On 5 May 2024, a fake video which imitated news published by the Kharkiv branch of Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne began circulating online, according to a statement published on the broadcaster’s website. Suspilne said that the video originated in pro-Russian social media groups and consisted of a report on an Orthodox priest belonging to a pro-Ukrainian congregation in the village of Tsyrkuny outside Kharkiv. The area was the site of heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and was under Russian occupation in the first months of the war.
According to the fake video, the priest would have appropriated funds entrusted to him by parishioners for the renovation of the local church, and would have spent the money gambling online. Suspilne denied any connection to the video, with the head of the broadcaster for Kharkiv region additionally claiming that the pronunciation of placenames in the fake report showed that its authors were not from the region, but rather from Russia. Technical details related to the appearance of visual text in the video would also reveal that it was not produced by Suspilne, the outlet’s representative Vyacheslav Mavrychev said.