Zaluzhny is preparing a coup with Budanov: Russia spreads a new fake

Russia has launched a new fake against Ukraine. This time, Russian social media are spreading the "news" that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny and the Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov allegedly conspired to carry out a "coup d'etat" in Ukraine.

The Russians tried to "disguise" their fake as foreign "primary sources," but they did it extremely poorly. The details are reported by InfoLight.UA, a project that specializes in raising media literacy and combating fakes and propaganda.

Russian Telegram channels began to spread a new fake about the alleged preparation of a "coup d'etat" in Ukraine on November 10. The messages circulating in public, in particular, those of the so-called "Novorossiysk" orientation, stated that the "coup" would be led by Zaluzhny and Budanov, who, according to Russian propagandists, had entered into a conspiracy.

InfoLight.UA noted that such attempts to split the military and political leadership of Ukraine and undermine the situation inside our country are not the first to have been recorded. But this time, there are some interesting details.

According to the project, the primary source of the "sensation" is the Chinese website sina.com.cn. However, InfoLight.UA was unable to find the actual "news" on this site.

"Despite all our efforts, we did not find this information on the sites whose screenshots are being distributed by the enemy. However, our team does not have people who are fluent in Chinese, so we leave open the possibility that such information was published. For now, everything looks like a simple editing of the page code," the statement said.

Another "source" was the Asia Times website, which is visited by up to 2 million users every month, mostly from the United States. There is some "news" there. However, it exposes the creators and beneficiaries of the "sensation".

In particular, the publication states, "There is a growing consensus that the West (meaning the United States with the help of the United Kingdom) wants to replace Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. My friend and colleague Larry Johnson believes that the CIA and MI6 in the UK are already preparing the ground. Either Zelensky will be forced to call a presidential election scheduled for March next year and then be replaced or he will be replaced anyway in a Maidan-style upheaval if he resists."

The words "Larry Johnson believes" are accompanied by a hyperlink, which, when clicked, takes the reader to a resource where "Larry Johnson," who is presented as a "retired CIA officer," allegedly expressed his position on the website of the Sputnik news agency, which is part of the Kremlin-controlled Rossiya Segodnya media group.

"To sum it up, taking advantage of the internal Ukrainian situation and 'heating up' the topic of Valeriy Zaluzhny's resignation and his alleged conflict with President Volodymyr Zelensky, the enemy almost immediately, albeit very poorly, created another fake aimed at making another split in Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian Defense Forces. It is important to be careful and not to spread unverified information. It is also important to minimize internal political conflicts until the end of the war," the InfoLight.UA team summarizes.

Earlier, the Russians published a fake about Olena Zelenska. However, they were exposed once again. Russian propagandists have accused the First Lady of Ukraine of involvement in child trafficking.

According to the fake "Western resource," the Russians claim that Olena Zelenska's foundation sends orphans abroad to save them from the war and then allegedly sells them into sex slavery.

In order to spread the fake, Russians were looking for photos of Ukrainian children online. This is where they got caught because they used a photo of the daughter of the adviser to the head of the Office of the President Daria Zarivna to spread the lie.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!