At the end of 2023, social media users circulated a photo of a check allegedly issued from a Ukrainian supermarket, containing an order to appear at the nearest military registration and enlistment office. We have checked whether these reports are true.
The photo shows a cash register receipt with the inscription in Ukrainian: “... you quickly rejected the summons. You have 48 years to report to the nearest TCC point" (“You have just received a summons. You have 48 hours to report to the nearest TCC point”). According to a number of Russian-language Telegram channels, such a check was received by an unnamed resident of Ukraine, who also shared it on social networks. Developing their idea, users write: “...if a purchase was paid for using a card, then its holder was identified. This means he was “properly notified.” And try to ignore this “summons”: a trial and blocking of the card are guaranteed.”
Channels such as “Solovyov"(230,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Sheikh Tamir"(130,000), "Bocharik (yep, the same one)" (128,000) and HKR (81,000).
Problems with mobilization in Ukraine are a frequent topic of publications in pro-Russian Telegram channels. “Verified” has repeatedly recorded cases where viral messages about the recruitment of recruits turned out to be false. At the same time, in December 2023, President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky reported about the plans of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to additionally mobilize 450,000 - 500,000 people. Later it became knownthat the Verkhovna Rada is developing a bill that will allow Ukrainian citizens living abroad to be recruited to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Employees of territorial recruitment centers (TCCs, analogues of military registration and enlistment offices in Russia) conduct raids, for example, in gyms or restaurants. Local legislation does not prohibit serve summonses in any public places, including supermarkets. However, there are other mandatory conditions for service to be valid. In particular, the paper must be handed over personally by an employee of the TCC, the head of the enterprise where the person liable for military service is employed, the manager of the apartment building where the potential recruit lives, or a representative of the local government. Moreover, how explain Ukrainian lawyers, the paper must contain the full name, year of birth and residential address of the recipient, date, time and address where you need to appear, as well as a list of required documents. So a summons printed on a cash receipt from a viral photo cannot have any legal force.
Some Telegram channels claimed, that such a check was issued in one of the supermarkets of the large Ukrainian chain “Silpo”. Fact checkers from the publication “Gvara Media” committed test purchase and compared the receipt received with the viral image.
As you can see, literally everything is different on the two checks: fonts, dotted lines, hash marks and the location of the required items. The supermarket chain itself told fact checkers about the inconsistency with the modern design. Also in “Silpo” directly refuted the fact of printing summons on checks, calling the image a not very good joke.
You can find a lot on the Internet pictures old checks from Silpo with a slightly more similar design.
And even a check almost identical to the viral one, only with a different inscription: “Prediction for you: love and respect yourself, you are nits!”
Left image spread in 2020–2021, but already then it turned outthat this is a fake: the real inscription “vi — gіdni” (“you are worthy”) was corrected with the help of Photoshop to “vi — gnіdi.” Now the creators of the fake did a less careful job, not even choosing the right font.
Thus, the photograph of a receipt with a summons that was circulated on Telegram is the result of digital processing of a fake photo that appeared back in 2020. The earliest case of a new photo being distributed on Telegram, according to the TGStat service, was publication on the pro-Russian channel “Odessa for Victory” on December 22 at 18:20 Moscow time.
Cover photo: screenshots from social networks
Read on topic:
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- Is it true that European countries, at the request of Ukraine, are identifying potential recruits among Ukrainian refugees?
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