At the turn of January and February 2025, reports dispersed on the Web that the Ukrainian artist spoke about the tragedy that occurred in the sky over Washington, but at the same time noted that he was not experiencing sympathy for “those from Russia”. We checked the reliability of this story.
Soon after the night of January 29-30 near Washington Airport, the passenger plane ran into a military helicopter, the Storiz screenshot was distributed in Runet, which was allegedly posted on Instagram by Ukrainian rapper Alexei Potapenko, better known under the pseudonym Potap. In many publications with a viral image It is said: "The Ukrainian singer Potap, after the crash of an airplane in the United States, wrote:" I express sympathy for everyone except those from Russia. "
According to the TGSTAT service, at the time of writing this analysis in Telegram, there were about 210 similar Russian -speaking posts, in the amount of almost 2 million views. Among the most popular are channel records "Uncle Glory"(186,000 views),"Observer"(152 000),"Ukraine.ru"(148 000), Voblya (134,000), "Emergency / Crimea"(106 000),"Heaven is"(106 000), Nina Vatt (79,000), "Tin of the day"(74,000) and"Gasparyan"(65 000). Viral screenshot posts are also found on Facebook (examples here And here), X and VKontakte (here And here). The fact that Potap does not sympathize with the Russians, whose relatives were on board that aircraft, wrote the media: News.ru (twice), Life.ru, Eadaily, "Moscow Region today","Radio 1" And "Morning.ru".
January 30 approximately in 5 in the morning In Moscow time, the passenger aircraft of the PSA Airlines airline on the approach to the Reagan Washington Airport collided with the US Army helicopter, both aircraft fell into the Potomak River. On board the aircraft were 60 passengers and four crew members, in a helicopter - three American military personnel. According to the authorities, as a result of a collision, all 67 people Died. It is reported that among passengers of the aircraft were Athletes and coaches returning from the US Figure Skating Championship. Among them are former Russian skaters, including ex-champions of the world in paired skating Evgeny Shishkov and Vadim Naumov, who have been working in America since the late 1990s. By words US President Donald Trump, the American authorities contribute to the transfer of the remains of the dead Russians to their homeland.
The first posts about the alleged storiz Potap appeared only in the afternoon of January 31. They contained a screenshot allegedly taken on the musician's page on Instagram. The alleged publication of the artist at the same time consists of a collage with picture From the location of the disaster and the image of a burning candle with the signature of REST in Peace (“Rest in peace”). In the upper and lower parts of Storiz, a text written in Ukrainian and English is placed, respectively: “A terrible tragedy! I often fly in America myself. I sympathize with everyone except those from Russia ”(the name of the country is written with a small letter. - Approx. Ed.)”
The editors of "Verified" first drew attention to posts about the alleged story of the Ukrainian rapper on January 31 at 21:43. By that time, a scandalous entry in Instagram There was no musician. At the same time, we also did not find publications in social networks and the media, which would argue that Potap deleted this post, that is, theoretically, he had to be available within 24 hours from the moment of publication. At the time of our check, another story was placed on the artist’s page in support of the track TRUMPUMPUM From his new project Slavic Balagan. It was published between 16:00 and 17:00.
It is noteworthy that in all the “tested” publications on the alleged anti -Russian Potap post, the same picture of the screen, allegedly taken only two minutes after publication, was “verified”. The identity of screenshots is also confirmed by the same mark on the Storyis duration strip. At the same time, no source indicates a link to the initial publication. It seems unlikely that only one screenshot of the resonant publication of the musician, on whom on Instagram, will be dispersed over the network Signed More than 1.8 million users. They did not write about the story of Potap and the Ukrainian media.
Finally, we tried to find the earliest posts with a viral screenshot. According to the TGSTAT service, the first such entry appeared on January 31 at 16:19 in the Prochremlin Telegram channel "Kryminforum 🇿 🇴 🇻"(13,000 views). This channel is repeatedly Facing In the analysis of “tested” as a distributor, and sometimes the primary source of fakes, including fabricated photos and videos. Half an hour later, at 16:50, a similar post was released in the Telegram channel "Bear"(10,000 views). This resource is one of the record holders by quantity mention In our publications.
It is worth noting that earlier Potap already He became The hero of a similar fake. So, on May 30, 2024, shortly after the news of the death of actress Anastasia Zavorotnyuk, the media and Telegram channels (including the above "Kryminforum 🇿 🇴 🇻" And "Bear") Also distributed the screenshot of Instagram storosis, in which the rapper allegedly mocked over the deceased artist. In the case, since the story diverged wider, and Potap himself made several refutations.
Thus, according to the available open data, “verified” with a high degree of confidence may argue that the viral screenshot Storiz Potap with voting contexts in connection with a plane crash in Washington was fabricated. The network spreads the same picture of the screen that originally appeared in the pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, repeatedly caught in the publications of misinformation.
Photo on the cover: Collage from social networks
- Meduza. “This is a terrible tragedy for a world sports family” in a plane crash near Washington, Russian skaters Evgenia Shishkova, Vadim Naumov, Inna Volyanskaya and Alexander Kirsanov died. Here's what they know about them - and what their colleagues say
- AFP. Fake Image of Plane Circulates After Washington Tragedy
- Politifact. No, this video soresn’t show the Jan. 29 Plane Crash in Washington D.C.
- Is it true that the Czech senator Miroslav Nemtsova wished the Russians to survive the blockade of Leningrad again?
- Is it true that the rapper Potap ridiculed the death of Anastasia Zavorotnyuk?
- Is it true that in Ukraine children are taught to cook the “burning“ Crocus ”dish?
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