special issue (Sonderausgabe) for April. There are no special issues for this month in the Handelsblatt online archive. Number 77 came out on Thursday, April 20, that is, a day later than the cartoon allegedly from this issue appeared in the Russian segment of social networks..
Issues of Handelsblatt with full-length covers, where the illustration takes up the entire page, usually go out on Fridays (exceptions are before the Easter holidays; this year this issue went on sale on Thursday, April 6).
Technical errors also indicate a fake. For example, on the left are two barcodes. The first applies to the publication as a whole, it is always the same. The second one encodes a specific issue. In the real issue 77, the numbers are 40016, in the fake one - 50015. The last numbers coincide with another issue - number 73.
Like the fake Charlie Hebdo cover mentioned above, this one also has a different font from what the publication uses, as can be seen in most of the letters and numbers on the barcode and in the inscriptions above the magazine's logo.
The original source of the fake was the Telegram channel “Shkvarka News", where the post with the cover appeared on April 19 at 13:47 Moscow time (3 thousand views).
French magazine Charlie Hebdo
On April 19, the cover of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo appeared on the Internet. The cartoon shows Hitler diving into mountains of gold in a bank vault. Among the gold lie skulls: one with sidelocks, the other with a measuring ruler. Above the entrance to the vault is the inscription Credit Suisse, and Hitler says: “One country, one Fuhrer, one bank.” The drawing is obviously dedicated investigation the US Senate Budget Committee, which found that the Swiss bank until recently continued to service the accounts of high-ranking Nazis. This supposedly new cover of Charlie Hebdo was reported, for example, by Telegram channels “Sexton"(64 thousand views) and "Guard"(6 thousand).
In the upper left corner of the image being distributed, it is indicated that this is a special issue (numéro spécial) No. 1605 of April 19, 2023. According to the archive on the official website of the magazine, on that day it was actually published latest issue, but it was number 1604, there was no numéro spécial marking, and on its cover there was a picture of French President Emmanuel Macron. Magazine No. 1605 should not appear until April 26th.
“Verified” studied the official accounts of the French publication in Twitter, Facebook And Instagram and did not find a viral cartoon there.
Technical errors also indicate a fake. For example, in the lower left corner on the side line it is not No. 1605 (for official issues it coincides with the journal number), but No. 1591. On the viral cover, the barcode number is 17158, while the real covers are numbered 14057. It is noteworthy that this was also the case last time, when another fake Charlie Hebdo cover appeared: the authors of the fake images did not change either the number in the side line or the numbers above the barcode.
The original source of the fake was the Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation", where the post with the cover appeared on April 19 at 19:55 Moscow time (11 thousand views).
For several months now, fake covers have been created to provide informational support for topics popular among Russian propagandists (for example, that Ukraine is black hole, where the money of Western countries goes, or what Ukrainians - locusts, eating up the budgets of the EU and the USA) or as a reaction to high-profile news events (for example, meeting Vladimir Putin with Xi Jinping or conflict around the Ukrainian Orthodox Church).
Cover photo: collage “Verified” / social networks
Fake
- Is it true that foreign magazines published these covers dedicated to Zelensky and the Ukrainian church?
- Is it true that foreign magazines published these covers dedicated to Zelensky, Ukraine and Easter?
- Is it true that foreign magazines published these covers dedicated to Zelensky and Ukraine?
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