Russian propaganda systematically tries to defame Volodymyr Zelenskiy, particularly by manufacturing disinformation about the world’s negative attitude towards him. (Here’s our report that analyzes propaganda spread in Ukrainian and worldwide online space in the first half of 2023, showing that “Discrediting the President of Ukraine” is one of the main topics propagandists boost). 

This time, Russian propagandists say most people left the hall during Zelenskyy’s speech at the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, so: let’s dive into debunking.

What happened? 

On September 20, one pro-Russian propagandist channel (VOBLYA) published a post for almost 1.5 million subscribers. Its author said that most people left the General Assembly hall during Zelenskyy’s address to the 78th session of the UN General Assembly. 

During that day, the news got 115 thousand views. During September 20-22, other propagandists channels shared and commented on this post, including those targeting the audience that lives in Ukrainian regions temporarily occupied by Russians: Lomovka, На самом деле в Херсоне [“Actually in Kherson” – editor’s note], Кирилловская Администрация [“Kyrilivskaia Administration”; Kyrilivka is temporarily occupied by Russian forces in Zaporizhzhia oblast — e/n]. 

Also, information was shared by the Russian press and on Facebook and X (Twitter). 

The authors say that most people left the hall when Zelenskyy was giving his speech to demonstrate “real” attitude of other countries towards the President of Ukraine. 

Analysis 

Posts use screenshots of the livestream of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly, broadcasted by the American Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). 

We’ve analyzed the RBS’s broadcast. The screenshot that made it into the Telegram channels corresponds with the moment when the President of Ukraine has already finished speaking (5:20:11). 

Hall after the President of Ukraine finished his speech / Source: PBS

In a video of a session that was published on the UN’s official YouTube channel, this moment is at 5:28:14 timecode. 

Hall after the President of Ukraine finished his speech / Source: UN live broadcast

To know if most people really left the hall before or during the President of Ukraine’s address, we’ve determined how many people were there before his speech. 

The President of Turkmenistan, Serdar Berdimuhamedow, addressed the Assembly before Zelenskyy. He finished speaking at the beginning of the fifth hour of the RBS’s broadcast (5:04:02), so we’ll use this timecode as a point of comparison. 

Screenshot of the hall after the President of Turkmenistan finished speaking, before the beginning of Zelenskyy’s address / Photo: PBS broadcast

In the UN video, this moment corresponds to 5:12:05 of the broadcast.

Screenshot of the hall after the President of Turkmenistan finished speaking, before the beginning of Zelenskyy’s address / Photo: UN broadcast

When we compare the screencaps from the video, we can see what was going on in the hall before, during, and after the President of Ukraine speaks. The number of people is almost the same. 

Before Zelenskyy’s speech / Photo: PBS broadcast
After Zalanskyy’s speech / Photo: PBS broadcast

To figure out if there have been a lot of people in the hall only during the President of Ukraine address, we’ve analyzed the PBS video broadcast and several key moments and events in the hall. The video lasted 12 hours. 

Analysis

Many people were in the hall only at the beginning of the live stream, before the break was announced after the President of the USA’s address. One hour and 44 minutes of the PBS’s live stream has passed until then.  

After the break, fewer people have been in the hall. The audience size didn’t change significantly during the following speeches — and, consequently, during Zelenskyy’s address: 

After Zelenskyy’s address, the number of people in the hall decreased a bit, but not significantly:

So, “most people” didn’t leave the hall before or during Zelenskyy’s address. No signs of other countries’ representatives “disrespecting” the President of Ukraine during the UN General Assembly session on September 19. 

Conclusion: Fake 

Author: Anna Ormanji

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.