Russian fake targets Odesa official with fabricated “Hitler birthday” post

Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, as well as bots on Facebook and X are circulating a screenshot of an allegedly deleted post from the Telegram channel of the Head of the Odesa City Military Administration, Serhii Lysak. The image shows an Odesa beach with a silhouette of Adolf Hitler. It is claimed that the city official supposedly intended to “congratulate” residents on the birthday of his “idol,” but later deleted the post and replaced it with a neutral morning greeting.

This is fake. The screenshot was allegedly taken from the Russian platform TGStat, which allows users to view deleted posts, Telegram channel statistics, and interactions between channels.

However, no such post featuring a silhouette of the German dictator appears among deleted publications. According to the propagandists’ version, it was supposedly published on April 20, 2026, at 06:04, but in TGStat this post is absent not only from published content but also from deleted messages.

The claim that a “replacement” post was later published is also misleading. A routine morning greeting appeared at 06:59, consistent with the official’s usual posting pattern. Similar posts at the same time can be found on his channel, indicating no unusual activity.

In conclusion, Russian propaganda spread this fake in order to discredit Ukraine’s leadership and reinforce its narrative alleging a supposedly “Nazi” nature of the Ukrainian authorities.

As previously reported by Ukrinform, Russian propaganda had also circulated a fake claim about the alleged “ineffectiveness” of Ukrainian drone specialists in the Middle East.

By Andrii Olenin