In May 2024, a photo of an unusual street advertisement went viral on the Internet - Ukrainians were allegedly urged to refrain from using battery-powered sex toys and thereby reduce the load on local energy. We have verified the authenticity of this photo.
On the billboard, located, judging by the surrounding landscape, in a residential area of an unnamed city, images of a vibrator and a dildo are visible. Next to them is a red cross and a green tick, respectively. The Ukrainian-language inscription at the top of the poster reads: “Ukraine’s energy system depends on everyone.” Below it is the emblem of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy.
This photo received the greatest distribution on Telegram, where it was used along with captions like “Ukrainians are urged to give up vibrators and switch to rubber pussies. “All because of the lack of electricity,” shared channels such as “KB +18"(309,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Uncle Slava"(183,000), "Eggplant" (146,000), "Bottle" (143,000) and "Sheikh Tamir"(127,000).
During a full-scale invasion, the Russian army regularly launches massive attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure, causing them serious damage. The largest such attack in recent times happened On March 22, 2024, when missiles and drones reached targets in nine Ukrainian regions at once, the Dnieper hydroelectric station suspended its work. As of end of May 2024 graphs blackouts were in effect throughout Ukraine.
“Verified” could not be found on Ukrainian news sites or in major Ukrainian Telegram channels reports about the appearance of a billboard from a viral photo in one of the country’s cities. In addition, pro-Russian sources contain the same frame with this public service announcement, although, judging by the nearby high-rise buildings, thousands of people should have seen it.
In the background of the photo you can see another billboard.
It shows the company logo "Treasurer» - a network of pawnshops with branches throughout Ukraine. On the official website of the network there is a list of these branches with photographs of the facade of each. A similar entrance group with three air conditioners located under each other can be seen in the viral photo.
On the "Skarbnitsa" website indicatedthat this pawnshop is located in Kyiv on Akademika Zabolotnogo Street, 20A.
“Verified” studied this location using the service Google Street View. It turned out that the viral image is an edited screenshot of the panorama posted there: even the location of cars, pedestrians and potholes on the roads is the same. The billboard, captured as stated back in 2015, is not a call to give up vibrators at all, but an advertisement for the Ukrainian music channel M2. It is noteworthy that the creators of the fake not only replaced the poster, but also carefully painted the grass in front of the support.
According to the TGStat service, the earliest publication with this image appeared in the Telegram channel “Shaman Rahu» May 21 at 14:48 Moscow time. This resource repeatedly featured V debriefings “Verified” as a source of unreliable information about events in Ukraine.
Cover photo: social networks
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