Kremlin propaganda trained Russians to be homophobic for years, and now uses this topic during its fake statements about the war in Ukraine. In particular, the other day, agitprop spread information that advertising city lights were placed in Ukraine, on which a military man is depicted with an LGBT flag. However, there is no such city light in reality, and propagandists faked it with the help of a photo editor. Details are in the material.
FAKE
The city lights distributed by the propagandists depict a military man over which two flags are flying: the national flag of Ukraine and the rainbow flag of the LGBT community. The advertisement is accompanied by the slogan “We have something to defend.”
“Ukrainians are offered to protect the rainbow flag”, “Propaganda posters with such an idea were hung all over Kyiv. NATO standards are deeply embedded in Ukraine”, “The best anti-advertisement of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Sumy: “We have something to defend with the LGBT flag”, – this is how the propagandists signed their posts in the original language.
In this way, agitprop hints at whose interests and values the Ukrainian military actually protects.
Some of the posts spread by the Russians claim that Silly-lights were placed all over Kyiv, while other publications say that these ads were placed in Sumy.
With the help of the details in the photo, in particular, the building in the right corner, we found out that the city light is located in Sumy, and the photo shows the residential building of the workers of the machine-building plant named after M. V. Frunze. http://surl.li/emtlus
However, in real life, a completely different city light is placed near this building – not with an advertisement for service in the Armed Forces, but a commemorative one – dedicated to the fallen soldier from Sumy Oblast, Serhii Myronchenko. http://surl.li/libdoj
CONCLUSIONS
There are no campaign city lights with military and LGBT flags in Sumy. The advertising lightbox was faked by propagandists in a photo editor.
Because of such omissions, Kremlin propaganda continues to broadcast to its internal audience the narrative that Ukrainians are supposedly defending not their own territory, but the traditions of the “decaying West.” With this message – about the alleged protection of “traditional” values from degrading Westerners – agitprop once again justifies a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.