From 30 September, a supposed cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo began circulating in the Russian-language segment of Facebook, allegedly related to parliamentary elections in Moldova. However, this cover is fake.

This was reported by the Georgian fact-checking project Myth Detector.

The image depicts caricatured zombies, one of whom is holding the Moldovan flag, while another holds a white banner with the logo of the pro-European PAS party (Action and Solidarity Party). The headline on the caricature reads: “Dead Moldovans have once again elected PAS”.

In reality, issue No. 1732 of Charlie Hebdo was published on 1 September and had nothing to do with elections in Moldova. The genuine cover features a caricature of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Facebook posts are spreading the claim that the caricature supposedly “exposes” vote rigging using the ballots of deceased voters in favor of PAS, the party led by President Maia Sandu. The source of the fake cover is cited as the Telegram channel “Gagauz Republic”, where it was published on 30 September. The following day, the image also appeared on the Telegram channel “Shkvarka 2.0”.

Fake Charlie Hebdo covers are nothing new – such manipulations are regularly used to discredit politicians, especially in pro-European countries. These fabrications are often created and disseminated to misinform the public and escalate political tensions in society.