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Soldiers in Ukrainian uniforms fire as a woman with a child in the car begs them not to harm her. A video records the terrifying scene.
Earlier this week, pro-Kremlin media and Telegram channels began broadcasting the recording. The goal: to show how Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine are harassed and threatened by their own army. A short time later it turns out that the video is a clumsy production.
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What is the video about?
At the beginning, a car is overtaken by a car bearing the Ukrainian flag and a white cross – identification marks of Volodymyr Zelensky’s (45) troops. The soldiers honk and stop at the roadside.
Apparently a woman and a child are in the other car, but neither can be seen, only their voices can be heard. The dash cam installed in the vehicle records the scenes. The date and time indicate March 24, 2023 at 12:17 PM.
“What’s that? What’s going on here?” the woman shouts nervously, trying to calm her child down. Meanwhile, one of the uniformed men runs to her car and immediately starts berating her. “You scum, do you know the traffic rules?” he asks her in Ukrainian. “Don’t talk to me like that,” the woman replies in Russian. The man accuses her of overtaking an “equipment column” and “almost hitting one of his men”. He threatens the woman and tells her not to speak Russian to him, but to use the “state language”.
Then there is shooting. The woman shouts that she has a small child in the car and begs the soldier to stop. The uniformed man returns to his car, where his colleague is waiting. On the way, he fires more shots from his rifle. As the woman and child cry, the soldiers get into the car and drive on.
2
Why is the recording fake?
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Analysts on the GeoConfirmed project were able to determine the location of the video based on the power poles and trees visible in the first few seconds of the video. They say the video was shot in Makiivka, a town in Donetsk Oblast controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014. Then other users went to the site to re-photograph the trees and confirm acceptance. The front line is about 30 kilometers away, the Meduza portal writes. It is therefore difficult to imagine that a “Ukrainian convoy” with proper identification plates could drive 30 kilometers through Russian-occupied territory undetected and spend its time reading the riot law to a woman for “disregarding traffic rules”.
- Another indication that the soldiers are not real Ukrainian soldiers are the bracelets. In the video they are yellow. However, the fighters of Kiev now usually wear green armbands.
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In addition, in March 2022, Ukraine banned the use of dash cams to conceal troop movements. Drivers who drive such a cam must expect hefty fines. But the woman in the clip seems unconcerned about the military’s discovery of the camera. The soldiers in turn threaten civilians and shoot in front of the camera without fear of the consequences. These circumstances raised serious doubts about the authenticity of the recording from the start.
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Another clue is the painted cross. The cross that Ukrainian soldiers use on their vehicles is different from the one in the video. This looks more like a stave cross – an identification mark of the German Nazis during World War II. This fits the narrative of the Kremlin, which consistently claims that the Ukrainians’ white cross is an imitation of Nazi Germany’s armed forces.
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How do the propagandists react?
«This is how the ‘liberators’ of the Ukrainian army address their own Ukrainian citizens. Imagine if these “liberators” came to Crimea, Mariupol, Donetsk or Luhansk?”, the Telegram channel “Zаpiski Veterana” (Notes of a veteran) had initially posted. However, after the staging failed, the war supporter posted : “The video is fake. Our people practice very crooked. In conducting such information operations, our people still have a lot to learn.”
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also posted the video on Twitter. “Once a Nazi, always a Nazi. This is the kind of terrorism Ukrainians live with. Witness Ukrainian military personnel yell at a mother and her child in the backseat, shoot at them and call them ‘pig’ and ‘scum’ just because she speaks Russian,” the ministry wrote. The tweet has since been deleted.
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
