In mid-June 2023, a photograph circulated on social networks in which, allegedly, Ukrainians living overseas are kneeling in front of “spicy” graffiti made in yellow and blue tones. We have checked whether this description is true.
The photo shows a large group of people with Ukrainian symbols kneeling in front of a huge mural in the shape of a penis on the facade of the building. The graffiti is also made in the colors of the national flag of Ukraine, and the inscription “PTN” is applied to the member. As reported, the photo was taken in one of the cities of Canada.
This photo with a link to publication in the Telegram channel of the Russian political scientist Sergei Markov, such resources were distributed as the TV channel “Constantinople", "Main regional" And Novina24. She also appeared on entertainment portals (“I cried"), but became especially popular on social networks ("VKontakte" And Twitter). In Telegram, in addition to Markov, it was published by channels Ivan Utenkov (102,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), “1st"(66,000), Putin TG Team (62,000) and "What's going on?"(31,000).
The composition of the photo itself raises doubts about the authenticity of the viral image. Noteworthy, in particular, is the inappropriateness of such a frivolous (even if executed in national colors) mural in wartime and the strangeness of Ukrainians’ admiration for the letters “PTN”, which are often disapproved of denote Russian President. No publications about holding Ukrainian rallies in Canada in the described surroundings have recently appeared on the Internet.
“Verified” resorted to using the Google Images service to search for information on this image.
It turned out that such a mural really exists, or rather, existed, although without the inscription “PTN”. It appeared back in 2018, and not in Canada, but in the Swedish capital of Stockholm. The image was created by local artist Caroline Falkholt, who posted her creation on a special graffiti space provided by creative agency Kollektivet Livet. This freed Falkholt from having to consult local residents before painting a giant penis on a five-story building. However, after a number of complaints (some were left as posters right on top of the mural) graffiti was decided delete, it did not last long enough. In subsequent years this place decorated by others graffiti. This is not the first time Falkholt herself has drawn giant penises - she left a similar image a year earlier in New York.
The image, which went viral in June 2023, is actually a collage. Judging by the angle, the falling shadow and other details, the basis for its upper part was a photograph of the place we described in Stockholm, posted on April 11, 2018 on the Twitter account graffitiframjanet. The basis of the lower part was a photo from another old publications, which tells about interfaith prayer in the central square of the Ukrainian city of Cherkassy in March 2017. It was from there that the image of a group of worshipers was cut out and mirrored. What is typical, and six years ago, photographs from the event in Cherkassy became target Russian propaganda with manipulative comments. This time the collage became spread on social networks no later than the morning of June 17, 2023.
Thus, a collage assembled from five- and six-year-old photographs taken in Sweden and Ukraine, respectively, was passed off as a fresh photograph from Canada.
Cover photo: social networks
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