Propagandists forged a photo using a graphic editor to discredit the Ukrainian government
Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, and bots on X are spreading a photo that allegedly was taken in a city in the U.S. state of California. The image shows graffiti with President Volodymyr Zelensky “holding onto” the letters of USAID (the United States Agency for International Development).
This is a fake. The building where, according to Russian propagandists, the graffiti was allegedly painted, is not located in California. Using Google Maps tools, our team located this object. In reality, the parking lot in front of the building with a gray wall is located on Potomac Street in Washington, DC.
Ukrinform’s correspondent in Washington checked this location and found that there is no graffiti on the building, nor has there ever been. It is also worth noting that when Russian propagandists began spreading the fake photo, there was snowy weather in the U.S. capital. Meanwhile, the photo with the fake graffiti shows a warm season.
Propagandists used graphic editors and deepfake technology to place a fake graffiti image on a real photo. To make the fake harder to disprove, they added to the posts that the photo was allegedly taken in California.
Russian propaganda frequently spreads so-called caricatures featuring the President of Ukraine, which supposedly appear on the streets of major cities worldwide. Earlier, Ukrinform’s fact-checkers had already debunked a series of similar fakes, including a fake video with graffiti against Ukraine’s Euro-integration, supposedly filmed in the streets of Brussels, and fake photos of graffiti in Warsaw and Paris.
The goal of this disinformation is to create a negative image of Volodymyr Zelensky in the world and spread the narrative that Western societies and governments supposedly do not support Ukraine.
Russian propaganda previously spread a fake claiming that USAID “deceived” the Pope into meeting with the wives of the Azov Regiment’s captured fighters.
On January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending all foreign aid programs for 90 days until checks could be made to determine whether they aligned with his political goals.
On January 24, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the cessation of all foreign aid operations. The only exception made was for emergency food aid, which could include, among others, the Gaza Strip and Sudan.
Later, Donald Trump called for the closure of USAID due to corruption and fraud.
Subsequently, the largest U.S. unions – the American Federation of Government Employees and the American Foreign Service Association – sued the Trump administration, demanding the halt of USAID’s closure.
Andriy Olenin, Yaroslav Dovgopol
Source: Russian propaganda spreads fake 'graffiti with Zelensky and USAID' in U.S.
