Propagandists are distributing a video on social networks in which allegedly a Ukrainian military man serving near Avdiivka discovered sharp blades in pies. Like, a local grandmother treated him to these pies. The video was seen by thousands of people, it is actively distributed on social networks with captions like “a grandmother near Avdiivka treats Ukrainian soldiers with delicious pies” and “they hate Ukrainians in this place”. However, this is a staging.

This was found out by specialists from the “Beyond the News” project. They explain that it is doubtful that after the round-the-clock shelling, a multi-storey building with electricity and intact windows remained in the city or its surroundings. However, this is the environment in which filming takes place. In the video, we see two people (one holding a camera) standing in front of a window in a lit room during night time. From a security point of view this is very dangerous. The Ukrainian military would be unlikely to commit such actions. The military clothing that we see in the video has no signs of identification, and the chosen shooting angle does not allow us to see the face of the “victim” from the grandmother. At 6-7 seconds one can see that the man is breaking an already broken product. Probably damage to the “theater prop” was done before filming to insert a blade into it. The audio of the video also has its own characteristics. Firstly, we hear the Russian pronunciation at the 10th second. In addition, the phrase “and here are the blades” sounds strange to denote the singular; it is more likely that a Ukrainian military would say “and here is the blade”. The Russian intonation is especially heard at the end of the video.

It appeared around February 5 on resources publishing Russian propaganda. The video appeared in the domestic segment within a day or two. Unfortunately, it was picked up and spread on some Ukrainian-language pages on social networks.

Propagandists spread such fake news to show that local residents do not really want Ukrainians to fight for them. They say that’s why they feed the Ukrainian military pies with blades.