In December 2023, a photo of a leaflet allegedly taken in one of the kindergartens in the Ukrainian Poltava spread on the Internet: the characteristic features of Father Frost and Santa Claus are listed, by which they can be distinguished. We decided to check whether this information is true.

The photo being distributed shows a poster hanging on the wall, which lists the differences between the two symbols of the New Year. It is said about Santa Claus that he is always cheerful, travels on a magical sleigh with reindeers, closer to Western values. Santa Claus, according to the authors of the leaflet, is an eternally sad relic of the Soviet past who lives with his minor granddaughter. Some people said that in Poltava children are taught to distinguish these characters from similar leaflets. Media and information portals. Users of social networks share the photo (“VKontakte", X, "Classmates") And blogging platforms. They posted the photo on themselves and popular Telegram channels: “Uncle Slava"(172,000 views at the time of writing the analysis), Voblya (133,000), "Mriya"(103,000), "Ukraine.ru"(90,000), "Kot Kostyan - official channel"(88,000), etc.

None of the posts specify which child care facility the leaflet was spotted at. The photograph also does not allow us to establish where it is placed: the picture shows only the poster itself without any imprint, as well as a piece of the wall decorated with tinsel and paper snowflakes. The poster is a regular A4 sheet with color printing, placed in a file. The images used in it are in the public domain and are not the first time used in designs with a New Year theme: for example, this drawing of Santa Claus can be found on gift boxes, and Santa Claus - in illustrations children's fairy tales, registration websites of preschool institutions, etc. Theoretically, anyone could make such a poster, attach it to the wall and take a photo.

Our fellow fact checkers from the project Ukrinform We noticed that the content of the leaflet, supposedly created for kindergarten students, raises some questions. Firstly, not all preschoolers can read, and for distribution in kindergartens it would be more logical to depict the differences between the two New Year's characters with pictures. Secondly, it is unlikely that children under six or seven years old understand what “closeness to Western values” is, which is presented as one of the advantages of Santa Claus, and why the fact that Santa Claus lives with his minor granddaughter should be regarded as his disadvantage.

Previously, “Verified” already dealt with the fake news that Ukrainian animators forbidden to dress up in a Santa Claus costume. Then this information was also confirmed by photographs of leaflets posted on the notice board. At that time, Santa Claus was compared not with Santa Claus, but with St. Nicholas, but the points chosen for this comparison are very similar. So, on that poster it was stated that Santa Claus is “a pedophile who walks around with an underage slut.” However, that leaflet was allegedly posted in one of the Ukrainian event agencies and appealed to an adult audience. In kindergarten, hints that Santa Claus is a pedophile cohabiting with an underage girl are, to say the least, inappropriate and hardly understandable for preschoolers. It is logical to assume that the authors of the leaflet from a Poltava kindergarten were inspired by an earlier fake about the ban on Santa Claus costumes for animators.

The earliest publication of a photograph of the poster that “Verified” was able to find was published in the pro-Russian Telegram channel “Ukraine.ru» December 19, 2023 at 15:16 Moscow time. The post contains the hashtag “they write to us,” hinting that the photo was received from one of the subscribers. Previously, this channel was noticed dozens of times distributing fakes about Ukraine. “Verified” refuted many of them: for example, that Ukrainians are forced to go to Estonian army under threat of deportation, which in the Ukrainian book “War and the Bible“There is a chapter “Killing Russians is not a sin” or what Zelensky bought two yachts for $75 million

Resonant posters placed on notice boards or walls, from photos of which it is impossible to determine where exactly they are hanging, are a popular method of creating fakes. Previously, photos of posters about the recruitment of American student debtors to the Armed Forces of Ukraine or about the collection donated blood in Ukraine only among purebred Ukrainians. All of them were found to be fake.

Thus, “Verified” was unable to find any evidence that such leaflets are being distributed in Poltava kindergartens. One could assume that this is a private initiative of employees of one of the city’s kindergartens. However, doubts about this are raised by the fact that the content of the poster is clearly not intended for an audience of preschool age and at the same time repeats the points from a similar leaflet, the photo of which was distributed a week earlier and turned out to be a fake. In addition, the photo originally appeared on a Telegram channel that has already been noted for the regular dissemination of false information. All this taken together allows us to state with a high degree of confidence that the photo of the leaflet with the distinctive features of Father Frost and Santa Claus is a fake.

Cover photo: Telegram channel "Ukraine.ru»