Russian propaganda resources are distributing a photo of an alleged instruction for schoolchildren in Ukraine, which explains how to properly kneel to greet a fallen Ukrainian defender from the front.

In fact, this instruction is fake, the Kherson region media outlet Vhoru (Up) reports. The reverse image search function on Google helped establish that the drawing from this instruction is being sold on several stock photo sites. The description of the drawing says that these are football players protesting on their knees against racism and police brutality. This is how they express support for the Black Lives Matter movement.

The propagandists also added an excerpt from the poem On the Shield by Facebook user Oksana Lesyk-Paduchak to the fake instruction. It was published on January 26, 2024. Presumably, an excerpt from this poem was placed on the instructions to give greater credibility to the fake photo and because of the poem’s mention of “Bandera’s flag”, one of the “favorite” words of Russian propaganda.

In the end, the photo of this instruction was not published in any reliable Ukrainian or foreign sources, but was only distributed in the pro-Russian segments of social media.

In Ukraine, people honor the memory of fallen soldiers by taking a knee. This is a voluntary gesture of respect. In many cultures, people also kneel to pray and ask for forgiveness. However, the creators of this fake put a negative connotation into this symbolic action, which on their photo instruction can be perceived as an act of submission, humiliation or weakness.

Earlier, we refuted the information that in Lviv, first-graders are forced to kneel to honor the memory of fallen defenders.