Since October 6, Russian propaganda media outlets kherson-news.ru, en.mriya.news, news-kiev.ru, zp-news.ru, and lnr-news.ru have been publishing new graffiti of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Elon Musk. The articles claim that the photo in question was taken in Munich, Germany. In the circulated image, Elon Musk is physically abusing the President of Ukraine. The graffiti reads: “Stop asking for money!”
The photo was also distributed on Russian-language Facebook accounts (1, 2).
The disseminated photo is altered. No similar graffiti can be found at the intersection of Heinrich-Lubke and Isa and Lorenz-Hagen-Weg streets in Munich. On October 11, as a result of on-site verification, it was confirmed that no such graffiti was painted on the location.
The photo circulated on the Internet shows the intersection between Heinrich-Lubke and Lorenz-Hagen streets. Street names allow us to easily trace the exact location.
We explored the mentioned area with Google Maps and Google Street View.
The photo shows that the graffiti should be located under the bridge, at the exact intersection of the streets.
1. Heinrich-Lubke-str. 2. Lorenz-Hagen-Weg. 3. The intersection of the streets. The graffiti should be located in this area.
- Heinrich-Lubke-str. 2. Lorenz-Hagen-Weg 3. Street signs 4. The graffiti should be located on this wall.
In Google Street View, a photo taken from the mentioned place in January 2022 shows no graffiti. To determine whether the graffiti is painted there now, we asked Bakari Dzuliashvili, a resident of Munich, for help. He arrived at the site on October 11 and provided us with photo-video material, which clearly shows that the said graffiti is not painted on the location.
1.Heinrich-Lubke-str. 2. Lorenz-Hagen-Weg -intersection. Munich, 11 October, 2023
Video: Bakari Dzuliashvili
“Myth Detector” has repeatedly debunked fake graffiti spread by the Kremlin media and pro-Russian accounts to discredit Zelenskyy. For more details, see:
- From Paris to New York: The Journey of the Fabricated Graffiti of Zelenskyy
- Fabricated Articles in the Name of German Publications about the Graffiti of Zelenskyy
Ana Loladze
Myth Detector Laboratory
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