Russian propaganda is actively spreading disinformation about Ukrainian politician Andrii Parubii, who was killed on September 30 in Lviv, accusing the former Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of organizing the shootings on the Maidan, the arson attack on the Trade Unions House in Odesa, and an alleged “coup d’état” in Ukraine. These narratives are part of a coordinated information war aimed at discrediting Ukraine and its public figures. StopFake has debunked the key propaganda fakes about Andrii Parubii.

Fake 1: Andrii Parubii “commanded snipers” on the Maidan

Debunking: There is no evidence that Andrii Parubii was involved in the shooting of protesters during the Revolution of Dignity in 2013–2014. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, violent crimes and killings on the Maidan were committed by Ukrainian law enforcement officers acting on orders from the authorities in power at the time, under significant influence from Russia. Oleksii Donskyi, head of the Maidan Department, stated that Russia had a “huge influence” on these events, including through cooperation between Russia’s FSB and Ukraine’s SBU in the information sphere.

One of the widely circulated fakes involves photos and videos allegedly showing Parubii helping snipers leave the Hotel Ukraina. In reality, these materials relate to events on April 1, 2014, at the Dnipro Hotel, not February 2014 as claimed by propaganda. This disinformation has been repeatedly debunked by the StopFake project.

Fake 2: Parubii “organized the arson” of the Trade Unions House in Odesa on May 2, 2014

Debunking: The investigation by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine found no evidence linking Andrii Parubii to the events in Odesa on May 2, 2014. The fire at the Trade Unions House was the result of mass riots, not a premeditated act. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, the fire started inside the building due to the actions of individuals who threw incendiary bottles to prevent opponents from entering. The “chimney effect” led to the rapid spread of smoke, which caused the deaths of people on staircases and in adjacent spaces.

In 2019, the State Bureau of Investigations opened proceedings following a complaint by pro-Russian politician Andrii Portnov, but this did not result in any charges against Parubii. In 2025, the European Court of Human Rights, in the case Vyacheslavov and Others v. Ukraine, pointed to the inaction of local authorities during the unrest and the role of Russian disinformation in the tragedy, but did not mention Parubii.

Fake 3: Parubii was the “architect of a coup d’état” in Ukraine

Debunking: The narrative about a “coup d’état” is one of the key elements of Russian propaganda, used to justify aggression against Ukraine. The Revolution of Dignity in 2013–2014 was a popular uprising against the corrupt regime of Viktor Yanukovych. After his flight, elections in Ukraine were recognized as legitimate by the international community, including Russia. There is no evidence of a “coup” or of Parubii’s involvement in one.

Fakes about Andrii Parubii are part of a broader Russian propaganda campaign aimed at distorting the history of the Revolution of Dignity and the events in Odesa. Analysis by the Osavul platform revealed a surge of identical comments on social media, indicating coordinated activity by bots or trolls. We encourage readers to verify information and rely only on credible sources in order to counter disinformation.

A number of Kremlin propagandist media outlets, including RIA Novosti, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and TASS, are spreading a manipulation claiming that Ukrainian “ultra-right groups” are allegedly threatening to kill President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy if he makes concessions to Russia and hands over territories of Donbas. These narratives are part of Kremlin propaganda aimed at discrediting Ukraine and its leaders. The fake was analyzed in detail by experts from The Insider.

The outlets cited a quote from an interview with Serhii Sternenko, whom they describe as the “former head of neo-Nazis from the Odesa branch of the Right Sector”, given to the British newspaper The Times. They manipulated the quote to suggest that he threatened the Ukrainian president with death in the event of “surrendering territories”. Propagandists quoted him selectively: “If Zelenskyy gave up even a single piece of unconquered land, he would be a corpse – politically and literally”.

Serhii Sternenko headed the Odesa regional branch of the Right Sector from 2014 to 2017. In 2018, he was accused of premeditated murder after fatally wounding one of his attackers with a knife during an assassination attempt against him. Human rights defenders described the prosecution as politically motivated, and in 2021 he was released on personal recognizance.

Today, Sternenko is a well-known blogger (with more than 2 million subscribers on YouTube and 850,000 on Telegram) and a civic activist who actively raises funds for drones for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He has survived four assassination attempts, the most recent of which, according to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), was organized in May 2025 by a woman recruited online by Russian special services.

In his interview with The Times, Sternenko was responding to a question about Vladimir Putin’s demands that Ukraine “hand over” the entire territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions to Russia. The full quote reads:

“If Zelenskyy gave up even a single piece of unconquered land, he would be a corpse – politically and literally. It would be a bomb under our sovereignty. People would never accept this”.

The context makes clear that Sternenko was not threatening Zelenskyy, but rather expressing an opinion about the likely reaction of Ukrainian society to any attempts to concede territory. He emphasized that surrendering land would be unacceptable to Ukrainians and would have catastrophic political consequences for any leader. Later in the The Times article, it is noted:

“Discussing Russia’s uncompromising position and President Trump’s efforts to end the war, Sternenko appeared not to consider the possibility of peace or any compromise over Ukrainian territory”.

Thus, Sternenko did not issue threats, but explained why concessions to Russia are impossible due to the position of Ukrainian society.

Kremlin media outlets took Sternenko’s words out of context, distorting them to create a fake story about “threats” against Zelenskyy. In reality, Sternenko merely underscored the firm stance of Ukrainians on defending sovereignty and territorial integrity. This fake is part of a broader Kremlin campaign aimed at inciting hostility and spreading disinformation about Ukraine.

Propagandist Russian Telegram channels are spreading a fake photo of an announcement allegedly posted at one of the border checkpoints between Ukraine and Poland. According to this “announcement”, Ukrainians would be checked for OUN-UPA symbols, including through inspections of tattoos after being forced to undress and by checking personal electronic devices. Experts from VoxCheck identified the announcement as fake.

Why is this a fake?

The fake announcement about checks for OUN-UPA symbols at the Polish-Ukrainian border is part of a Russian disinformation campaign aimed at provoking tensions between Ukraine and Poland. Linguistic errors, the absence of confirmation from reliable sources, and an official refutation by the border guard service all indicate that this information was fabricated.