UNFURLED

Germany Calls Bullshit on Russian Propagandists’ Flag Video

Turns out a recreation of a faked historic incident was itself faked.

As Russia prepared to commemorate the May 9 anniversary of its defeat of Nazi Germany on Monday, footage of a breathtaking stunt purportedly taking place on the roof of the German parliament building emerged online. Clips, which circulated on Russian Telegram accounts before spreading to other social media platforms, showed what appeared to be a Soviet Union flag flying above the Reichstag in Berlin. Russian media ran stories about the videos, in which one woman supposedly filming the incident can be heard saying in German: “Oh, haha. Did you see that? That’s the banner of victory.” She then pauses and says: “Yes, exactly. In the center of Berlin.” On Tuesday, Germany’s Stern magazine confirmed that the videos were fake, with Germany’s government denying the incident took place. The magazine also noted that the stunt appeared to be a nod to a famous photograph taken in May 1945 showing a soldier raising a Soviet flag over the building at the end of World War II—the person who took that image, Yevgeny Khaldei, later admitted it was both staged and doctored.