The fake news story about food shortages in Ukraine turned out to be a photo from Crimea

Russian propaganda outlets have circulated photos purportedly showing restrictions on the purchase of goods in Ukrainian stores, claiming that these measures are linked to food shortages in various regions of the country. However, this information turned out to be false.

This was reported by the Telegram channel "Kharkiv Direction."

According to the project’s authors, the photos actively circulated by Russian outlets were not taken in Ukraine, but in the temporarily occupied Crimea. The photos show shelves at a “Dobrostroy” supermarket chain operating on the occupied peninsula.

Thus, Russian propaganda exploited the situation in occupied Crimea to create yet another disinformation campaign about an alleged food shortage in Ukrainian regions.

The "Kharkiv Direction" notes that such manipulations are part of Russia’s information war against Ukraine. Russian media outlets regularly spread false reports about the situation on the front lines, claiming the capture of Ukrainian settlements, the evacuation of communities, or the destruction of Ukrainian positions.

The goal of such information operations is to undermine the morale of Ukrainians, create panic, and erode trust in official sources of information.

Experts urge citizens to approach information from anonymous sources with skepticism and to verify reports through official channels of government agencies, the military, and reputable media outlets.

Recently, in annexed Crimea, amid problems with fuel supplies and transportation logistics, shortages of certain food items have begun to appear in stores.

As a reminder, on June 7 in occupied Sevastopol, the Russian occupation authorities imposed new restrictions onthe sale of fuelto the public. 

Earlier, the Crimean occupation authorities banned the sale of fuel forcashand set a limit for holders of previously purchased vouchers—no more than 20 liters of fuel per person.

Андрій Колісніченко