Is it true that a girl who signed a contract with the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces under the recruitment program of young Ukrainians died at the front?

In April 2025, publications became popular that a girl named Veronika died in the war, which the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine presented as the first contract under a new program for young residents of the country. We checked the reliability of this news.

The posts and notes on the death of Veronica spread on April 11. The publications said that at the end of March she became the first woman to join the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces under the program “Contract 18-24”, recently created to attract young Ukrainians into the army. According to viral messages, from that moment and to the death of the girl, only ten days have passed. As evidence of the media and Telegram channels post a screenshot with a message from a woman who seems to be the mother of Veronica and writes that her daughter has died. The authors of some publications noted that the story of this girl proves: young Ukrainians are sent to the combat zone without the promised training. 

Veronica told about the death of Veronica "Russian newspaper","Tsargrad Belarus" TV channel "Star" And "Power block"As well as Telegram channels"Sanya in Florida"(507,000 views at the time of writing this analysis),"Voblya • News"(125,000),"Ostashko! Important"(95,000),"Petya the first"(82 000),"Z-News | Army"(58 000) and others. 

The program "Contract 18–24" was launched Decree of the Government of Ukraine in February 2025. According to it, citizens aged 18 to 24 will be able to join the ranks of the Armed Forces for a year, and independently choose a specialty and unit. Before starting combat missions, program participants They promise 45-day basic training, two weeks of training in the specialty and two more weeks of adaptation in the military unit. Contract Provides Financial remuneration up to 1 million UAH (200,000 at once, the rest is during the service) and a number of social guarantees: preferential mortgage, free medical care, housing lease compensation and the ability to get education at the expense of the state. About advertising this program Actively write Pro-Russian media and Telegram channels, and some of these publications are fakes.

March 29 General Staff of the Armed Forces reportedThat such a contract was first signed by a girl, now she serves in the 72nd brigade. The publication was accompanied by a video with a short interview with a soldier. The girl introduced herself to Veronica and said that she was 21 years old.

Veronica also gave at least two interviews to Ukrainian publications: Hromadske And "Inform army". They say that the girl was from the Odessa region and studied at a medical college, and signed a contract with the Armed Forces on March 27. The HromadSke interview was published on April 3, that is, just a week before the news of the expected death of Veronica. In a conversation with reporters, she noted that military training is still undergoing a 72nd separate mechanized brigade. 

The death of the military was allegedly informed by her mother Tatyana Gapochenko in social networks - judging by the interface on the screenshot, on Facebook. “Verified” could not find a woman’s page there with the same name, surname and photograph of the profile, the search for the text of the publication also did not give results. During a detailed study of the screenshot, it is clear that the background behind the name of the owner of the account and the text of the publication is slightly different. Instead of photographs of Veronica from the family archive, which would be more logical to use in such a publication, the mother allegedly accompanied the necrologue with a screenshot from the video of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces. At the same time, the picture is slightly displaced to the left and goes beyond the post. All these elements say that the screenshot could be faked using a photo editor. 

The text of this publication also raises questions. Firstly, the press release of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and notes of the Ukrainian media said that Veronica joined the ranks of the 72nd brigade, and her mother was indicated by the 92nd. Secondly, the woman writes “my daughter”, but such a pronoun in the Ukrainian language points to the male family, it would be true “my daughter” would be true. 

Some Telegram channels, in addition to a screenshot with the words of the alleged mother of the military, lay out two more images: on one-a portrait of a supposedly dead girl, and on the second-a screenshot of the profile in VKontakte. 

Google's reverse search in the first image led to Facebook page In the name of Veronika Gapochenko, this picture was used there as a photo of the profile. At the same time, the account itself is absolutely empty: there are no posts, a list of friends, subscriptions, personal data - no information about the user except that the photograph was uploaded in January 2022. 

In VKontakte, indeed, there is page from the second image. The description of the profile of the user of Veronika Gapochenko says (copyright spelling and punctuation are preserved): "I love my son, handsome, and smart." From this, the authors of the viral posts concluded that the deceased girl had a child, although a Ukrainian soldier in an interview EnragedThat she does not have a husband and children. 

The appearance of Veronica from the video of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces and Veronica with a photo on the page in VKontakte differs - the second more dark hair, a different eye color and nose shape. 

This may be due to the fact that the pictures on VKontakte are published more than four years ago, but there are other inconsistencies. Firstly, this social network Blocked In Ukraine since 2017. Some users continue to go on VKontakte, but by data 2024, among young Ukrainians there are only 1%of them. It is unlikely that Veronica, who entered into a contract, had an account on this social network, and not in the more popular Facebook or Instagram in Ukraine. Secondly, the owner of the page on VKontakte indicated that she was born on September 8, 2002, that is, she was 22 years old, and in the video of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the military said that she was 21. Thirdly, the girl’s profile did not say where she was, but all the notes were published in Russian, in friends-many people from different settlements of the Bryansk region, and among the subscriptions-the group “Looking for a model“ Looking for a model ” Moscow". All this suggests that the page of Veronika Gapochenko in Vkontakte is in no way connected with the Ukrainian military. 

Finally, the main argument is that Veronica participating in the program “Contract 18–24”, the other surname is Stoyanovskaya. She was called April 4 on press conferencesWhich on April 4, the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces were held together with the Ukrinform agency. 

The story of the death of the first woman who joined the Armed Forces under the program “Contract 18–24” was spread mainly in Russian-speaking media and Telegram channels. The first about Veronica's death told Prochremlin channel "Dill Fresh". His post, published on April 8 at 16:58 Moscow time, contains all the screenshots that later became viral, but the recording on the page of the alleged mother is given without an attached picture. As before It wrote “Verified”, the Ukropsky Fresh channel specializes in misinformation about Ukraine, often re-reducing press releases of different Ukrainian departments and military units.

On the same day, April 8, Ukrainian ICTV television channel released The plot about the “Contract 18-24”, in the framework of which journalists interviewed Stoyanovskaya. The report was probably lifted at the previously mentioned press conference, but it would hardly be shown on the air without reporting the death of the military.

The image that later became a viral, compiled from the screenshot of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces with a portrait of Veronica and a fake necrologist on the page of her allegedly mother, appeared On April 10, in the Telegram channel “Military Inverse” (now the publication is deleted). In earlier versions of the post, the author noted that the girl is not the first among military personnel who signed a special contract for young Ukrainians and dead on the battlefield, and mentioned 18-year-old Alexander Samoilovich. In the same way about him They wrote Russian pro -government media and English -speaking Users social networks X. Although, unlike Veronica, the death of Samoilovich Confirmed, he is in no way connected with the "Contract 18–24". Young man Entered the ranks of the Armed Forces Last October, even before the start of the recruitment under the new program. 

Thus, there is no evidence that Veronika Stoyanovskaya died at the front - the first girl to join the Armed Forces under the program “Contract 18–24”. As evidence, a fake necrologist on Facebook and several other screenshots that were not related to the Ukrainian military were used.

Photo on the cover: social networks

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?

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