In August 2024, Telegram spread a retirement of a retired American officer that the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region became the most unjustified by the cost of a military operation in modern history. We checked the authenticity of such publications.

On August 21, Telegram appeared a video with the logo of the American news agency Bloomberg, which gave a quote from American military analyst, retired general Bradley Gerike. The video claimed that in the podcast of the Military.com portal, the military gave an unflattering assessment of the APU in the Kursk region: “The ratio of invested forces and means to the result of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kursk is unprecedented for the XXI century. By the degree of provision, not a single military operation of recent times can be put next to Kursk. The results achieved are insignificant against the background of the volume of burned material and human resources. ” Further, Gerika allegedly compared the attack of Ukraine to the Kursk region with conclusion The US troops from Afghanistan in 2021 summed up that the Armed Forces of Ukraine was even more unsuccessful: “We left with minimal losses, and Ukraine swelled the selected manpower and equipment, the meaningless destruction of which is the matter of a few weeks. There is nowhere to retreat to the Ukrainians, and the Russians will arrange a "meat grinder" to them, which they pretty fed. All the living power and equipment that the West in the sweat gathered for Ukraine around the world are doomed, ” - Quote Gerike Telegram channels.

This video published, for example, “Ostashko! Important"(177,000 views at the time of writing this analysis),"The goat screamed"(112 000),"Communication unit"(52,000) and"Semyon Pegov | War Gonzo"(34,000). Some Russian Media, users "VKontakte" Threads, X, "Zen" Livejournal, Instagram And Facebook.

Armed Forces invasion of the Kursk region It began On August 6, 2024, when the Ukrainian army broke through the first defensive lines and advanced deep into international recognized Russian territory. The economist publication Writesthat the Armed Forces of Ukraine in seven days seized almost the same territory of the Russian Federation in the area that the Russian military has occupied in Ukraine since the beginning of 2024. Official Kyiv He thinks Operation in the Kursk region Successful: for example, Armed Forces succeeded Take a large number of Russian military, replenishing the so -called exchange fund. In addition, Ukraine with the help of a successful offensive near Kursk Hoping To distract Russian troops from the front line in the Donetsk region, to raise the morale of their soldiers and stimulate military support from the Western allies. Nevertheless, the Russian authorities, along with some Western experts They called it This attack with a strategic mistake.

The video extended by Russian Telegram channels shows the logo of the Bloomberg agency. Nevertheless, “verified” did not find this video on any platform where the agency usually publishes its video content, official site and pages in Tiktok, Facebook, Instagram And YouTube.

If you compare the video from Telegram with Bloomberg news videos, you can notice a number of inconsistencies. First, usually Plots The agencies are a cut of several videos, which is accompanied by comments of the announcer or the hero of the plot and subtitles in English. In the video from Telegram, there is no voice audio road. Secondly, in no original Bloomberg video there is no logo, and in the video from viral posts an animated logo is visible in the upper right corner throughout the plot. Thirdly, Bloomberg, as a rule, indicates the source of the videos used in its materials, and also clarifies the place and date of shooting (for example, Kursk region or West Bank). There are no such credits in Telegram video. And finally, “verified” could not find a single square video in Bloomberg accounts - they either Vertical (with the ratio of the parties 9:16), or horizontal (16: 9). August 22 In a commentary for AFP, representatives of the American publication Confirmedthat are not related to the video spreading in Telegram.

Bradley GerikeTo be attributed to quotes about the Kursk operation of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces, is a doctor of historical sciences, a retired major general, who has long been occupied The post of chief strategist at the US Army headquarters. On the website Military.com, in the podcast of which the military allegedly participated, there is not a single mention of General Gerike and his opinion about the operation of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region. Judging by Player On Spotify, the podcast of the website Military.com comes out once a month. The latter at the time of the spread of the viral video series appeared on July 26, 2024, a week and a half before Beginning The APU attacks on the Kursk region, and was dedicated to the training camp of the US naval forces. Also, “verified” could not find a single mention of interviews with General Gerik on the topic of the Kursk region in large American or European media. The search for the English quote, which is attributed to the military expert, also did not give any results.

According to the TGSTAT service, the fake video was published by the Telegram channel "The secrets of Vinakos»August 21 at 20:54 Moscow time. 

Previously, “verified” sorted dozens of fake videos allegedly released by authoritative foreign media, such as Euronews, BBC, Reuters And Deutsche Welle. Such videos are usually a cut from photographs and clips from open sources, on top of which text credits are imposed that communicate fabricated news.

Thus, a video with quotes of American General Gerika - Fake, who has dispersed in Telegram. Not any authoritative foreign media has his quotes about Ukraine’s operation in the Kursk region. The release of the podcast, which was written by pro-Russian Telegram channels, also does not exist.

Photo on the cover: Telegram

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Meduza. Why did the Armed Forces start an operation in the Kursk region? How risky is it? And how will it develop? This is what Western military analysts say about this
2. Foreign Policy. The Murky Meaning of Ukraine's Kursk Offensive
3. False authorities. How BBC has become a favorite brand for the creators of fake videos