On January 26-27, 2024, Russian propaganda media – Pravda.ru (1;2) and Царьград, as well as Russian-language Facebook accounts (1;2;3;4;5;6;7;8;9) and web – Websites (1;2;3) reported that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Ukraine is ready to join the US instead of Texas. The users, publications and websites disseminate the information based on the Ukrainian publication ТСН.
The quote circulating under the name of the President of Ukraine is fabricated. Volodymyr Zelenskyy did not say that Ukraine wants to join the US instead of Texas. The screenshot of the article published under the name of ТСН is also fabricated.
The screenshot used by Facebook users and Russian propaganda outlets as a source is fabricated. The mentioned quote of Volodymyr Zelenskyy cannot be found on the website of ТСН. According to the screenshot, the author of the article is journalist Maksym Zhuravel; however, there is no quote of similar content in the list of articles published by him on ТСН. The disseminated screenshot is a fabricated version of the article produced by Maksym Zhuravel on January 25.
In fact, the article talks about Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s address delivered on the evening of January 25 and briefly summarizes the topics that the president touched upon. In his address, Volodymyr Zelenskyy does not say anything about Texas. The photo attached to the article is taken from Zelenskyy’s January 20 address – the President of Ukraine does not talk about the US and Texas in this video either.
The claim, as if Volodymyr Zelensky made a statement that Ukraine is ready to join the US instead of Texas, is not confirmed by the local media and the official social media accounts of the president (1;2;3).
Migration and border control are at the root of the dispute between the Texas state government and the US federal government. In December alone, a record number of more than 300,000 illegal immigrants crossed the border. The situation escalated after state leaders on Jan. 10 barred US Border Patrol agents from patrolling Eagle Pass, a section of the border through which large numbers of migrants cross. The area includes Shelby Park, which is located along the Rio Grande River – it is currently surrounded by razor wire. On January 12th, after the Texas Military Department “occupied and secured” Shelby Park, a mother and two children drowned near the Rio Grande River. State representatives and the US authorities blame each other for the incident. On January 15, the administration of the US president appealed to the Supreme Court, presented details about the drowning of migrants, and asked for intervention. As the attorney writes, Texas blocks border patrol access even in emergency situations, making a rescue mission impossible. On January 22, the court voted 5 to 4 to allow the Border Patrol to remove the razor wire around Shelby Park, but as Gov. Greg Abbott wrote, the matter is not over and accused Biden of encouraging illegal border crossings. The governor says he will continue to defend Texas’ constitutional authority to secure the border and prevent the Biden Administration from destroying the property.
About the Sources
Facebook user Rustem Esedov publishes information of anti-Ukrainian content. Some of the user’s posts have been flagged as false information.
The posts of the user Bozhok Oleg, who systematically spreads information of anti-Western content, are also flagged as false information.
Facebook user Sven SvenSon Kuhn has spread false information in the past as well.
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