Zelenskyj’s office warns of false reports of corpses Why Russia is desperate to capture Bakhmut – US has new insights

It was already known that shots of Russian soldiers whose corpses were laid in the snow, arranged for certain messages, are fake. In early March 2022, Russian fact-checkers exposed the Ukrainian fake: Contrary to claims, Ukrainians did not form a “Z” from the corpses of Russian soldiers in the snow and then photograph them. The Russian symbol of the attack on Ukraine was put together with an image editing program on the computer.

Almost a year later, Russian social media accounts are again spreading such images, some viewers believing them to be real. They are also sparking discussion in Ukraine. Is it right that people in the attacked country taunt the attackers so much?

Signs of weakness and stupidity

The question was answered by Oleksiy Arestovych, national security and defense adviser in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office. The man who conducts the daily briefings dismisses the “jokes” and so meets with a divided response. “Anyone who tries to overtake the enemy in terms of cruelty will lose to the enemy,” Arestovych writes, asking people not to participate in the distribution of the photo montages.

Arestovych is not just anyone: he has stated that he wants to run for president if Zelenskyy is not a candidate in the next election. The former secret service officer also mentions that such images are also fatal for the outside world. He does not want to comment on the self-image that “we are a European army of a European country” and the possible “reaction of the West”. The main thing for him is: “I want to save your personal soul.”

Everyone who participates shows some degree of bestiality and a desire to document it. For him, the “signs of personal weakness and stupidity”, he criticized. Many Ukrainians respond to his admonition with understanding. But there are also differentiated dissenting voices, the images are about deep black humour, which also means an outlet for many people in the cruel war.

Bot provides image with requested text

Why are the images spreading so quickly now? It’s very easy to make them. One particular Telegram bot does it: users send the text, the bot promptly replies with a photo on which the writing consists of supposed corpses.

The idea for this apparently came about after one such photo from January 1 went viral. On that day, Stepan Bandera’s birthday, his portrait was formed from alleged bodies and caused a lot of conversation in Ukraine.

Bandera is a symbolic figure in Ukraine because of his quest for his own state in the first half of the last century. However, he is controversial for his anti-Semitism and his initial collaboration with the Nazis. He was assassinated in Munich in 1959 by a Soviet secret service agent.

Well-known comedian spread a fake photo

The photo campaign was soon given a boost by the participation of comedian Swiat Zagajkiewitsch. He has been on tour in Ukraine for the past few weeks and gave 20 percent of his earnings to the Ukrainian army. He posted one of the first photos on Twitter. A photo with the text “19th Vocational School Makiijvka” spread quickly. According to Russian information, 89 soldiers were killed there when the American Himar missile launcher was fired on, Ukraine reported a significantly higher number.

The German Alina Lipp was also outraged by the images on her Telegram channel. She is under investigation because she more or less openly makes propaganda for Russia from the Donbass and from Russia. She just shared a video showing Ukrainians as pigs. In her channel, she downplays or denies the murderous attacks of the Russians with her statements. But she’s very sensitive to the Photoshop images — she wrote, “This is absolutely bad. It will come back to you with full force. Karma is such a thing…» (saw)