On November 18, a Russian speaking Facebook account posted a photo of graffiti depicting Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US newly elected president Donald Trump. The photo features US President Donald Trump “pushing the back” of the Ukrainian President accompanied by the tag “December 2024”. Same photo was published by the Russian language media news-donetsk.ru claiming graffiti is located in Paris. As in July, 2024 photo appeared in Russian social media vk.ru with the following caption: “London street artists know something”.
A photo of graffiti circulated online is fabricated. The Ukrainian fact-checking platform Gwara Media identified the exact location in London and confirmed that the image is fabricated.
The Ukrainian fact-checking platform Gwara Media identified the exact location in London, which turned out to be a footpath in the famous Barbican complex in London. The photos of the complex can be found online on different platforms (1, 2, 3) .
The Barbican Centre in London, is the massive multi-use complex containing an art’s center, cinema, restaurants, and schools, as well as some 2000 apartments that began as council housing.
The so-called pedestrian walkways of the complex are located on floors 1-3. Thus, a photo of one of the “pedestrian walkways”, namely “Andrewes Highwalk”, located on the second floor of the Andrewes House apartment building in the Barbican complex, was featured in posts depicting the fake graffiti of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald trump.
After identifying the exact location, The Ukrainian fact-checking platform Gwara Media contacted the editor of the local online platform Barbican Life, Helen Hudson.
Barbican Life publishes information about life and events in the Barbican complex. In response, Hudson confirmed that graffiti was fabricated.
On July 25, Hudson visited a designated location in the Barbican complex and took a photograph for Gwara Media that confirmed the absence of graffiti.
Visual manipulations aimed at discrediting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been actively circulating on social media since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This is a well-known Kremlin tactic in disinformation campaigns, aimed at undermining support for Ukraine and spreading misleading narratives.
There have been multiple instances of the spread of graffiti images depicting Zelensky, which have been claimed to have been photographed in cities such as New York, Paris, Berlin, and other European capitals.
Daniela Dolotova
Myth Detector Laboratory
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