Was the Glory to Urine Billboard with Ukrainian Flag Colors Placed in New York?

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Reading Time: 3 minutes

1.3k
VIEWS

Russian-language media outlets ВОЕННОЕ ОБОЗРЕНИЕ, ЦАРЬГРАД, as well as the Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova shared a video showing that Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who arrived in the United States to attend the United Nations General Assembly, was allegedly greeted in New York with a billboard depicting the Ukrainian flag with the message “Glory to Urine”, instead of “Glory to Ukraine.” The video is being spread with the Fox News Digital logo.

zelenskis bilbordi Was the Glory to Urine Billboard with Ukrainian Flag Colors Placed in New York?

The video is fabricated as there is no billboard in New York with a similar message. Additionally, the Fox News logo featured in the video was added using software.

Reuters has verified the footage. Using geolocation, it was determined that the video was actually shot in New York City, in Time Square, at the intersection of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue. The message “Glory to Urine” was added to the video using software. Upon arriving at the scene, the NBC investigative journalist discovered that there was a McDonald’s restaurant across the street from the billboard, which was not visible in the fake video. The journalist published the video on X. It is believed that the footage used in the fake video was shot in 2022, when McDonald’s did not yet exist at that address. In addition, Markian Kuzmowycz, who analyzes digital threats for Microsoft, published a photo taken in September 2023 that also shows McDonald’s.

zelenskis bilbordi1 Was the Glory to Urine Billboard with Ukrainian Flag Colors Placed in New York?
The intersection of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, New York, August 2022
zelenskis bilbordi2 Was the Glory to Urine Billboard with Ukrainian Flag Colors Placed in New York?
The intersection of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue, New York, September 2023 Source: Markian Kuzmowyc

It is also noteworthy that the video fabrication features the logo of Fox News, despite the fact that no video containing such content is available on the media outlet’s official website. Fox News confirmed via email to Reuters that the video was not published on their platform.

Big Outdoor, the media company, owns and operates some of the billboards in Times Square, including the one seen in the video. According to Reuters, Erin Watkins, the company’s general counsel, said in an email that no such message has ever appeared on its display. He added that the images are 100% fake. 

The video fabrication, as if an anti-Ukraine and anti-Zelenskyy billboard had been placed in New York, was also spread in the past. For more information see the Myth Detector article:

Archive of Maria Zakharova’s post

Archive of ЦАРЬГРАД


Tekla Kharazishvili

Myth Detector Lab


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.

Topic: Politics
Country: USA
Source

Last News

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Add New Playlist