Russian fake: USAID ‘deceived’ Pope into meeting with wives of Azov regiment POWs

Pro-Russian media outlets are spreading a fake video attributed to Euronews. The video allegedly quotes words from Pope Francis’ personal secretary, Daniel Pellizzon, about the pontiff’s audience with the wives of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov Regiment on May 11, 2022. The video claims that the Vatican supposedly called the meeting a decision that was made due to a “deception” orchestrated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It is claimed that the Vatican initially thought Pope Francis was meeting with the widows of mobilized Ukrainian soldiers.

This is a fake. The video was edited and manipulated using graphic design software. Russian propagandists used images readily available on the internet, including a picture from a tourist brochure of Rome, a photo of Daniel Pellizzon, and an image of the Pope meeting the wives of Ukrainian military personnel.

It is important to note that this video was never published on Euronews’ official website or their social media channels. The claims in the video were not reported by Vatican representatives either.

This fake news is aimed at discrediting Ukrainian military personnel, particularly members of the Azov Regiment, on the international stage. In 2022, the Russian Supreme Court declared the Azov Regiment a “terrorist organization.” Since then, the Russians have periodically spread false claims about them.

The Pope met with the wives of the Mariupol defenders on May 11, 2022. The topic of their discussion was mediation efforts for the release of Azov soldiers from captivity and assistance to the wounded fighters from Azovstal.

Earlier, Russian propaganda spread a fake investigation about Ukraine allegedly organizing terrorist attacks in Germany under the flag of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Andriy Olenin