Disinformation as if a Ukrainian Military Shot a Car with a Woman and a Child

Since March 27-28, 2023, Russian media outlets  (Vesti.ru, ura.ru, regnum.ru, tsargrad.tv, rambler.ru, 360tv.ru) and social media users have been circulating a video in which a loud conversation between a woman and a man in Russian and then the sound of gunfire can be heard. According to Russian media, the Ukrainian soldier got angry because the woman was speaking in Russian and fired a shot. According to the description, the incident happened on March 24 and was recorded by the video recorder of the woman’s car.

The mentioned video was also published on the Twitter account of the Russian Embassy in the UK, as well as on Russian- (1, 2, 3) and Georgian-language (1, 2, 3, 4) Facebook accounts, including the Facebook account affiliated with the Georgian pro-Kremlin “Conservative Movement” party.

As a result of determining the geolocation of the distributed video, it was revealed that it was filmed in the territory between Donetsk and Makiivka, occupied by Russia, making it impossible for Ukrainian soldiers to be present in the territory. In addition, the use of the car’s video recorder, with which the video was allegedly taken, is banned in the territory controlled by Ukraine.

The viral video shows a Volkswagen brand car stopping in front of the woman’s car, from which two armed men dressed in military uniforms get out. Ukrainian flag and cross (of the Wehrmacht) are displayed on their car. One of the “military” approaches the woman’s car, accusing her of violating traffic rules and asks for documents.

“Scoundrel, give me the documents!” – a man’s voice is heard from the car.

The woman answers in Russian, to which the “military” calls her a “pig” and demands to speak in the state language. After that, the sounds of breaking glass are heard, the “military” gets out in front of the car and shoots to the side.

On March 28, the Intelligence Service of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine responded to the video and called it low-quality editing. The agency described the details that indicate the fakeness of the video.

• Geolocation – The video was filmed in the territory between Donetsk and Makiivka occupied by Russia

The Russian-language independent outlet Meduza writes that the researchers of the OSINT project GeoConfirmed were able to determine the exact geolocation and coordinates of the video: 47.977044, 37.953754. In the first seconds of the distributed video, the power line pylons are visible, through which the researchers were able to find the exact spot.

Meduza writes that the location of the video is about 30 kilometres from the front line. Therefore, it is hard to imagine that the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine drove 30 kilometres into the territory occupied by the Russian troops with Ukrainian identification signs, and one of the soldiers decided to take the time to conflict with a woman who violated traffic rules.

The Ukrainian fact-checking portal StopFake also publishes data verified by other activists, which also confirms that the geolocation of the filming location was identified correctly. Consequently, the Ukrainian military could not be in this place because the territory has been controlled by the Russian Federation since 2014.

In addition, one of the civilians visited the alleged location of the recording of the video, confirming that the spot was indeed the territory between Donetsk and Makiivka.

• Car video recorders are banned in Ukraine

In Ukraine, the use of car video recorders has been banned since March 2022. This decision was made in order to keep the movement of troops secret. The punishment for disseminating information about the actions of the Ukrainian army is 3 to 12 years in prison. It is worth noting that the woman sitting in the car is able to use the video recorder without any problems, and “the military does not notice” this.

• The audio of the recording is suspicious

It is also noteworthy that the voices of both dialogue participants in the video are very clear, even though one of them, the “Ukrainian soldier”, is standing by the window and talking to the woman sitting in the car. “Myth Detector” talked to Tazo Tkhilashvili, operator of the investigative program “Shabatis Formula” of TV Company “Formula” on the mentioned topic. He noted that it is theoretically possible for a video recorder to record sound well/clearly; however, the man’s breathing is clearly heard in the video, and it is unlikely that a video recorder would be so sensitive. According to him, there is a high probability that these people wear a lapel microphone, and the sound was added later to the video. Also, the natural noise from outside is less audible, which is typical for shooting in such an environment.

It should be noted that the video with the same description was also published by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia; however, it was later deleted.

The video was also posted on the official Twitter page of the Russian Embassy in the UK and is still available as of March 30, although users in the comments actively claim that the video is fake, citing the source.

Russian Embassy, UK: “military stop a woman with her baby for allegedly violating traffic rules. After hearing her speak Russian & finding out she is a Muslim, the “brave” Ukrainian: shouts at, threatens, insults her, calls her “pig”, scares her baby, fires several shots.”

About the Sources

The Facebook account “I am a girl” has disseminated disinformation a number of times in the past. The content of the user’s posts is mainly pro-Russian and anti-Ukrainian.

Similarly, an anonymous Facebook account has been spreading disinformation in the past. The content of the user is also pro-Russian and anti-Western.

The disinformation published by Sandro Lobzhanidze, one of the authors of the viral video, has been debunked by “Myth Detector” a number of times in the past.