Russian propagandists spread fake claim that Ukraine sending 17-year-olds to fight in Pokrovsk

Russian media and Telegram channels are circulating images of what they claim are the front pages of the French newspaper Libération, the Canadian National Post, and the British tabloid Western Mail. All three supposedly state that Ukraine is sending 17-year-old boys to fight in Pokrovsk.

This is fake. None of these outlets published issues with such covers. Propagandists edited them using graphic-design software.

The genuine November 5, 2025 issue of Libération has a different cover featuring former French Minister for the Economy and Finance Bruno Le Maire, who is being blamed for the country’s economic crisis.

In the case of the National Post, propagandists took a page of the newspaper containing a beer advertisement and passed it off as a front page. The original November 4 issue contains no publication about President Volodymyr Zelensky or the alleged participation of 17–18-year-old Ukrainians in the fighting for Pokrovsk.

The authentic cover of the Western Mail dated November 5 is dedicated to the arrest of a British school principal suspected of pedophilia.

Russian propagandists frequently create and circulate fake covers of well-known foreign media. Their “creative portfolio” includes fabricated versions of German magazine Titanic, French publications Courrier International and Franc Tireur, the Indian weekly Ananda Vikatan, the American magazine Humor Times, the Spanish outlet El Jueves, and others.

This fake is part of a broader Russian disinformation campaign amid ongoing attempts by Russian forces to capture Pokrovsk. By doing so, propagandists aim to promote the false narrative that Ukraine is supposedly “losing” and resorting to deploying 17-year-olds to defend the city. This is not true.

Under current Ukrainian law, citizens aged 25 to 60 are subject to mobilization. Since February 2025, the Ministry of Defense has also been running the experimental Contract 18–24 project — a voluntary program for citizens aged 18 to 24 who wish to join the country’s defense during martial law.

As reported by Ukrinform, Russian propaganda earlier spread a fake story about a supposed conversation between Pope Francis and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance alleging that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “does not want peace.”

Andrii Olenin