Photography in the Russia–Ukraine war is not only a valuable and truthful record of events, but also a weapon that is actively used for disinformation and distortion of facts. The Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers is launching a new section, “Is it really true?”, where we will verify various cases of information manipulation by turning to primary sources.
“A staged drone photo”
Ukrainian documentary photographers Kostiantyn and Vlada spent several days in a row documenting the consequences of the Russian troops’ breakthrough on the Vovchansk direction in Kharkiv region.
As a reminder, at around 5 a.m. on 10 May 2024, the enemy attempted to break through Ukraine’s defenses in Kharkiv region at two locations. Ukraine’s Defense Forces met the Russians with fire. The Armed Forces of Ukraine continue to hold the line. However, civilians living in Vovchansk and nearby settlements found themselves under intense shelling. The Russians attacked Ukrainians relentlessly, using various types of munitions and bombs.
While in Vovchansk, Kostia and Vlada saw how “death fills the city, and civilians’ bodies lie under rubble and right on the streets.” The photographers documented the bodies of two civilian women lying dead on the ground.
“In the second and third photos are the bodies of two civilian women. Next to them are two small, distinctive craters—anyone who knows immediately understands this was not a random mine or artillery strike. With a 90% probability, these are targeted drone drops. The women are wearing bright clothes. Even from above, it’s impossible to mistake them for soldiers. I’d already heard about something like this in Krynky: soldiers told how Russians chased an elderly man with drone drops—somehow he ended up among those ruins,” the Liberovs wrote on their Instagram page.
These photos prompted a reaction from Kremlin propagandist Yuliia Vitiazieva, a native of Odesa. She posted a photo of the two murdered Ukrainian women on her Telegram channel, claiming that it was a “staged drone photo made solely to once again blame Russia and beg for weapons from their masters.”
“In reality, the women in the photo don’t look killed at all. Their clothes are intact, there are no traces of blood. After a mine or artillery strike, the picture would be different. Unfortunately, we already know well what the killed look like. Too often we had to see horrifying footage of the consequences of Ukrainian strikes on our civilians. But here it’s a staged drone photo—made solely to once again blame Russia and beg for weapons from their masters. Overall, the years go by, but the methods and manuals don’t change. Simply because they work. Unfortunately,” commented Yuliia Vitiazieva, a Kremlin propagandist from the “Solovyov Live” channel.
The Liberovs, for their part, responded to Vitiazieva:
“Indeed, years go by, and we still can’t get used to the level of their cynicism. The only thing we can’t disagree with is that they are turning Vovchansk into a second Bucha—and, as you can see, the Russians themselves are already acknowledging this publicly,” Kostiantyn and Vlada commented on Telegram.
As a reminder, propagandist Vitiazieva from Solovyov’s channel, who fled Ukraine, was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison. This was reported by the Security Service of Ukraine on 30 November 2023. According to the investigation, after moving to Moscow in 2015, she began publicly spreading fakes about Ukraine’s socio-political situation. Under the pseudonym Yuliia Vitiazieva, she repeatedly supported the occupiers on the propaganda TV channel “Solovyov Live.” She also became a “columnist” for the News Front information agency, which was created in temporarily occupied Crimea. In addition, she was among the first to justify the Russians after the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP. The court found her guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: Part 6 of Article 111-1 (collaboration activities) and Parts 2 and 3 of Article 436-2 (justifying, recognizing as lawful, or denying the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, and glorifying its participants). She was sentenced to 11 years in prison with confiscation of property.
Worked on the piece:
Topic researcher, text authors:Vira Labych and Vlada Liberova
Literary editor: Yuliia Futei
