Меседж Ukrainian refugees in Europe demonstrate their “Nazi tendencies”
This thesis was spread on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that Ukrainian refugees in Europe have begun to demonstrate their Nazi tendencies. They claim that this is a direct threat to the territorial integrity of the EU. In support of this thesis, evidence is provided that a Ukrainian barista offers Europeans coffee with a swastika on it. All this, they say, is happening in a German town. Video evidence is added to publications. It's a lie.
The analysts from the VoxCheck project analyzed the case and determined that the video is an advertisement for online late art courses in Bolivia, and there is no mention of Ukrainians in it. The video has an Instagram page tagged, so the fact-checkers decided to check it out. The page is actually active and posts are posted there.The fact-checkers came across the original video used by propagandists. There is no mention of Ukraine there either. And it is impossible to say for sure that it was the swastika that was depicted on the coffee. That is, the authors of the online courses did not add any context to the Instagram message, so there may be different interpretations. Although the video received more than 384 thousand likes with 4,800 subscribers, in the comments, users mock and hint at the theme of Nazism. The fact-checkers claim that the video could have been used to attract attention.
With all that, neither the Instagram page nor the video have anything to do with Ukrainians. Propagandists explained the video modifications in a context that was favorable to them. It’s as if a Ukrainian refugee in Germany is selling coffee with a swastika design. Thus, the authors seek to demonize Ukrainian refugees and show that Europe does not support Ukraine and Ukrainians in general. Thus, Russian propaganda is trying to present Ukrainian refugees as criminals or terrorists, as a cultural and economic threat to the EU - in order to reduce support for Ukraine. We mentioned this in our own research.