DISINFO: Ukrainian officer killed his colleague for speaking Russian
SUMMARY
A Ukrainian officer shot his colleague because he had spoken Russian while they were celebrating the birthday of Stepan Bandera (Ukrainian historical figure) on 2 January.
RESPONSE
This is a pro-Kremlin narrative that Ukrainians reject the Russian language and are anti-Russian.
After the dissemination of this claim, StopFake contacted the Joint Forces Operations headquarters with a request to comment on information about a possible conflict between the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and whether there really was such a “murder” in the 80th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in early 2021.
The Joint Forces Operations headquarters said that the information spread in the pro-Kremlin media is "100% fake".
Moreover, pro-Kremlin media claimed that the alleged murder happened on 2 January during the celebration of Stepan Bandera's birthday, a historical Ukrainian nationalist leader. However this date is incorrect and Bandera's birthday is actually celebrated on 1 January.
Read similar cases: Rights of Russian-speaking people are violated in the Baltic States and Ukraine, French Documentary about Russia is nearly Russophobic: distorts facts about Ukraine, Ukraine forbids 40% of the people to speak Russian.