Russian Propagandists Brazenly Push Fake BBC Video About Ukraine
Pro-Kremlin news outlets are using a heavily doctored video to bolster false narratives about last week’s deadly missile attack on the Kramatorsk train station.
The Washington Post via Getty
Pro-Kremlin Russian news outlets have begun pushing a phony BBC video to try to pin the blame for a deadly rocket attack in Kramatorsk on Ukrainian forces. The footage, which shows the aftermath of the strike on the Kramatorsk train station that left more than 50 fleeing Ukrainians dead over the weekend, has been heavily doctored to feature the BBC logo and the news network’s traditional overlaid text. But the text itself—riddled with style errors and awkward wording—appears to have been pulled straight from pro-Kremlin Telegram channels pushing the narrative that the missile used in the attack actually belonged to Ukraine. Several Russian news outlets began spreading the video as authentic BBC reporting on Wednesday, claiming “Western media” had confirmed the Kremlin’s version of events. Riafan.ru, an outlet that has been linked to Russia’s infamous troll factory and Vladimir Putin crony Yevgeny Prighozhin, was among those to claim the BBC had backed up Russia’s claim Ukraine was to blame for the attack.
#Russian propagandists faked a video and overlaid it with @BBCNews-style credits to blame #Ukraine for the rocket attacks on civilians in #Kramatorsk. Now this video is being actively rebroadcast by pro-Kremlin propagandists.
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) April 13, 2022
There is no such video on the official BBC website. pic.twitter.com/R8cdKubC8O
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