Russian telegram channels and the Russian Embassy in South Africa distributed a video in which several Russian fighters allegedly captured “a French citizen who fought on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces”.

However, in fact, this is a fake video, according to the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council. The video was directed by Russian propagandists to promote the narrative about the presence of French mercenaries in Ukraine. In particular, the falsification of the video is evidenced by the very strong accent of the “captive”, which was also emphasized by the French Embassy in South Africa in a message from their colleagues from the Russian Federation:

“You have been spreading fake news for a long time, and we have become accustomed to this rather undiplomatic practice. However, this news is particularly meaningless. We encourage your actors to work on their accent in their French lessons at Alliance française”.

The Center also noted that the publication of such fake videos by representatives of Russian diplomatic departments once again confirms that Russian diplomacy is just a tool for disseminating Russian propaganda. Previously, we analyzed a Russian video fake, according to which only three Ukrainian men who were mobilized allegedly immediately died in the war.