In June 2023, covers of the satirical magazines Eulenspiegel and Titanic, which ridiculed the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, went viral on the Internet. We decided to check if these are real caricatures.
German magazine Eulenspiegel
On June 15, a cover allegedly from the German edition of Eulenspiegel appeared on the Internet. On a green background is the word Der Gegenangriff (“counteroffensive”), lined with the bloody remains of soldiers in the uniform of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, ammunition and ammunition. This allegedly published cover was reported, in particular, by Telegram channels “Dmitry Vasilets"(222,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Mriya"(192,000), "Sheikh Tamir" (146,000) and "Everyday life of a PMC"(108,000).
The satirical magazine Eulenspiegel is published once a month. The viral image states that the issue is July: 7/2023. But in gallery There are no such covers on the official website of the publication, nor on Eulenspiegel’s social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram). The last issue at the time the viral cover appeared (No. 6/2023) was published on May 23 and was dedicated to scandal around the Vice-Chancellor of Germany and Minister of Economy Robert Habeck - his deputy contributed to the appointment of his friend to a high government post, but kept silent about the conflict of interest.
This is not the first time that fake Eulenspiegel covers have appeared on pro-Kremlin Telegram channels. But in the two previous cases (fake numbers for March And June 2023) they were displayed by a technical error - a zero before the number indicating the month. Now the authors of the fake cover have avoided this shortcoming.
The earliest publication of a viral cover with the word “counteroffensive” that “Verified” was able to detect appeared on June 15 at 10:58 Moscow time in the Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation"(12,000 views). In recent months, it is from this Telegram channel that the distribution of fake magazine covers most often begins (here are examples from December 2022, January And April 2023).
German magazine Titanic
On June 13, another cover dedicated to the counter-offensive of the Ukrainian army appeared on the Internet, this time allegedly from the publication Titanic. It depicts Zelensky with his trousers pulled back, revealing the silhouette of a tank, and the caption: “Successful counter-offensive in your pants.” This allegedly published cover was reported, in particular, by Telegram channels Colonelcassad (318,000 views), "Uncle Slava" (180,000) and "Ukraine.ru"(135,000).
Titanic comes out once a month. The cover, which has been circulating on social media, states that it is a June 2023 issue. Meanwhile, in the online store on the official website of the magazine, where all issues for 2023, at June issue completely different cover.
In addition, the image being distributed indicates that this is a special edition (Die Sonderausgabe). It was not possible to find a single special issue on the official website of the publication. Instead of the corresponding inscription on genuine issues, its number during the year is indicated - for example, under the inscription “June 2023” on the real cover it says Nr. 6.
The earliest publication of this fake cover that “Verified” was able to detect appeared on June 13 at 10:02 Moscow time, also in the Telegram channel “Before everyone else. Well almost. Special operation"(12,000 views). This is not the first fake Titanic cover: in October 2022 on the Internet spread viral image of Zelensky as a black hole absorbing money and weapons.
Cover photo: collage “Checked”
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