Russian propaganda criticized the news about the creation of new street art in Kharkiv and used this news to once again push the narrative about Ukrainians being disappointed in Western allies because of lacking military aid, particularly air defense systems.
As such, a pro-Kremlin telegram channel reported that huge street art was painted to say “Give,” asking for more military aid, to “shame a western master and again demand weapons.” Let’s dive into this message.
What happened?
Telegram channel Ukraina.ru, that systematically shares Russian propaganda, published a post (archive) with the following content:
“In Kharkiv, there is a huge “Give” painted, seen from the satellites. In an attempt to shame a western master and once again demand weapons, in Kharkiv [they] decided to create a performance and paint the Patriot air defense system with the sign, “God saves our souls. “Patriot” saves our lives.” Surrealism in this horror adds the fact that it’s painted on the Epicentr mall’s parking lot, a network [of malls — ed.] that is used by the Armed Forces to store ammunition and weapons.”
This post was shared by other pro-Russian Telegram channels such as “Russkiy Z Kharkov V” (“Русский Z Харьков V,” archive), “Naspravdi” (“Насправді,” archive), and pro-Kremlin media “Yurii Podoliaka” (“Юрий Подоляка,” archive), “ZOVKharkov” (ZOVХарьков, archive), and others.
Analysis
On August 30, the artist Viktoria Kalashnyk said in an Instagram post that a Patriot appeared in Kharkiv.
“It’s not real, sadly, because if it was, it would have been possible to save many lives, prevent the tragedy in the Epicentr and today’s attack on a residential apartment building… We are very grateful to our Western partners for support, but, sadly, it’s still not enough…”
Street art with the Patriot complex was painted on the parking lot of Epicenter Mall.
Russians hit the mall in May 2024, killing 19 people. The street art was created to honor people killed in this attack — and to call on the international community to provide Ukraine with more air defense.
Viktoria talked about this in the interview with Suspilne Kharkiv.
“After this terrible tragedy, after the attack on Epicetner, I got this idea that I have to make something very large, so it could be seen from space, to shout loud enough so our and western partners [would hear], to remind the whole world about us,” the artist said.
The street art itself is a 60-meter-sized image of an anti-aircraft Patriot complex that faces Belgorod Oblast, from the territory of which the Kharkiv Oblast is regularly bombed. Instead of its missiles, there is a sign, “God protects our souls, “Patriot” saves our lives.”
According to the artist who created the street art, the idea was also to remind the international community about the danger for people who live on the frontline territory without enough air defense when the neighboring country is an aggressor state.
Notice that, in Telegram posts, they say that Epicenter mall is “used by the Armed Forces to store ammunition and weapons,” but earlier they have been pushing the narrative that soldiers were based there. But three months later, “soldiers” turned into “ammunition storage.”
So, we’re dealing with manipulation. First, the word “Give” isn’t included in street art. Secondly, according to the author, the street art was created to thank Western partners and remind the international community about the danger people in Ukraine face. And the place for the street art was chosen to honor those killed in a Russian attack on Kharkiv mall this May.
Conclusion: Manipulation
Read more
- Debunking Russian fakes. No, there wasn’t a soldier base in Kharkiv hypermarket destroyed by Russia
- Debunking Russian fakes. No, Okhmatdyt children’s hospital targeted by Russians is not a military hospital
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