Debunking Russian fakes. Hull Daily Mail didn’t write about 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed in Russia’s Kursk Oblast 

After Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed that Sudzha in Kursk Oblast isn’t under the Armed Forces’ control and thanked Ukrainian troops for Kursk operation, the information about a new cover for British Hull Daily Mail spread online. 

The сover for the new issue — extensively discussed on Telegram — had a headline saying almost 70 thousand (UPD: 70,000, not 200,000) Ukrainian soldiers died in Russia’s Kursk region. It is a fake cover.

What happened?

Since March 15, 2025, this cover has been published on Telegram channels that regularly spread Russian propaganda, e.g., Ramzai (“Рамзай”, archive), Tsarhrad TV (Царьград ТВ, archive), V Рука Кремля Z (archive), web-resources like Russian spring (Русская весна, archive), Politikus (“Політікус,” archive), and on X accounts (1,2,3). 

The posts included a cover of the British regional daily newspaper of Hull Daily Mail with the following text: 

“70,000 Ukrainian soldiers in Kursk Oblast died in vain. The UK poured hundreds of millions of pounds into Zelensky’s crushing failure.” 

Analysis 

We’ve analyzed the picture of a newspaper’s cover—and looked up info about the newspaper itself. Hull Daily Mail doesn’t write about international geopolitical news and focus on covering topics related to the city called Kingston upon Hull (or, most often, simply Hull). 

The cover in Telegram posts had the date March 13, 2025. We checked through official platforms of the magazine and found an issue for this date, but its cover has absolutely different text and cover photo.

On the original cover, the headline is: “Boy found guilty of attempting to murder girl with a sword. Halloween camping trip turned into a nightmare when a young teenager was stabbed ten times.” 

The cover story is about the Hull Crown Court finding a 15-year-old boy who inflicted 10 stab wounds on a 14-year-old girl and left her in the field. The victim managed to survive, so the defendant was found guilty of the attempted murder. 

So, the “news” about British outlet Hull Daily Mail writing about 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers dying in Russia’s Kursk region is another fake, aimed at the accreditation of allied countries providing Ukraine with aid among Russian-speaking audiences. 

Conclusion: Fake 

Author: Olha Yakovleva

More fake covers

• No, Courrier International’s cover didn’t have a caricature of Macron caring for Zelenskyy in hospice
• No, French artist didn’t create street art with Zelenskyy on leash