Anonymous telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric have circulated a photo of journalist Roman Vintoniv, also known as Michael Shchur, with a chevron flag of Canada. But they wrote that French sources allegedly report that “in recent days, the Russian army has intensified its strikes against the International Legion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine formed from foreign mercenaries in the territory of the Luhansk region”. It is not true.

The fact-checkers of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case. They found a photo of Roman Vintoniv on Twitter, he posted on May 8, 2022, thanked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the recent visit and tagged him in the message. Roman Vintoniv serves in the 112th brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and is a citizen of Ukraine, not a foreign volunteer.

Thus, Russian propagandists are trying to create the appearance that Russia is fighting against the collective West. Previously, Detector Media explained how Russia blurs reality with the help of a newspeak calling foreign fighters “foreign mercenaries”.