In February 2025, photographs of a Kyiv school, the facade of which was decorated with an American flag, circulated online. Against the backdrop of worsening US-Ukrainian relations, the parents of the students allegedly demanded to repaint the building, because it cannot be decorated in the colors of the “traitor country.” We have verified the accuracy of this story.
On February 24, reports began to circulate en masse that parents of students at a Kyiv school demanded that the management of the educational institution paint over the US flag on the facade of the building. Some resources clarify that the Star-Spangled Banner was painted on the wall after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, but after Trump returned to the White House, members of the parent committee no longer liked it. As evidence, Telegram channels post a photo of a statement addressed to the school director, where the United States is called a traitor country, and if the requirements are not met, parents threaten to complain to the Security Service of Ukraine.
The news was shared by the channels "Anatoly Shariy"(990,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Uncle Slava"(181,000), "Voblya • news"(137,000), "Ukraine.ru"(131,000), "Ostashko! Important"(106,000), "Kot Kostyan - official channel"(105,000), "First People's | News"(102,000), etc.
The authors of viral publications explain the parents' alleged dissatisfaction with revenge against Donald Trump. Apparently, this refers to criticism of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky from the American leader, which intensified after negotiations USA and Russia in Riyadh. Zelensky, commenting that meeting, stressed that he does not recognize any agreements on Ukraine concluded without Ukraine. Trump responded first statedthat Zelensky’s participation in the negotiations was not important, and then expressed an opinionthat Ukraine had years to reach a deal without losing much of its territory. Later US President named his Ukrainian counterpart as a dictator without elections and warnedthat if he doesn’t hurry up, he won’t have a country left.
Viral posts are accompanied by three photographs. One shows a building whose facade is decorated with the flags of Ukraine, Great Britain and the USA. On the other is a mural with the Statue of Liberty. On the third is a statement addressed to the director of Kyiv gymnasium No. 315, signed by five representatives of the parent committee.
The first two photos actually show gymnasium No. 315 in Kyiv. This is confirmed by the Google Street View panorama and other available images in Google Maps, as well as photos on official website schools. In addition to flags and the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben is depicted to the left of the main entrance against the background of the British flag, and yellow and blue stripes run around the entire perimeter of the building.
However, reports that the school was decorated with US and UK flags 2022 or 2024 year, are wrong. Gymnasium building reconstructed in 2020, at the same time drawings appeared on the facade. Accordingly, the murals have nothing to do with the support that the US and UK provided to Ukraine after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. Their appearance is probably explained by the profile of the educational institution - a gymnasium with in-depth study of foreign languages.
On the supposed application, in addition to the text itself, the address of the school and the name of its director, and also bear the signatures of five representatives of the parent committee. Usually this is an informal association, so it is not possible to check from open sources who is included in it. The names and surnames of the majority of children studying at the gymnasium are also unavailable: the latter several years school publishes names received in the 1st and 5th grades, the last name of only one of them coincides with the last name of the person who allegedly signed the application. On the other hand, parents may represent high school students or have different last names. At the same time, given that the school actively covers its activities on the official website, it is strange that the names of such active representatives of the parent committee do not appear there.
The statement, written in Ukrainian, contains at least one error. In the phrase “to file a collective skarga with the SBU” (that is, “to file a collective complaint with the SBU”), according to the rules, be used the preposition is “before”, that is, it is more correct to say “before the SBU”.
Apart from a single photograph of the alleged application addressed to the school principal, there is no evidence that the parents, under threat of denunciation, are demanding that the gymnasium administration paint over the American flag on the wall. “Verified” did not find any reports of such a requirement from the parent committee in authoritative Ukrainian-language sources. There are no such statements on any official website gymnasium, nor in its social networks.
Messages about parents' dissatisfaction and a photo of the corresponding appeal are distributed mainly by pro-Kremlin Telegram channels. The first post with a photo of the statement that was found by “Verified” was published February 21 at 12:42 Moscow time in the Zanoza Telegram channel (7000 views). The next day, a viral (almost 1 million views) post with the same photos posted Anatoly Shariy. The main wave of fake news spread began after post channel "Ukraina.ru" on February 24. All these channels repeatedly appeared in “Verified” analyzes both as distributors and as primary sources of fakes about Ukraine.
Thus, there is no reliable evidence that the parent committee at Kyiv gymnasium No. 315 demanded that the school administration remove American symbols from the facade of the educational institution. The supposed statement by activists has signs of falsification, and accompanying comments from major Telegram channels contain inaccuracies about the appearance of murals on the walls of the school.
Cover photo: social networks
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