Why are online users claiming Ukrainian soldiers are staging combat?
Clips from a music video produced by Ukrainian soldiers, which marked the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have been taken out of context.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/03/17/why-are-online-users-claiming-ukrainian-soldiers-are-staging-combat
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Clips from a music video produced by Ukrainian soldiers, which marked the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have been taken out of context.
READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/03/17/why-are-online-users-claiming-ukrainian-soldiers-are-staging-combat
Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages
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NewsTranscript
00:00Are Ukrainian soldiers faking combat?
00:08A series of video clips have been circulating on social media, claiming to show Ukrainians
00:13dressing up and pretending to go to war.
00:16One account shared a series of three videos alleging that soldiers were faking combat
00:20to appear war-torn and get funds from the US.
00:24But in reality, although the video is real, it has been misleadingly taken out of context.
00:29The TikTok username is visible on the clip.
00:32The account in fact belongs to a Ukrainian combat medic who calls himself Vitsik.
00:37He also has a YouTube channel and the misleading clips have been taken from behind the scenes
00:42of one of his videos.
00:43In February 2025, Vitsik posted a music video called Brothers to mark the third anniversary
00:49of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
00:51In the video, the same woman who online users claimed was putting makeup on to fake war
00:56can be spotted.
00:58Her name is Marianna Chichelyuk and she was captured by Russian forces while defending
01:02the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol.
01:06She was released in May 2024 after spending more than two years in captivity.
01:11Chichelyuk addressed the misleading posts on Instagram with disbelief, stating what
01:16is there to say.
01:18The music video also features two other Ukrainian soldiers who defended the Azovstal steel plant.
01:24Responding to Euronews on TikTok, Vitsik said he is a soldier who uses music as a medicine
01:29to dull the pain from the loss of his best friends.
01:32Vitsik told Euronews we are not actors and invited those who suspect the war in Ukraine
01:37to be a movie to come and visit the country.