Update: On November 19, the article was updated to include a response from a representative of Fox News, who denied to NewsGuard that the site had published the graffiti in question featuring Zelenskyy.
On November 1, 2024, Russian media outlets (Украина.ру, rusnext.ru, vologda-poisk.ru), as well as Russian-language Facebook accounts, disseminated a photo of graffiti depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy kneeling and asking to vote for Kamala Harris. The graffiti includes the caption: “Please vote for Harris. I need more money!” According to the description, the photo of Zelenskyy’s graffiti was taken in New York and published by the American media outlet Fox News.
The photo of Zelenskyy’s graffiti being circulated under the name of Fox News is fabricated. The media outlet has not published this image on its website or social media accounts.
The distributed photos lack any signs that would help identify the location, making it impossible to verify where they were taken. However, the image includes the Fox News logo. Upon verification, it was established that Fox News did not release an image of this kind with a caption reading: “Please vote for Harris. I need more money!” A search of the Fox News website using keywords such as “Zelenskyy’s Graffiti in New York” and “Please vote for Harris. I need more money!” yields no similar or identical information. The image cannot be found on Fox News’ social media (Facebook, Instagram, X) accounts.
The Ukrainian fact-checking organization StopFake also produced an article on this topic, highlighting that Fox News representative Connor Smith denied to NewsGuard that the graffiti in question featuring Zelenskyy had been published on their site.
Visual manipulations created to discredit or ridicule Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have been actively circulating on social media since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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.
About the source:
The Facebook account Oleg Dor has repeatedly spread disinformation in the past.
Elene Devidze
Myth Detector Lab
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