On October 17th, Kremlin media, including Pravda and Общественная служба новостей, reported that one of the Israeli TV channels, INN, created an animation about a Ukrainian pig. Pravda’s article is accompanied by an animated video published on Telegram. The animation was also shared by Russian-language (1,2,3,4,5) and Georgian-language (1,2) Facebook accounts. The video was also published in Russian-language Facebook groups (1,2,3).
The viral animation shows a pig with a Ukrainian flag and a Nazi symbol running away from a bear with a Russian flag, demanding to enter the European Union. After opening the gate, the piglet is admitted to the European Union by an angel, but soon the piglet is thrown back due to bad behaviour. The thrown piglet is taken by the bear and thrown back to the European Union, after which the gate is closed, and an inscription appears in Russian and English: “What Europe supports must stay in Europe”. A red INN logo can be seen in the upper right corner of the video. In the version of the video shared by the Facebook accounts, the INN Channel logo appears on the entire screen after the animation.
The claim that the viral animation was filmed by the Israeli channel INN is false. The full version of the animation was published on the Russian Telegram channel, which publishes a series of short animations about the Ukrainian flag and a pig with Nazi symbols. According to the description of the Telegram channel, it is managed by an administrator living in Russia.
The animation was first published on October 11th on the Russian Telegram channel СВО – Свинка В Обмороке [Pig in a swoon]. According to the episode cap, the animation is the tenth chapter of the “No Russophobia” series and is called “Хлевропа и Бешенцы” [Europe and Rabies].
The first part of the animation was published on September 1st. According to the description of the Telegram channel, it belongs to “Zhenka”, a Russian citizen living in Russia. And the pig is only a symbol of the “abnormal” part of Ukraine.
The version of the video shared on Facebook omits the original video’s beginning cap and end credits, “The end”/“The end of Europe?” and adds the INN logo. The mentioned logo in the upper right corner also covers the whole video, which is not found in the original version.
Notably, two Israeli channels may correspond to these initials: Arutz Sheva (Channel 7), which uses the name Israeli International News, and Israeli Now News. However, none of the channel logos matches the symbol used in the video.The mentioned channels have not disseminated information about the Russian animation.
Update: The animation published by СВО – Свинка В Обмороке [Pig in a swoon] was later republished by the Hebrew-language Telegram channel (not a TV channel) INN.
On October 12th, the animation created by СВО – Свинка В Обмороке [Pig in a swoon] was published in an edited form by the Hebrew-language Telegram channel INN: אוּקרוֹנַאצים and attacked its logo. This version of the animated video was distributed by the Kremlin media and presented the Telegram channel as one of the Israeli television channels. The Telegram channel INN: אוּקרוֹנַאצים publishes posts mostly in Hebrew, although Russian-language posts are found occasionally as well. The channel is pro-Russian. In the greeting post for subscribers living in Russia and the CIS countries, it is mentioned that the channel belongs to “anti-fascist Jews” who remember history and support “Special Operation Z”.
The mentioned channels have not disseminated information about the Russian animation. The logos used in the animated video are partially similar to the logo of the INN Channel of India. The channel mainly covers regional news.
Russian propaganda tries to convey the idea that other state channels/companies create animations regarding the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and show Ukraine in a negative context, which aims to discredit Ukraine. For more on the topic, see:
- DELFI: The Animation about Ukraine does not Belong to a French Studio (available only in Georgian and Russian)
The article has been written in the framework of Facebook’s fact-checking program. You can read more about the restrictions that Facebook may impose based on this article via this link. You can find information about appealing or editing our assessment via this link.
Read detailed instructions for editing the article.
Read detailed appeal instructions
