On October 18-19, 2023, Russian-language social media accounts and websites (1, 2, 3, 4) published a photo of the cover of the German satirical magazine Titanic. The cover is dedicated to the upcoming Halloween. In the photo, we can see people with baskets sitting on the threshold of the door, wearing masks with the image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and one of them is dressed in national Jewish clothes. The latter’s basket is full of sweets, while empty-handed boys with Zelenskyy’s face wait in vain for gifts. On the cover of the magazine we also see the inscription: “Dieses Mal wird es nicht genug Süßigkeit für alle geben,” which translates to: “This time there won’t be enough sweets for everyone.”
The disseminated posts contain elements of photo fabrication. In fact, the Titanic cover is fake. The mentioned illustration was not published on the official website of the German publication and social networks.
The cover photo of the last issue of the monthly magazine (2023/10) was released on September 27 of this year. The magazine itself is available to readers in both printed and electronic formats, and on its cover we do not find an illustration depicting Ukraine left without the “mercy of the West.” It should be noted that we do not find an illustration of similar content in the previous issues of the publication either.
October issue
Fabricating cover photos or caricatures of well-known Western publications is part of Russian information warfare. Myth Detector has repeatedly verified cover photos of various Western publications, including Titanic, in the past. Additional information can be found at the following links:
- A Fabricated Caricature in the Name of German “TITANIC” Disseminated on Facebook
- Fabricated Caricature Under The Name of LeMan About The Israel-Hamas War
- Fabricated Caricature Under the Name of LeMan about the Demonstration in Batumi
- Fabricated Caricature about Armed Forces of Ukraine Disseminated in the Name of Courrier International
- Fabricated Covers Disseminated in the Name of Polish and German Outlets
Mariam Niguriani
Myth Detector Lab
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