A photo of what is supposedly the cover of the German magazine Handelsblatt is being circulated on social networks. The cover shows a road sign with the inscription “Kursk” and the headline “Ukrainian soldiers have occupied Russian territory”. The sign shows crosses buried in the ground and Ukrainian military helmets thrown over the crosses.

Fact-checkers of the Georgian project MythDetector have established that such a cover does not exist. The fake photo published has the publication date: “Saturday-Sunday, August 23/24/25”. In fact, the cover of the real issue, published on that day, shows Armin Pappergeri, director of the largest German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall. In addition, the distributed photo incorrectly indicates the issue number; currently, only issue 163 has been published, not 164, as indicated in the fake cover.

We have documented fakes many times, whether they involve fake graffiti, foreign magazine covers/newspaper columns, or advertising videos. In this way, propagandists aim to show that their rhetoric (for example, that Zelenskyi is hated by the whole world) is also repeated in the West. This may make readers think that the public is really unhappy with Ukraine. And especially when the authors use elements of popular culture, implying that people are laughing at the situation in Ukraine and that the Ukrainian agenda is a reason for Europe to laugh.

Russian propaganda resources are disseminating information that on the cover of its latest issue, the German magazine Handelsblatt depicted a bloody Ukrainian passport, as well as a severed hand, and signed it all with the words: “Yes, dead. But with a new passport”. This is how the publication allegedly responded to the decision of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry to restrict Ukrainian men abroad from receiving consular services.

In fact, this information is fake, because the German magazine Handelsblatt did not publish an issue with such a cover. One can verify this by looking at the official website of the publication. In addition, the cover distributed by Russian propagandists shows the magazine issue number 87 dated May 4, 2024, but the actual issue of the magazine under this number is dated May 6, 2024 and has a different cover.

This fake is a reaction of Russian propaganda to the temporary cessation of the provision of consular services to Ukrainian men abroad. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine emphasized that the decision to suspend the process of providing consular services to a category of Ukrainian citizens defined by law is a temporary step, due, in particular, to the need to resolve the issue of military registration of citizens of mobilization age abroad.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are circulating the alleged cover of the American magazine Chronicles about Russia's superiority over Ukraine in aviation. The picture shows a Russian fighter jet, a ghost hunter, hunting down the Ukrainian ghost of Kyiv. It's fake.

The case was investigated by the VoxCheck fact-checker. There is no issue of the American Chronicles magazine with this cover. The image indicates that this is the August edition, but the Chronicles website, which has covers for every issue of the magazine, does not have such a cover. And the August issue was dedicated to the US elections.

Russian propaganda systematically publishes fake covers of world publications. Thus, propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric is also repeated in the West, and the whole world is laughing at Ukraine, and Russia is winning the war. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that the German magazine Handelsblatt depicted a destroyed Leopard tank on the cover.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric on July 12 published a selection of British tabloid covers featuring a sex scandal involving a BBC journalist as the main topic. Russian propaganda asks a rhetorical question: “Find at least a word about Ukraine and the NATO summit …”. This is manipulation.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Strategic Communications paid attention to the case. They note that The Sun, Daily Mirror, Daily Star and others “traditionally prefer the “yellow” theme”. And some of the most popular and authoritative socio-political publications, such as The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, not only wrote articles, but also covered the announcements of materials about Ukraine and the NATO summit on the first pages.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit the UK and promote the view that the West is tired of the war in Ukraine and ignores the news related to it. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the German edition of Handelsblatt published a cover with Volodymyr Zelenskyi who cannot get into the NATO door.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric distribute the cover of the German satirical publication Handelsblatt featuring Volodymyr Zelenskyi. The President of Ukraine goes to the doors, on which the NATO emblem is painted. The propagandists are promoting the message that Ukraine will never get there. It's fake.

The case was investigated by fact-checkers of the Center for Counteracting Disinformation. There is no such cover on the official website of the newspaper. The barcode marked on the issue with Volodymyr Zelenskyi belongs to another issue. Moreover, this issue allegedly came out as number 134, but no such issue exists.

Russian propaganda systematically distributes fake covers of foreign magazines and newspapers. Thus, Russian propagandists seek to show that the West does not really support Ukraine, does not respect and ridicule Zelenskyi, and the Ukrainian agenda is a good reason to laugh. Earlier, Detector Media denied the fake that the American magazine The Nation dedicated the cover to Zelenskyi calling him an “evil boy”.

Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric are circulating the alleged cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo with a caricature of Zelenskyi. In the image, the President of Ukraine is holding the deceased passenger of the Titan submarine so that he would transfer money to help Ukraine. It's fake.

The fact-checkers of the Center for Countering Disinformation drew attention to the case. They determined that no such cover exists. The latest issue is number 1613 and it came out on June 21, while the fake cover is numbered 1614 and dated June 23.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to discredit Western partners and convince Ukrainians that Zelenskyi is neglected in the West. To do this, Russian propaganda uses the tactic of ridicule. Earlier, Detector Media refuted the fake that the German magazine Handelsblatt depicted a destroyed Leopard tank on its cover.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. The German magazine Handelsblatt recently published a cover featuring a destroyed Leopard tank, reports say. The cover itself has a title: “This is not a counteroffensive - this is a bloody crash test”. Allegedly, they are hinting at the failed counteroffensive of Ukraine. It is not true.

Specialists from the Center for Counteracting Disinformation under the National Security and Defense Council investigated this case and found out that such a cover does not exist. The fact-checkers explained that they did not find a magazine with such a cover on the official website of the publication. The latest issue of the magazine has a completely different design.

Thus propagandists seek to show that their rhetoric is also being repeated in the West. So readers get the impression that the whole world is laughing at Ukraine.

Such information was disseminated in social networks, in particular, on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say issue No 77 of the German newspaper Handelsblatt came out with a cover in which representatives of European countries want to kill Zelenskyi. The headline on the cover is “New Conditions for the Grain Trade”. It is not true.

This was noticed by VoxCheck fact-checkers, who found out that the real issue No 77 of Handelsblatt had a different cover. Actually, under number 77, the newspaper has a completely different cover. The newspaper came out on April 20, while the fake cover appeared online on April 19. Issue No 76, published on April 19, also did not have a cover with Zelenskyi.

This thesis was spread in social networks, in particular in telegram channels and in propaganda media. Reports say that Bill Gates allegedly called Ukraine the biggest danger to the world and said that all evils will happen because of it. Like, Bill is convinced that in a few years aid to poor African countries will decrease against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. The authors of the messages refer to the website of the German publication Handelsblatt, which allegedly mentioned this. This is manipulation.

Analysts of the StopFake project investigated this case and found that the context of the material was distorted. Gates spoke about the latest challenges facing humanity, including the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia's war against Ukraine. At the same time, the philanthropist did not say that the biggest danger to the world in the next few years would come through Ukraine. On the contrary, Gates emphasizes that war is a great tragedy not only for the country where it takes place, but for the world as a whole. That is, there was no mention of Ukraine as the center of global danger.

By spreading this manipulation, propagandists want to show Ukraine as a failed country and create the appearance that the whole world is supposedly opposed to it.