At the end of October 2024, Russian-language resources disseminated information about the reaction of the authorities of the Ukrainian region to the possible appearance of soldiers from the DPRK. We have verified the accuracy of this information.
As reported on October 25 by the Telegram channel Readovka (811,000 views), in anticipation of North Korean soldiers, the authorities of the Sumy region of Ukraine announced the evacuation of stray dogs from the region. It is implied that this is due to the well-known love of Koreans for traditional dog meat dishes. A photograph of a street advertisement was cited as proof. Citizens are encouraged to report stray dogs via a Telegram bot or hotline.
The information was also disseminated by "Sumy news feed" and some accounts in "VKontakte" And "Zene"
October 24, 2024 State Duma of the Russian Federation ratified a strategic partnership agreement with the DPRK, signed back in the summer by the heads of the two states. According to the document, if one of the parties is subjected to an armed attack by one or more states, the other party will immediately provide it with military assistance. The fact that the DPRK is sending several thousand of its military to support Russia in the war against Ukraine, back on October 17 stated Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. About a week later, this information was confirmed by authoritative world Media, US Secretary of Defense NATO Secretary General and (indirectly) Vladimir Putin, and on November 4 appeared news about the first military clash between the newly arrived North Korean military and the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, there is no talk yet about their participation in hostilities on the territory of Ukraine.
“Verified” did not find any traces of a notification about the evacuation of stray dogs from the Sumy region on the official resources of the administrations of this region and him center. Moreover, the news about the evacuation was not disseminated by any authoritative Ukrainian media. In general, the need to evacuate stray animals is questionable, while even a full-fledged evacuation of people from the region was not carried out. Moreover, a significant part of the Russian territory bordering the Kursk region was under control at the time of writing the analysis Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Only one photograph of the alleged announcement circulated on Russian-language social networks. During a mass evacuation, it would have to hang in many places. In addition, there are no identifying marks in the photo that would indicate that it was made in Ukraine. This is a regular A4 sheet that can be obtained from any working printer. The QR code on the sheet is blurred so that it cannot be recognized by a reader.
Let's look at the content of the ad. It does not indicate the name or logo of the organization that organized the evacuation of the dogs. There are only contact numbers: 700-007, 0674968600 (hotline Sumy City Council) and 1545 (hotline Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The Cabinet of Ministers also did not post such announcements on its accounts. And it would be strange if I posted it, because such questions fall within the powers of local authorities, not central ones, and citizens would have to turn to the latter for the evacuation of animals.
On the same day, October 25, when refutations of the news spread by the Readovka channel began to appear in the Ukrainian media, the last reacted they received a message that the event was postponed indefinitely.
Thus, the publication about the evacuation of Sumy stray dogs has all the signs of a fake. It is based on a single photograph of a homemade advertisement and is not confirmed by any official or even authoritative source in Ukraine. The Readovka channel that distributed it had previously published unreliable information about Ukraine.
Cover photo: social networks
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