Did Hull Daily Mail: “70,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region died in vain”?

In March 2025, a photograph of the first strip of the British newspaper with a loud heading of the article about the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war spread on the network. We checked the reliability of this image.

The picture allegedly captures the first page of the newspaper Hull Daily Mail of March 13, 2025. Most of the page is the huge title of “70,000 Ukrainian soldiers in the Kursk region in vain” with the subtitle “Britain invested hundreds of millions of pounds in the crushing failure of Zelensky”. Apparently, this refers to military assistance, which the United Kingdom has been provides for Ukraine for three years.

This news was most widespread in pro-Russian Telegram channels, such as "Operation Z: Warrixes of Russian Spring"(545,000 views at the time of writing this analysis),"Sanya in Florida"(542 000),"Tynu40k goblina"(494 000), Colonelcassad (284,000) and "Ne. Sahar" (261 000).

There is no reliable information about the losses of the Ukrainian military since their invasion of the Kursk region in August 2024. This also applies to similar statistics for the entire full -scale war between Russia and Ukraine. In early February 2025, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky in interview The British journalist Pierce Morgan estimated the loss of the Armed Forces of APU of 45,000 people killed, however The largest World media with reference In the fall of 2024, the sources brought estimates up to 100,000 dead. By words The heads of the General Staff of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov, only in the Kursk region more than 67,000 military personnel of the Armed Forces and "foreign mercenaries" were killed. Its assessment, voiced on March 15, is very close to the one that is given in the viral image, although there is no independent evidence of this information.

Hull Daily Mail - The newspaper, which has been published in the city of Hull in the east of Great Britain since 1885. The era of paper periodicals inexorably approaches sunset - so, by data In the second half of 2024, the average circulation of this publication was a little more than 4,000 copies (and this is in a city with half a million agglomeration). Therefore, the very fact that the first strip of this newspaper attracted the attention of Russian-speaking users of social networks is surprising (even assumed that we are talking about online versions). The reason for this could be some authoritative British media who told about the fresh issue of colleagues, but “verified” did not find a single evidence of the distribution of photography in such publications. Moreover, an article with a heading from viral posts is not on keywords on the site itself Hull Daily Mail. On the site PressReader You can purchase a digital copy of different periodicals, including any Hull Daily Mail number. In the upper right corner of the verified picture is the estimated release date of this number: March 13, 2025. Having found the corresponding issue of the Hull Daily Mail on PressReader, it can be found that the upper part of the first strip is identical to the image from viral posts.

However, the article, the announcement of which occupied the most part of the strip, is completely different: about the boy, who was found guilty of trying to kill the girl with a sword. There is nothing about the events in the Kursk region (and in general in the Russian-Ukrainian war) in the original first lane. The study of other issues of the publication shows that the foreign policy agenda is predictably not very interested in the editors.

A similar first lane can be seen on others siteswhere the digital numbers of Hull Daily Mail are sold.

Facts from the agency AFP They turned for a comment to Reach PLC, which owns this newspaper. Representatives of the company said that the cover with the heading about the Kursk region is a fake.

The earliest “verified” mention of the edited cover is “tested”-a post in the pro-Russian Telegram channel "Military observer", Published on March 15 at 14:03 Moscow time. In this entry, two more screenshots of newspapers, allegedly released on March 13 - the American USA Today and the French La Croix. 

And in these cases, how can you make sure through the same distributors digital copies newspapersThe original covers were edited. It is noteworthy that in the case of La Croix, the creators of the fake did not even have to change the photo of Zelensky. However, these two fakes did not become viral in Runet (albeit hit In the francoline segment of social networks).

"Military observer" already Facing In the analysis of "tested" as the primary source of misinformation about Ukraine. After the fake first strip Hull Daily Mail was encouraged in Russian -speaking channels, it began distribute English -speaking Users social networks X. The publication has become another in a string numerous Fakes About the losses of the Ukrainian army.

Thus, the newspaper Hull Daily Mail did not release a number with a heading about “dead in vain” 70,000 Ukrainian military. This image is a fake created on the basis of the original first strip of this publication.

Photo on the cover: social networks

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. "Mediazone." Russia 200: The base of those who died in the war with Ukraine
2. Project Ualosses
3. Is it true that the French newspaper released the cover on which Zelensky looks at the binoculars, sitting on the corpses of Ukrainian soldiers?
4. Is it true that Chronicles and Eulenspiegel magazines have been published with these anti -Ukrainian carriers on the covers?