Russian fake makers are doubling down on the disinformation campaign related to the information about the possible extradition of Ukrainians liable for military service from abroad.

Recently, they’ve been spreading the document that suggests a Ukrainian man is being forcibly extradited from Ireland. Let’s verify if it’s true. 

What happened? 

Russian propagandist Ruslan Ostashko wrote a post in his telegram channel that suggested that a Ukrainian living in Limerick (a city in Ireland) got a letter from the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice about his extradition to Ukraine.

The reason for extradition, he says, is that a man is liable for military service. The propagandist adds that Ireland authorities refer to the European Convention on Extradition, 1957. He says the man meets conditions for extradition from Ireland, which are, according to the document:

  • an offence that is punishable by imprisonment in Ireland and in Ukraine for at least a year (draft evasion, he notes, is punishable by law in both Ireland and Ukraine); 
  • the offence is not a political offence or one connected with a political offence. 

The former prime minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, posted the same letter, emphasizing that the man will be imprisoned for a year in case he evades from the draft, both in Ukraine and Ireland. 

The news reached the Russian media, too. EADaily publishes it, commenting, “[easy life] is over: Ireland sends all Ukrainians in the trenches or behind bars.” 

Analysis 

For fact-checking, we took a relatively simple route: we sent an inquiry to the Ireland Ministry of Justice. 

We received the following response: 

“The Department can confirm that the letter in question was not sent by the Department of Justice.

If anyone is unsure of the authenticity of any correspondence they receive purporting to be from the Department of Justice, they can contact the Department on 1800221227. 

Scams are common. They can happen at any time. Some of the most common types of scams involve the use of fake emails, calls or texts pretending to be from real companies and organisations. 

October marks Cyber awareness month in which a number of campaigns take place to highlight the importance of cyber security education and current trends in all forms cyber fraud, phishing messages and disinformation.

I hope this is of assistance.” 

We’ll note that the propagandist’s reference to the European Convention on Extradition is also inaccurate. The document outlines: “Extradition for offences under military law which are not offences under ordinary criminal law is excluded from the application of this Convention.” 

We’d also like to note that Fedir Venislavskyi, the President’s representative in the parliament, stated that there will be no mass extradition of men from abroad. 

Conclusion: Fake

Author: Nazar Hlamazda

Gwara Media has a fact-checking department and fact-checking bot Perevirka, which people use to send us news/posts for verification. We debunk fakes and manipulations spread by Russian propaganda — and expose how it’s constructed and distributed. Buy us a coffee to support and cheer up our fact-checkers.