Civilians are targets of Russian attacks, after all

Unlike the European Union and social networks, which are trying to mitigate the effects of Russian propaganda, it is flourishing in Montenegro. Through certain portals, TV stations, networks such as Telegram, information, precisely and consistently harmonized with Moscow’s views, is being spread.

This morning, another disinformation was published on the IN4S portal, stating that the viral photo of the injured Olena Kyrylo upon the Russian bombing of Ukraine was actually taken in 2018.

Based on correspondence from social networks, IN4S claims that the photo was taken in 2018, after a gas explosion in a building in Kyiv. It is contradictory that the alleged evidence that IN4S refers to (comments from social networks) shows that the explosion from 2018 took place in Magnitorsk – a city in Russia, and not in Kyiv as claimed by IN4S.

Evidence provided by users on social networks is obvious photomontages in which photos of the injured Ukrainian woman are added to old media texts. By checking it can be easily determined that these photographs are not in the original texts.

The photo that IN4S and numerous Russian media have disputed is authentic, it is not four years old, and here is why.

1. OSINT pretragom dolazi se do informacije da se pomenuta fotografija prvi put pojavljuje 24. februara 2022. godine na portalu Al Jazeera u 9.38 ujutro. U opisu stoji da je žena ranjena  nakon vazdušnog napada, kao i ime autora slike.

1. On February 26, the author Wolfgang Schwan spoke for the Anatolia Agency about his photo of the Ukrainian Olena Kyrylo, which appeared on the front pages of the international media and shows the scale of Russian military aggression.

3. The consequences of the bombing were photographed by numerous other authors on February 24 and provided insight into the consequences from multiple angles. This made it possible to compare the details and determine the authenticity of the original photograph.

This is not the first time that Russian and pro-Russian media in the world and in Montenegro are trying to accuse credible media of spreading disinformation. The goal is to cover up Russian military attacks on civilians and deny opposing information, all with the intention of continuing Moscow’s official narrative that the Russian military does not target civilians.