Russian propagandists claim, citing Stern, that the head of the Ukrainian secret service is in a coma in a Berlin hospital. But the message is fictitious.
The 1.3 million readers of Vladimir Solovyov’s Telegram channel, Putin’s most vocal propagandist, may have been happy on Saturday morning: “Budanov in a coma – according to the German magazine star” it read, above it a picture of Kyrylo Budanov, the head of the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR.
Again star reports that his journalists spoke anonymously to doctors at the hospital where Budanov was admitted. According to her, the head of the Ukrainian secret service suffered brain damage from a head injury. The forecasts: worrying.
The star has not published any such message
The message with reference to the star can also be found on Saturday in other widely read Russian Telegram channels. In the case of Solovyov’s channel, the message was relayed by a Belarusian Telegram channel called “Novosti Grodno”. The only problem: The star did not publish any such message.
The last article on intelligence chief Budanov dates from February 28 this year and reports on his assessment of whether or not China will supply weapons to Moscow.
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So the story is nothing more than a blatant fake, another hoax spread by Russian propagandists. The idea behind it: Hardly any reader will bother to check whether on the side of the star such a message can actually be found – quite apart from the fact that most Russians face a language barrier.
Message in three languages
The message is now even available in German – published by an , which is apparently being used by Russia to spread its own propaganda. Conveniently, the message can be found there in several languages.
Apparently, the fake news is part of a larger Russian disinformation campaign specifically targeting Budanov: the state-run news agency that Budanov was seriously injured in a Russian rocket attack on Kiev on May 29 and was taken to Berlin.
Also about an alleged serious wounding of the Ukrainian supreme commander Valeriy Zalushnyi.
The Ukrainian side denies the reports. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj said in his speech on Friday that both Zalushnyj and Budanov were present at a meeting of the military leadership that day.
Primitive propaganda methods
What remains? This is further evidence of the primitive methods with which Russia, in conjunction with news agencies, powerful propagandists on the social network Telegram and made-up “Western media reports”, are circulating false reports. The pattern has been practiced and has been repeated day after day since the beginning of the war.
And what helps against such disinformation? Information. However, this correction will never reach most Russian readers of the relevant Telegram channels.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
