Debunking Russian fakes. No, Europe didn’t run out of baking soda from Bashkortostan because of sanctions against Russia 

Pro-Russian Telegram channels shared the news saying that, because of sanctions against Russia, Europe ran out of their supply of baking soda from Bashkortostan, which is why the price for one pack of it increased up to almost 20 euro. Let’s follow how this fake was constructed.  

What happened? 

On January 17, Telegram channels that systematically spread Russian propaganda — Zanoza, Medved, Novokakhovskaya PRAVDA, and others — posted the news that there is a “terrible misfortune” happening in Europe:

“Europeans got a great misfortune where they didn’t expect it. Apart from gas supply, they’ve also run out of Bashkirian baking soda. Now, in Germany, they sell the pack for ~ 19,99 € (2,100 rubles)», the posts say. 

As evidence, the posts present a video with a German voiceover and logo of online shop Kaufbei.tv.

The news was also shared on social media, including X, on Russian social media VKontakte and on Russian forums.

Analysis

First step: We studied the video attached to the posts and paid attention to the brand, QR code, and the product number of the soda in the video. 

The QR code in the video really leads to the webpage of a TV online shop, Kaufbei.tv, with an offer to buy baking soda from Bashkortostan. The thing is, the price for the five packages is €6,45, and for one package of 500 grams, it is €1,29 (archive). 

We’ve checked all the official resources of Kaufbei.tv (1, 2. 3, 4, 5). They had no information about the shop’s Bashkirian baking soda running out. 

We’ve analyzed the information about the online shop itself. The company Kaufbei GmbH is registered in Germany. Its official website and social media pages have, apart from German, a Russian interface and a large chunk of content, including video, aimed at Russian-speaking audiences. They also have social media accounts on Russian social media OK and VKontakte. The shop itself has a lot of products with Russian packaging manufactured in Russia (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6), including a banking soda from Bashkortostan. So, we can make a conclusion that the company is partially oriented towards the Russian audience.

So, trying to show how “badly” Europe is doing because of sanctions against Russia, pro-Russian propagandists start to create fakes to support this narrative — but even the commenters of the channels these fakes are posted on don’t believe them.

Conclusion: Fake

Author: Anna Ormanzhy

Our Kharkiv-based newsroom has been doing fact-checking for almost three years: through Russia’s all-out war, it’s been vital to provide our audience with insights into how Russian propaganda (and propaganda, period) works. Thank you for keeping an eye on our debunking pieces. If you can, please consider supporting our fact-checkers on Patreon, BMC, or PayPal.