On 17 April 2023, screenshots of a fake article by Ukrinform, the Ukrainian national press agency, were published on several social media platforms in Russia, reported IMI, a Kyiv-based press freedom group. The article, reportedly shared on Twitter, TikTok, Telegram, Vkontakte (a Russian social media resembling Facebook), as well as by unnamed media outlets, claimed that the Ukrainian parliament had registered a bill proposing to ban photos and video recordings at cemeteries. The fake article was illustrated with a photo of graves with Ukrainian flags above them, in an apparent allusion to the military fatalities suffered by Ukraine in the course of the war. The authors of the text claimed to quote the unnamed authors of the “bill”, who would have said photos and videos of Ukrainian cemeteries “could give valuable intelligence information to the army of the Russian Federation”, as well as “create a negative informational background” within Ukraine.
In response, Ukrinform denied it had anything to do with the publication, adding that online verification tools confirmed that no article with a title or content similar to that shared on social media in Russia was published at the time and date indicated on the available screenshots. Moreover, no such bill had been registered in the Ukrainian parliament, according to the parliament’s website. Additionally, Ukrinform drew attention to several details in the writing style of the article, which the agency said contradicted internal publication rules. The Ukrainian national press agency said this was not the first time articles imitating those by Ukrinform were shared on the Russian segment of the internet.