Russian propaganda Telegram channels are circulating an image purporting to be a new cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo featuring a caricature of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Propagandists claim that the magazine is supposedly criticizing his Christmas address to the nation. However, this claim is false.

According to Ukrinform, the fake cover bears the caption: “Friend of Satan: The last person who wished death upon others at the time of Jesus’ birth was King Herod.”

Neither the official Charlie Hebdo website nor the magazine’s social media accounts, where covers of new issues are traditionally published, contain any such image. This clearly indicates that the cover is a forgery.

Moreover, the fake image lists the publication date as 26 December and the issue number as 1745. However, no new issue of Charlie Hebdo was released on that date. The magazine’s actual year-end editions were published on 10, 17, and 24 December and carried issue numbers 1742, 1743, and 1744 respectively. Their covers featured cartoons unrelated to Ukraine.

Issue No. 1745 was not expected to be released until 31 December or even January, which further disproves the authenticity of the image being circulated.

Against the backdrop of this fake story, Russian outlets have been drawing attention to President Zelenskyy’s Christmas address to the Ukrainian people. In his Christmas Eve message, the head of state emphasized that Ukraine was celebrating Christmas under the difficult conditions of war, yet Russia was incapable of destroying what matters most – the unity of the Ukrainian people. The President also noted that Ukrainians’ wishes during the holiday season are remarkably similar and centered on the desire for peace.

“Today, we all share the same dream. And we all make the same wish. ‘May he perish,’ everyone may think to themselves, but when we turn to God, of course, we ask for something greater. We pray for peace for Ukraine. We fight for it. We pray for it. And we deserve it,” Zelenskyy said.

Although the President did not mention any names in his remarks, the Kremlin reacted to the statement with considerable emotion. Against this backdrop, Russian propaganda has sought to exploit the fabricated Charlie Hebdo cover in an attempt to discredit the President of Ukraine.

The circulation of this fake cartoon is therefore another example of information manipulation aimed at creating the impression that the West supposedly condemns the words of the Ukrainian leader and at undermining trust in Ukraine on the international stage.

Russian propaganda outlets are spreading disinformation alleging widespread looting by Ukrainian soldiers in the city of Lyman, Donetsk region. These claims are based on a video that has been actively circulated through Telegram channels and presented as an appeal by a local police patrol officer.

This was reported by StopFake.

In the video, a man identifying himself as Ihor Tarasiuk, a police officer from Lyman, claims that “looting is taking place throughout the city” and alleges that Ukrainian servicemen are transporting local residents’ property away in trucks while the police are supposedly unable to stop them. The speaker appeals to the Minister of Internal Affairs and the leadership of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, demanding that they “put an end to this lawlessness”.

In the description accompanying the video, propagandists claim that “policeman Tarasiuk from Krasnyi Lyman” is complaining about the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ahead of the alleged “retreat of the Kyiv regime”, using terminology that is characteristic of Russian propaganda narratives.

The video contains the watermark of the TikTok account @loki_777ii, where it was first published on 5 December. An analysis of this profile shows that it only became active in October 2025, and that most of its content consists of AI-generated material or reposts. There are no original videos on the account, suggesting that it is being used as a technical platform for distributing manipulative content.

The video began spreading widely on Telegram from 6 December onwards. One of the first channels to publish it was the pro-Russian Z-channel “Stepnoy Veter”, after which it was amplified by other propaganda outlets.

Fact-checkers examined the video using the DeepFake-o-Meter tool developed by the University at Buffalo, which analyses photo, video, and audio content for signs of AI manipulation. To improve accuracy, the clip was tested using several different detection algorithms.

The results indicated a high probability that the video was artificially generated. The AVSRDD detector showed 100% confidence that the video was a deepfake. The WAV2LIP-STA and X-CLIP algorithms also indicated an almost certain likelihood that the clip had been generated using neural networks. In addition, analysts detected irregular lip movements, a common characteristic of synthetic videos.

Even without specialized tools, the video exhibits clear visual anomalies, including unnatural facial expressions, blurred facial features, irregular blinking, and a lack of synchronization between speech and lip movements.

Furthermore, journalists were unable to find any information about a police patrol officer from Lyman named Ihor Tarasiuk. It is highly likely that this is a fictional character created to give the video an appearance of credibility.

There is no evidence in open sources confirming any mass looting incidents in Lyman. Neither the National Police of Donetsk region nor other Ukrainian official institutions have reported such cases, and no reputable media outlets have documented similar incidents.

Experts emphasize that claims suggesting the police are incapable of confronting Ukrainian servicemen are part of a common disinformation narrative. Its purpose is to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine, undermine trust in state institutions, and portray the Ukrainian military as an uncontrolled and dangerous force.

The dissemination of this video is intended to sow fear and distrust among civilians, while also serving to justify Russia’s occupation and war crimes. The narrative of “military looting” has long been used by Russian propaganda to shift responsibility from the aggressor onto the side defending itself.

Notably, the video is accompanied by the hashtags #Ukraine, #AFU, #Police, and #TCC, indicating an attempt to artificially insert the fake into Ukraine’s information space and amplify its reach among Ukrainian audiences.