In June 2024, a picture allegedly taken at one of the cafe in Berlin spread to Telegram. The photograph came to the photo with the inscription about the refusal to feed Ukrainians for free. We checked the authenticity of this image.

June 25, 2024 appeared in Telegram photo Advertising stand with an inscription in German: “Wir Bedienen Ukraner Nicht Kosteenlos. Verdiene Dir Dein Mittagessen Selbst! ” In most posts, the signatures to the picture were a translation of the phrase into Russian (“We do not serve Ukrainians for free. Earn for our own lunch!”) And an explanation that such a board was noticed in a cafe in Berlin. Channel "RT in Russian"(214,000 views at the time of writing of the analysis) claimed that this stand was photographed by their subscriber. A few hours later, other channels began to spread the video that last second, in which the same stand was noticeable. In total, according to the TGSTAT service, more than 150 channels shared photos and videos, including "Russia now"(237,000),"The world of Mikhail Onufrienko"(236,000),"Emergency / Crimea"(147 000) and"Tsargrad"(60 000). Also, the news spread to "VKontakte" Facebook, X, Livejournal, "Zen" YouTube and some Media.

After the start of a full -scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 Germany Accepted More than a million refugees from this country. In Germany, they are entitled to receive a series benefitsIncluding a benefit for the poor, benefits for children, partial compensation for the costs of renting housing and medical insurance, assistance in finding work, payment of language courses. In mid -June 2024, German politicians (as from parties, incoming to the ruling coalition, and from opposition) They offered to reduce the volume of assistance to Ukrainian refugees - it was argued that this would stimulate them to search for work. The signature of the virus picture in the RT channel said: "Earlier, Olaf Scholz called for employment from Ukraine." It was probably meant a recent interview with the Chancellor of Germany by German television, where he declared: "We must ensure that no one who can work is without work." Scholz at that moment spoke in principle about state expenses for various benefits, and not exclusively about the help of Ukrainian refugees.

Judging by the sign in the upper part of the photograph, the viral picture was made at the Berio cafe. Such an institution in Berlin is really exists, and, according to information on his page In LinkedIn, has been working since 1951. The cafe is located in one of the central regions of the German capital, near the Nollendorfplats metro station - a large transplant node, where four branches of the Berlin subway converge at once. And the street MaasenstrasseOn which the Berio cafe is located, is a promenade with shops, bars and restaurants. At the same time, “verified” did not find photographs in local media and social networks, where the board with the inscription about Ukrainians would be captured from another angle, or at least textual evidence of eyewitnesses.

Street stand of the Berio cafe. Source: Google Maps, Alamy

In the profile of Berio on Google Maps And in the photo bank Alamy There are pictures on which the advertising stands of the cafe are visually resembling a board from the video. Nevertheless, the inscriptions on them are made small by hand, and on the photo and video from Telegram an ad on the board seems to be printed on a computer. So, the letters S, B and E in different words are absolutely identical to each other, which is very difficult to achieve when writing a text manually.

Photo fragment from Telegram channel "RT in Russian"

The Berio website has links to institutions on social networks. One of the links leads to the page groups on Facebook, which is called Berio Ist. Für den Erhaalt Unserer Berliner Kiezkultur (German. "Berio to be. For preserving the culture of our Berlin quarter"). Apparently, this community is devoted to the efforts to preserve the cafe in the current place. The description of the group (as on the website of the institution) says: “The Berio cafe is at risk of closing in mid -September of this year, 73 years after the opening. Commercial lease will not be extended. Help save Berio and join our support group. ”

“Verified” contacted the administrator of this community Michael Ammerell, who publishes most of the posts in the group. He said that a photo from Telegram is a fake. According to Ammerell, who exiled to the owner of the cafe, a picture that was taken by the Berio cafe in September 2023 was taken as the basis of the viral image, but there was no text about Ukrainians on the original frame. Apparently, this announcement was added later in the photo and video editor.

An indirect confirmation of the words of Ammerell and the owner of the institution are pictures published on the Berio page on Facebook in June 2024. In particular, on appearing There, on June 14, photos in the central window of the cafe are visible a large TV, absent in a viral image and video. In another post It is saidThat the screen was placed at the tables on the street that day so that the guests could watch the opening of the European football championship. Perhaps such impressions are held throughout the tournament, but it was not able to reliably confirm this.

For the first time, as follows from TGSTAT data, a fake picture appeared on June 25, 2024 at 18:19 Moscow time simultaneously in two Telegram channels: “” “RT in Russian" And "Zerkalo". To determine the exact time of the publication, “verified” used the @jsonson_bot bot and found that in two posts it coincides up to a second (18:19:57). At the same time "Zerkalo"Also posted a picture with a wrapper RT, and in the text it reported that the author of the photo is a subscriber of this Russian state media. The earliest publication of the video with the same stand appeared two and a half hours later in the Telegram channel "Cat Kostyan"Who has been more than once Strengthened In distribution Fake Photos and video.

Fake photos and videos with boards and advertising stands of different establishments are far from the first to appear in the pro-Kremlin Telegram channels. So, in September 2023, shortly after the military operation of Azerbaijan in Nagorno Karabakh, they told About the board with an advertisement for the dish "Shanklyk with Karabakh smoke", which was allegedly placed at the restaurant in the center of Kyiv. In March 2024 on Telegram Distolled The video about the bar working in Khreshchatyk, which allegedly put up the stand with the inscription "You cannot choose the president, but you can choose beer." In both cases, the video turned out to be fake.

Thus, with a high degree of confidence, it can be argued that reports about the board with the inscription about the refusal to serve Ukrainians, which was put at the entrance of the Berlin cafe, are not true. The photo and video cited as evidence, apparently, were falsified. These conclusions were confirmed by the owner of the institution.

Photo on the cover: social networks