The event is completely fictional. The organization indicated on the poster did not hold or announce the celebration. The posters were probably put up as a provocation by the propagandists themselves.
A photo of a poster is circulating online, which allegedly announces a celebration on the occasion of Stepan Bandera’s birthday in one of Berlin’s parks. The event organizers listed in the announcement are the Central Union of Ukrainians in Germany, an organization founded in 2007 that supports Ukrainians in Germany, promotes their integration into German society, and popularizes Ukrainian culture.
However, in reality, such an event was not held in Berlin on January 1, and the poster was fabricated by propagandists. The website of the Central Union of Ukrainians in Germany does not mention anything about holding such a celebration. The organization’s latest events — in particular, a meeting with the president of the Ukrainian World Congress and the celebration of Vyshyvanka Day — took place back in 2024. In response to StopFake’s request, the union’s head Lyudmila Mlosh confirmed that she has never heard of such an event taking place.
Judging by the watermark in the photo, the original source of the news was the infamous pro-Russian journalist Anatoliy Shariy, who constantly spreads Kremlin propaganda. Moreover, the news also spread in the German-language segment of the network through the media source Infrarot Medien. «People, we have a problem. We brought neo-Nazis. With the support of the federal government», they wrote in X in a post that has gathered more than a hundred shares and over 13 thousand views. Infrarot Medien was founded a few months before the full-scale invasion by the former editor-in-chief of the Russian state broadcaster RT in Germany, Ivan Rodionov. The media is actively promoting RT and broadcasting pro-Russian narratives: Infrarot Medien claims that in reality Russia only wants peace, and the West is the real aggressor.
It is likely that the posters were put up by the propagandists themselves in order to discredit Ukraine in the international arena. We have already refuted similar disinformation campaigns in stories like Fake: Billboards in Berlin Advertise the «Immortal Regiment» Campaign.
