On June 6-7th, Russian-language Facebook accounts published a number of posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), according to which the Pentagon was punishing Matthew Kovalchuk, a warehouse worker, for mistakenly sending two nuclear missiles from Belgium’s ‘Kleine Brogel’ air base to Ukraine.
The claim that the Pentagon is punishing Matthew Kovalchuk for mistakenly sending nuclear missiles to Ukraine belongs to the Russian satirical website panorama.pub and is a fabricated story.
A fictional article about Matthew Kovalchuk, a warehouse worker at the US Air Force base in Belgium, was published in the Russian satirical edition panorama.pub on June 6. Notably, some Facebook users indicate at the end of the post that the source of the information is a panorama.pub, although the posts are not accompanied by a link to the article, nor is it mentioned that the information is satirical.
According to the satirical article, Matthew Kovalchuk showed negligence in his work, he was fined USD 500, and this misconduct will remain in his personal case forever.
The website features a disclaimer that the news stories published on it are not authentic and represent a “grotesque parody of reality.” In addition, the logo of the site states that the publication publishes satirical content.
Satirical stories of panorama.pub have been presented as real stories in the past as well. For more, see the articles prepared by “Myth Detector:”
- Was Khinkali Appropriated by the Union of Russian Restaurants?
- Did Latvia Grant Assistance to Former Pioneers?
- Do the Words “We Only Had Sex, They (Soviet People) Had True Love” Belong to Kissinger?
- Did WHO Top Official Die after Choking on Broccoli?
- Did Kim Jong-un Place Monument to Stalin in North Korea?
- Kissinger’s Interview about USSR is Fake and was Disseminated by Progressnews based on a Russian Satirical Edition
- How did Russian “Satire” Become the Source of Saqinform’s Disinformation?
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