Antifake / Factcheck

02 July

Deceptive Video on Belarusian State TV Claims Ukrainians are Rewriting WWII History

The Weekly Top Fake team reached out to the museum for comment, and they responded.

Ukraine rewrites history trying to deny Germany's attack on the Soviet Union in 1941. This statement was made by speakers on the state TV “Belarus-1”. As proof, the channel's head, Ivan Eismont, presented a video allegedly filmed in a Ukrainian museum. The Weekly Top Fake team has fact-checked this video.

The investigated episode of the program "Editors' Club" where Ivan Eismont, Chairman of the Belarus Tele-Radio Company, has provided alleged evidence of Ukraine rewriting history, aired on June 21, 2024. Ivan Eismont drew attention to a particular video circulating online and proposed to look at:

“This is a tour somewhere in Ukraine, I believe it's for children. It's in Borispol. They're talking about who attacked and who liberated the city. Let's listen.”

A voice-over in the video then claimed: “There were fierce battles in Borispol during World War II. The city was captured in 1941 by Soviet troops, and then, two years later, in 1943, our city was liberated by the forces of the Ukrainian district, freeing your ancestors from occupation.”

After the video was shown, Ivan Eismont commented: “For those who haven’t noticed, in 1941 Soviet troops occupied Ukraine, and in 1943 it was liberated by nationalists. Everything there is turned upside down.”

Pro-government political analyst Vadim Yelfimov added: “It's a complete lie. Even if you look at the photograph, you can see an Antey plane, which only was built in the 1970s. This is pure Goebbels-style propaganda.”

The video was indeed filmed at the Borispol State Historical Museum. However, the museum's website states that Borispol was under German occupation from September 1941 to September 1943, contradicting the claims made in the video.

The Weekly Top Fake team reached out to the museum for comment, and they responded:

“The voiceover does not belong to any of our staff members. In our tours and publications, the museum staff adheres to the modern narrative of World War II, recognizing the shared responsibility of two totalitarian regimes in the war's outcome and the two-year occupation of the city by Hitler's forces during the German-Soviet War.”

The museum staff also pointed out that the video was filmed near a stand dedicated to the 1950s–1960s, yet the voice-over talked about World War II.

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