On December 7th, 2022, Georgian– and Russian-language (1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8). Facebook users disseminated a caricature featuring the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrapped in a condom. Next to the image of Zelenskyy, one can observe the following caption: “Some people should never have been born.” According to the attached description, the image is from an advertisement by the Brazilian company Platinum Studio.
The caricature depicting Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrapped in a condom is altered. In 2017-2019, the company “Platinum Studio created caricatures of only three persons – Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.
The company “Platinum” was founded in 1991. It unites people of different professions, such as photographers, designers and illustrators. The project called “Some people should never have been born” appeared in May 2017, featuring the caricatures of the 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump, and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un. Platinum FMD and Luciano Honorato are named as the authors of the project.
In December 2019, within the second phase of the project, the company published a caricature of the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin. Daniel Haubrichs was also named in addition to the above-mentioned two authors.
All three caricatures created within the project were disseminated by the Facebook page of Platinum in June 2020.
The caricature with the image of Zelenskyy cannot be found either on the pages of Platinum (1,2,3) დor among the works of the authors (1,2). It should also be noted that in the case of the three original caricatures, both the clothes of the characters and their poses are different. Also, all three leaders are trying to get out of the condom, and have angry expressions.
In the disseminated caricature, Zelenskyy posture is identical to that of Trump and their clothes are identical (only the colour of the tie is changed). Not to mention, the shape of the end of the condom is also identical. Additionally, Zelenskyy’s head, unlike the other three images, is relatively realistic and looks like it was cut out of a photograph.
Fabricated caricatures of Volodymyr Zelenskyy were fact-checked by “Myth Detector” in the past as well. For more details, see our articles:
- How does Kremlin Propaganda Fabricate the Covers of Western Outlets to Discredit Ukraine?
- Caricatures of Zelenskyy and Sunak do not Belong to the Indian Magazine ANANDA VIKATAN
- Does the Viral Caricature Belong to the Spanish Satirical Magazine EL JUEVES?
- Fabricated Covers of “Charlie Hebdo” about Ukraine
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