On February 26, a video appeared on the American site Reddit, in which President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky drinks coffee in the company of military personnel. The author of the publication claims that the head of state is talking with the “defenders of Kyiv”, and the footage itself was allegedly made recently.
“Zelensky was drinking coffee this morning and chatting with his military defenders of Kyiv. Imagine the morale boost that must be for these troops when the president is literally fighting alongside you,” the caption reads.
However, in fact, the video is a fragment of the working trip of the Ukrainian leader to the Donetsk region on February 17, 2022. Information about Zelensky’s visit is also available on the President’s website.
Earlier that day, a fake was spotted on the Web about the alleged use by Russia in Ukraine of the heavy flamethrower system TOS-1A Solntsepek.
In “confirmation” of this, a photograph of this technique was published. However, in fact, the picture was taken from the archive – the photo is presented on a website dedicated to military equipment, and in a photo bank of wallpapers for a computer desktop.
On Saturday, another fake circulated on Ukrainian social networks. This is a video of an interrogation of an allegedly Russian colonel who was taken prisoner. The footage shows how a man, after several attempts at coercion, utters the phrase “Glory to Ukraine.” However, there are photos on the Web where the same man is in the form of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. After that, Zelensky accused Russia of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout the state, and also announced that Kiev had broken off diplomatic relations with Moscow and recalled Ukrainian diplomats from the embassy.
The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the army did not carry out air, missile or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine. The civilian population of the country is not in danger. High-precision weapons destroy military infrastructure.
After that, Zelensky called on the Russian side to hold talks in Minsk, but after Moscow agreed, Kyiv refused to talk, taking a break.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.