A network of pro-Russian telegram channels is distributing an alleged quote from the German Foreign Ministry, Annalena Baerbock: “Ukraine has managed to turn the swastika into a symbol of freedom”. Baerbock allegedly believes that Ukrainians who fight for independence and use Nazi symbols will rehabilitate it in the eyes of the Europeans. However, this is a fake.

According to information from VoxCheck experts, the fictitious quote was first disseminated by a Russian telegram channel, calling its news “a parody and satire on political reality”. However, propagandists picked up this message and began to disseminate it in their messages as true information, which later ridiculed the original source: “The trick was a success”.

Annalena Baerbock is the former leader of the left-wing German party Union 90/Green, professing the values of social democracy, pro-Europeanism and opposition to right-wing radical movements, including Nazism. Therefore, statements about Ukrainian Nazism would be completely contrary to the values of a high-ranking position.

This fake was also analyzed by German specialists from the publication Correctiv. They note that in the English-language segment of the social network “X”, along with this message, they are speculating on the alleged “genetic heredity” of the minister with her unnamed relative, allegedly a member of the NSDAP. Fact-checkers also requested a representative from the German Federal Foreign Office. The response noted that Annalena Baerbock did not make such a statement.

With this message, propagandists are trying to reduce the level of trust in the German authorities in the eyes of Ukrainians, speculating on issues of Nazism. At the same time, they seek to denigrate German officials in the eyes of European society and undermine confidence in the German Green Party. Previously, we refuted the information that Annalena Baerbock allegedly asked Ukraine not to call Leopard tanks German.