News scoop about false Ukrainian passports featuring United24’s logo is EDITED

A video circulating on social media claims to show the sale of fake Ukrainian passports. The video alleges that two employees of a Ukrainian consulate in Poland were selling fake Ukrainian passports.

Social Media Claims

A Facebook user posted a video with a “United24” logo in the upper corner, with a caption that read, “Consulate employees in Poland helped Ukrainians “legalize” their passports and ID. They organized an underground printing house where they printed false Ukrainian passports. Consulate employees legalized the documents using the database to which they had access. Price – EUR 5,000. ($5,400) Ukrainians don’t want to fight for their country but your politicians are telling you that your country needs send them 60 BILLION of your tax dollars.”

Source | Archive 

We also found the same claim in a Russian news outlet.

Archive

However, we discovered that the video was edited and did not actually originate from the United24 Media news outlet.

Fact-Check

We began investigating by looking for the same video on the United24 Media website, but it cannot be found on its official website or social media accounts. This suggests that the video was not produced or endorsed by United24 Media. 

Moreover, Media 24 has clarified via its official Facebook page that the video is fabricated and did not come from the outlet.

Furthermore, Ukrinform.net has reported that the video was staged using irrelevant footage. For instance, the shot with an “underground” machine for making passports was taken from a five-year-old video about a printing house in Poland.

Footage from Ukrainian TV channels’ stories about foreign passports and ID cards was also used in the purported video claim.

On a similar note, the footage of the alleged arrest and trial of “document forgers” is actually from a trial in a district court in the city of Krosno in 2022, where two men were sentenced to 25 years for committing a brutal murder.

Recently, Ukrainians in Poland have been upset about Kyiv’s decision to stop passport renewals, which was intended to encourage fighting-age men to return home to boost troop numbers. This action, seen as an attempt to reinforce Ukraine’s army, has caused outrage among Ukrainians in Poland. 

Despite initial claims of a “technical error,” Ukraine’s ambassador assured that all applications submitted before April 23 would be processed. This incident highlights the difficulties Ukrainians abroad face due to geopolitical tensions (Source: RTL Today).

Conclusion

In conclusion, the video about the sale of counterfeit Ukrainian passports is false. It was not produced by United24 Media, and our investigation confirms that its content was created using footage from various old and unrelated sources. Furthermore, United24 Media has refuted the video’s authenticity.