
On August 19, a Russian attack took place in Chernihov. False narratives appeared almost immediately on social media. According to pro-Russian narrators, the mark of the Russian attack was to be the Ukrainian safety Force office in Chernihov. Many “Polish mercenaries” and “NATO soldiers” were supposedly killed as a consequence of the fire. erstwhile we look at this communicative closer, it is false.
False
More about our evaluation system:Attack in Chernihov — False narrations about targets
In the Polish infosphere, Piotr Panasiuk, among others, utilized this narrative. It is known for its pro-Russian views and spreading disinformation. respective times on the pages of our website appeared analysis of content provided by it (e.g. Here. and Here.). A false message from him appeared on the platform X (old Twitter) and Telegram.


Piotr Panasiuk claimed that the mark of the Russian attack in Chernihov was the circuit office of the Ukraine safety Force (SBU). As a consequence of the fire, as has already been mentioned, many Polish mercenaries and NATO soldiers were to die. The proof of the liquidation of the “mercies” was to be a flight from Rzeszów to Krakow. The success of the Russian attack is allegedly evidenced by the video. After a closer look at the full case, it turns out that the missiles did not fall on the SBU headquarters, but on the theatre in the city center. Then Panasiuk changed his narrative, stating that the theatre had organized training of drone operators. At the same time, notes Dr. Michał Marek of the Centre for investigation on the Modern Environment of Security, Russian propaganda centers began to make an attack on theatre as an extraordinary success of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. They seem to be the first origin of narratives about the deaths of “Polish mercenaries” and “NATO soldiers”.

Attack in Chernihov — Analysis of False narrations
Let's review the video of Peter Panasiuk. In his entry he stated that the attack was carried out at the circuit office of SBU, which is located at 28 Shevchenki Street in Chernihov. In the image below you can see what she looks like.

As you can see, it's not a building registered on the video. However, in social media we find almost immediately the information that the hit object is the Musical and Dramatic Theatre named after Taras Shevchenko. The following comparison shows the theatre building in pink. On the another hand, the another 2 buildings visible in the frame were marked with bord and yellow colours. After locating the site, it turns out that it is actually a theatre in Chernihov (coordinates on Google Maps: 51.491561990058244, 31.299390244047643).

At the same time, the proof of the death of “Polish mercenaries” and “NATO soldiers” is to be a flight from Rzeszów to Krakow. In order to make his communicative credible, Piotr Panasiuk posted a screenshot from Flightradar24 on the Telegram. Attention is drawn to the fact that the inscriptions on the map are in Russian. In fact — what notes Michał Marek — Piotr Panasiuk utilized a photograph from the Russian propaganda channel on the Telegram.


Peter Panasiuk stated The Ukrainians besides revealed information regarding alleged training of drone operators to take place in Chernihov. The evidence he utilized to make his thesis credible is simply a photograph of the invitation to the “Angry Birds Demo Day” event. From the contents of the invitation and statements the organiser shows that the event was a closed gathering alternatively than training. At the same time Ukrainian press (e.g. Ukrainian Pravda in with and with The article) reports that the theatre building actually held this closed event.
On social media, we may besides encounter VideoWhere we see a burning building. It is described as the hit Musical and Dramatic Theatre in Chernihov. If we search backwards for this video, we will see that it is not hit on 19 August 2023 by the theatre. The video shows the circuit office of the SBU consumed by the fire. However, the video was uploaded over a year ago. Page Ukrainian Institute We can read that the Chernihov office of Ukrainian safety services were hit by 2 missiles on 25 February 2022.

Summary
After the above analysis, it can be seen that the Russian attack in Chernihov was not the office of the SBU, but the theatre in the city center. Attacking civilian infrastructure is simply a war crime. The Russian Federation has repeatedly attacked civilian objects (e.g. information about this. Here.). At the same time, Kremlin's propaganda began to usage the attack to spread narratives against Poland. The Republic of Poland was shown as a state actively supporting Ukraine with a surviving force (narration of many killed “Polish mercenaries”). At the same time, it is worth noting that Yuri Bielousov, Head of the Department of Anti-War Crimes in the General Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine, notesthat the attack in Chernihov was carried out to origin as many casualties as possible among civilians. His words besides repeat Polish Press Agency. As a consequence of the fire, 7 people were killed, including 1 child, and another 180 people were injured.
Sources
Ukrainian Institute: https://ui.org.ua/en/postcard/regional-department-of-the-security-service-of-Ukraine/
Ukrainian Pravda 1: https://life.pravda.com.ua/society/2023/08/21/256053/
Ukrainian Pravda 2: https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2023/08/21/7416485
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/masser.berlinska/posts/pfbid0Uv8qfWToWiQ5AV2Aje3ha4z2mkgQiTXdFJA7Z7TcG5yBypd2MSHG3YnD7yKHMVal
Noviniary: https://novynarnia.com/2023/08/20/ogp-chernigiv/
Polish Press Agency: https://www.pap.pl/updates/Russian-missile-iskander-who-attacked-blackhow-had-exploded-wrong-people