Fake Charlie Hebdo cover and forged Bloomberg video about lifting sanctions on Russia: disinformation roundup for April 22–28, 2026

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Since February 24, 2022, Detector Media has been monitoring Ukrainian and foreign social media segments as well as Kremlin-backed media, documenting the chronology of Russian disinformation about the war against Ukraine.

From April 22 to 28, 2026, Detector Media analysts documented 12 disinformation cases. Among them were a fake Charlie Hebdo cover featuring Macron, a deliberately cropped video of the Swedish king’s visit to Zelenskyy, a forged Bloomberg video about the “lifting of sanctions” on Russia, a fake story about Polish humanitarian aid being sold on OLX, as well as a fabricated post attributed to the head of the Odesa City Military Administration and a fake claim about a “Ukrainian CNN journalist who stole wine.”

Pro-Russian Telegram channels shared an image presented as the cover of the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, allegedly showing French President Emmanuel Macron preparing for war with Russia. The manipulation was debunked by VoxCheck experts.

The real issue of Charlie Hebdo No. 1760 was published on April 15, 2026, and focused on debates surrounding May Day celebrations. The fake cover bears the date “April 10, 2026,” which does not correspond to any actual issue. The image does not appear in the magazine’s official “Unes” archive or on any of its official accounts.

This is not the first such incident. On May 26, 2025, Charlie Hebdo filed a lawsuit with a Paris court over the widespread distribution of fake covers on Telegram and X. Journalists aim to identify those using the publication’s reputation to promote Kremlin propaganda.

Verifying the authenticity of a cover takes just a minute via the magazine’s official website. The authors of the disinformation rely on viral spread driven by emotional reactions, without any fact-checking.

A video circulated in Polish social media claiming that Poles, through the Stand with Ukraine foundation, were sending humanitarian aid to Ukrainians, who were then reselling it at markets. The post generated significant engagement and triggered a wave of anti-Ukrainian comments. The claim was debunked by Polish fact-checkers from Demagog.

Both organizations whose logos appeared in the video denied any connection. Stand with Ukraine and Poland Helps confirmed to Demagog that they have never cooperated and did not distribute the kits shown. Stand with Ukraine last distributed such kits in 2023, while the logo seen in the video has only been used for the past six months. Poland Helps labels its products with its own patch, which is absent in the video. Stand with Ukraine representative Natalia Panchenko explicitly called the material disinformation.

The Polish company Vera, mentioned in the video as the kit manufacturer, also denied involvement, stating it does not produce such items. The kit shown being removed from a box in the video and the one in the alleged OLX listing are different items with different patches. The photo from the “listing” was stolen from a real OLX post dated March 29, advertising kits from Ukrainian manufacturer Centra-Farm. The box with fake logos was likely staged to influence Polish attitudes toward Polish-Ukrainian humanitarian cooperation.

A short video circulated in Polish-language Facebook, X, and Telegram segments, allegedly showing Sweden’s King Carl XVI Gustaf demonstratively refusing to shake hands with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The posts were accompanied by offensive comments about the Ukrainian president. The manipulation was debunked by Demagog.

The video was deliberately cropped: the handshake that took place a few minutes after the monarch’s arrival was cut out. The full version of the meeting is available on Ukraine’s public broadcaster’s official YouTube channel, clearly showing the greeting between the two leaders. Photos of the handshake were also published by international news agencies and on the Swedish monarch’s official Facebook page.

The cropped video was shared, among others, by Russian propagandists from RT. The visit itself—the first since the full-scale invasion—included laying flowers at the graves of fallen Ukrainian soldiers and a joint press conference. Some Facebook posts featured the Russia Today logo, and RT’s X account shared the edited clip with the caption: “Offended King of Sweden refused to shake Zelenskyy’s hand.” The fake was also spread by the website poland.news-pravda.com, part of the “Pravda” network, which researchers say is designed to contaminate AI datasets with pro-Kremlin content.

A video bearing the Bloomberg logo circulated on social media, claiming that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen had been working since March 2026 on a plan for the “temporary lifting of sanctions” against Russia. The video also quoted former Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala allegedly calling it “the least painful way to preserve the European economy.” The fake was debunked by StopFake.

Bloomberg has not published any material containing such claims. Moreover, authentic Bloomberg reels typically feature voice-over narration and do not place a logo over the image, unlike the fake, which lacks narration and displays a logo in the top-right corner. No reputable international media have reported any plans by the European Commission to lift sanctions. On the contrary, when the Trump administration eased restrictions on Russian oil, von der Leyen publicly criticized the decision.

The timing is also telling. On April 22, 2026, the EU Council adopted its 20th sanctions package against Russia and approved a €90 billion loan for Ukraine, including restrictions on maritime services for tankers transporting Russian oil. The aim of such fake content is to undermine trust in the EU by suggesting that the West is “secretly” preparing Ukraine’s capitulation.

Russian media and networks of anonymous Telegram channels circulated a screenshot of an allegedly deleted post from the channel of Serhii Lysak, head of the Odesa City Military Administration, featuring a beach image and a silhouette of Adolf Hitler, presented as a “birthday greeting.” The fake was reported by Ukrinform.

A check using TGStat, a platform that tracks Telegram activity, found no trace of such a post—neither published nor deleted. The morning greeting referenced by the disinformation appeared at 6:59 a.m. and matches the standard format of Lysak’s daily posts.

Such fabrications are part of a broader campaign aimed at discrediting Ukrainian officials by promoting the narrative of an alleged “Nazi” nature of Ukraine’s leadership.

Pro-Russian Telegram channels spread a fake screenshot of an article supposedly from the British tabloid Mirror, claiming that CNN had apologized for a “Ukrainian journalist” who took a bottle of wine during the evacuation from the White House Correspondents’ Dinner on April 26, 2026. The posts were accompanied by mocking comments.

On April 26, gunshots were reported during the WHCD at the Washington Hilton, prompting an evacuation, including VIP guests such as U.S. President Donald Trump. A video circulated online showing a woman in black taking several bottles of wine from abandoned tables—an incident dubbed “Wine Gate.” Propaganda used this real viral moment as a basis for fabricated claims.

In reality, no such article exists on Mirror’s website, and CNN has made no statements apologizing or mentioning any “Ukrainian journalist.” The woman’s identity has not been established by U.S. media, including the New York Post—it is not even known whether she was a journalist.

At the same time, anonymous accounts and pro-Russian blogger Chay Bowes claimed that the woman was Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Olha Stefanishyna. However, she attended the event in a silver dress and posted photos on Facebook, while the woman in the viral video was dressed in black.