Ukrainian MP Falsely Shares Photo Of A Child From 2013 And Claimed He Just Survived A Russian Artillery Attack For War Propaganda

Ukrainian Member of Parliament (MP) Lesia Vasylenko is now under fire for tweeting an image of a distraught little boy covered in dirt. She alleged that the boy had just survived a Russian artillery attack. In a now-deleted tweet, Vasylenko falsely claimed: “The saddest part: there are no children in #Ukraine anymore. Only little humans with very grown up eyes, old even. Somewhat tired of a life yet unlived. Pictured: Marc, 8 yo, just survived a #russia artillery attack.” 

Vasylenko quickly faced backlash on the platform after the audience found the same image of the boy on a book cover from 2013. The book in question is titled The Forgotten Man by Christina McKenna. Users who are evidently tired of Ukraine’s propaganda have voiced their opinions in the comment section.

"See this is the false propaganda that you and some of leadership liars are creating that is killing the needed sympathy with Ukraine and its true victims of the war !! This image is from a novel published in 2013, not in current conflict in Ukraine ! Shame !" tweeted user @HSajwanization.

@timand2037 commented, "Ukrainian MP @lesiavasylenko posts fake pic of 'marc, 8y.o.' who 'just survived a #russia artillery attack'. The photo is lifted from a 2013 book by Christine McKenna. More broadly, it is true that the crimes of Nazi regimes bring disaster on their own children."

"Preferably real ones as opposed to fictional children used by lunatic Ukrainian despots mad for money and war..." added @EwanMacKenna. 

The U.S. media has been bombarded by old pictures and fake videos of the Ukraine invasion for months now, and people have begun questioning President Zelenskyy.

One clip from February 2022 was purported to show a Ukrainian fighter pilot that was supposedly blowing up a Russian aircraft over Ukraine. As it turns out, that clip was actually from a video game. 

Another Ukrainian propaganda photo that went viral was on the cover of The Sun, which featured an older woman with a bloody face and bandage wrapped around her head. The headline stated: "Her blood on his hands," with this caption strategically placed below a photo of President Vladimir Putin. The cover was released on February 25. Users responded with links and pictures that proved the exact same image was taken in 2018, and it was of a woman who actually survived a gas explosion.

The Ukrainian president has been hailed as a hero for a while now, meeting with celebrities and even posing for dramatic Vogue photoshoots. In November of this year, actor Sean Penn gave his Oscar for Best Actor to Zelenskyy – an act that the skeptical audience has found ironic. 

Who Is Lesia Vasylenko?

Lesia Vasylenko is a lawyer and politician who currently serves as a People's Deputy of Ukraine in the 9th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada. She's also a member of the delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and is the president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union's Bureau of Women Parliamentarians.

It is not clear where the Ukrainian MP got her information from (or if she just made it up herself), and she has not yet addressed the wrongful information she shared on her Twitter.

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