Russian fake: ‘Orcs’ and Richard Wagner memorial plaque in Germany

In their posts, Russian Telegram channels began to actively share a photo of a memorial plaque to composer Richard Wagner in Dresden. According to propagandists, it was allegedly defaced by Ukrainian vandals who wrote the word "Orc" on the wall near the plaque.

This is a fake. Ukrinform managed to contact representatives of local authorities. They sent a recent photo of the plaque to Richard Wagner. The inscription "Orc" is missing there.

As the propagandists themselves pointed out, "orc" is a shortened "orchestrator" word. This is how the Russians call the representatives of PMC Wagner who actively fought on the side of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. Thus, the authors of the fake tried to draw a parallel between the famous German composer and the terrorist organization. Their goal was to discredit Ukrainians who are currently in Germany.

For Russian propaganda, Ukrainians abroad are one of the common targets. This month, Ukrinform already refuted two fakes about Ukrainian refugees. At first, the Russians tried to prove that the citizens of the Czech Republic and Slovakia were outraged by the fact that Ukrainians who had left the war were returning for vacations. And last week, Russian propaganda fabricated a campaign leaflet with a list of words that Ukrainians need to know in order to find a job in Germany.

Dmytro Badrak