In 2024, messages circulated on social networks that bionic prostheses could be donated to one of the pawn shops in Ternopil, while in Kyiv, on the contrary, they allegedly refused to take weapons and explosives as collateral. We have determined whether the evidence accompanying these claims is true.
Ternopil and prosthetics
At the end of February, a photograph of an advertisement reportedly placed on the facade of a building in Ukraine circulated on the RuNet. “A pawnshop in Ternopil began to accept dentures from zakhisniks (defenders. - Ed.). They say the service is in demand,” read the captions on many posts.
According to the TGStat service, from February to March, more than 60 similar posts appeared on Telegram, which in total received about 730,000 views. Channels wrote about a pawnshop in TernopilDmitry Vasilets"(229,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Sheikh Tamir"(135,000), "Alexander Semchenko"(94,000), "Mriya"(67,000), "Biden's underpants"(30,000), etc. Similar posts can also be found in "VKontakte"and on news websites.
The photo being distributed does not show the name of the pawnshop. At the same time, on the imprinted banner there is a sign “24”, as well as the inscriptions “commission equipment” and “we accept almost everything” in Ukrainian. According to the pictures and signatures on the facade, you can pawn branded items, watches, equipment, jewelry, as well as bionic prostheses at the pawnshop.
Using a Google Maps search, fact checkers from the Gvara Media project found outthat a similar pawnshop is located not in Ternopil, but in Kyiv. He is part of the networkSail" And located at Goloseevsky Prospekt, 106/2. There is a photo of this branch on Google Maps that is almost identical to the viral image. Snapshot published back in January 2022, but instead of an image of a bionic prosthetic arm, it shows a Bosch brand drill and driver with the caption “accepting the tool.”
In a conversation with Gvara Media fact checkers, a representative of Parus denied information on providing a loan secured by prostheses. Journalists of the “No Nonsense” project also contacted with the pawnshop, where they were confirmed that the photo with the prosthesis had been edited, since the design of the entrance area had not changed. “This has not happened and cannot happen,” the interlocutor said.
Kyiv and weapons
A couple of months later, in early May, a second photograph appeared - this time allegedly from Kyiv. Often the photo is accompanied by the following caption: ““Weapons, explosives and military uniforms are not accepted” - such an interesting advertisement appeared in a Kiev pawnshop. Apparently, all EU assistance is usually exchanged for three kopecks by “shyrym (from the Ukrainian “shiriy” - “sincere” - Ed.) Ukrainians.”
According to TGStat, more than 50 posts about the announcement appeared on Telegram, with a total of about 210,000 views. Among the channels that posted the photo are “Military observer"(70,000 views), "Another Ukraine"(22,000), "Olesya Loseva" (15,000), "For real" (14,000) and "Bear"(13,000). Some of these channels also published false entries about a pawnshop in Ternopil (“Another Ukraine", "Bear", "For real"). Similar posts can be found in public pages on VKontakte (examples here, here And here) and on news websites.
The name of the pawnshop is not visible in the photo, and on the front door there are only three inscriptions in Ukrainian: “Entrance”, “Opening hours: from 9:00 to 19:00” and the announcement itself. Its text in translation reads: “Dear friends, despite the martial law in Ukraine, we remind you that we do not accept: any weapons, explosives, military uniforms. Leave these things to other military men :).”
If you conduct a reverse search on a viral image in the service Google Lens, then the search engine will report that the photo most likely shows the “Exclusive” pawnshop. He located in Moscow at Kronstadt Boulevard, 3, building 3. Moreover, one of photos of this pawnshop, uploaded to Google Maps in February 2018, closely resembles a photo allegedly taken in Kyiv six years later.
Original viral photo appeared in September 2018 in the Yandex Maps service. There are significant differences on it: for example, all the inscriptions are made in Russian. Thus, the name “Exclusive” is indicated on the door, and instead of a notice of non-acceptance of weapons, there is a piece of paper with a Russian telephone number and work schedule (from 10:00 to 20:00, seven days a week).
In both cases, the earliest posts with fabricated images tracked by Verified appeared on the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Shaman Rahu. Message about "Ternopil" pawnshop was published there on February 20 at 13:06 Moscow time (4000 views), and about "Kiev» — May 10 at 15:37 (4100 views). This channel mentioned in dozens of our analyzes of misinformation.
Thus, both distributed photos were edited. In the case of the “Ternopil” pawnshop, unknown persons used a photo from Kyiv, taken no later than January 2022, and with the “Kyiv” pawnshop, they used a photo of a pawnshop in Moscow in 2018.
Cover photo: collage “Verified” / social networks
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