This message was spread by the Russian propaganda media. They say that Ukraine has allegedly been and is engaged in the sale of the fertile layer of land abroad. It seems that the Ukrainian black soil is exported to European countries along with the remnants of the Red Army soldiers who fought in World War II. In their articles, the Kremlin media refer to the words of Russian president Volodymyr Putin, uttered by him during a meeting with representatives of the “Yunarmiia” (Young military) military youth organization in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Stalinhrad. However, this is all fake. 

The fact-checkers of the StopFake project drew attention to the case. According to fact-checkers, Putin reached such a “conclusion” about the sale of black soil with the remnants of the military after Lev Kravchenko, one of the “Yunarmiia” participants, told a story during a meeting about how a German farmer allegedly found a medal of a dead Red Army soldier, who died in 1944 on the territory of Ukraine, in his garden and transferred it to the Consulate General of Russia. According to Kravchenko, “the medal most likely ended up in Germany as a result of the sale of Ukrainian soil”. Like, only the medal was there, or the Ukrainians are trading in the remains of soldiers who fought for victory in World War II. In fact, the Soviet medal “For courage” was not found by a German farmer, but by an employee of a waste processing company, and not in the ground, but in garbage. In addition, according to StopFake, the statement itself that Ukraine allegedly exports black soil abroad is completely absurd and unfounded. There are no documented facts or investigations by independent experts on the export of Ukrainian land abroad. In addition, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 58% of Ukrainian lands are experiencing degradation, and 20% - pollution. However, Russian propaganda needs such messages to once again discredit Ukraine and Ukrainians. To show that Ukrainians are ruthless and they are indifferent to the memory of those who died in World War II, because they are ready to sell black soil abroad for profit, even with the remnants of soldiers.