Such information was disseminated on social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that the French magazine Charlie Herbo dedicated a cover to the Hamas movement with the caption: “Forgive us, Israel! We believed that our weapons would remain in Ukraine”. That is, the authors hinted that Ukrainian weapons allegedly ended up in the hands of Hamas. It is not true.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council investigated the case and found out that a magazine with such a cover simply did not exist; it was created using Photoshop. There are also no mentions of this particular cover on the pages on social networks and on the official website of the publication. Moreover, the false cover is dated October 12, 2023, although the last available issue was published on October 11, number 1629.

The Institute for the Study of War said in a statement on October 7 that the Kremlin is actively using the Hamas attack on Israel for information operations aimed at weakening US and Western support for Ukraine. This includes promoting the thesis of a “black market for the sale of weapons”.

And Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine, stated that it was the Russians who transferred infantry weapons to the Hamas group, which they managed to conquer in Ukraine.

By spreading such fakes, propagandists once again want to show Ukrainians as ungrateful provocateurs who want to destabilize the situation in the world and incite armed conflicts. They say that Ukrainians resell weapons on the black market and they fall into the hands of criminals. Thus, the authors undermine the authority of the Ukrainian authorities and try to disrupt future supplies of armed assistance from NATO countries. After all, such fakes previously target Western audiences and leaders in order to inspire despondency towards Ukraine’s actions.