The photo in the post we are reviewing, which contains the Ukrainian flag, has been graphically altered and edited, to falsely represent that the flag is Ukrainian. The photo was taken next to the statue of Lenin in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk, next to the administrative building of this city in the Kemerovo region of Russia. The flag is not blue and yellow (like the Ukrainian one), but in the original photo, the guests are holding a flag that is black and yellow and looks like the one used by the Russian Empire in 1858. Multiple foreign fact-checkers also report that the photo has been graphically altered to portray the Ukrainian flag falsely

The main element of the post we are reviewing is a photo that looks like it was taken after the wedding, and the newlyweds appear to be faking a Nazi salute while the Ukrainian flag is seen in the background.

I see the Nazi SS fact checkers removed the truth in five minutes. Here it is once again. This is the true Ukraine. Fourth Reich. Whoever wishes should congratulate the newlyweds, says the post we are reviewing.

However, the photo of wedding guests simulating a Nazi salute was not taken in Ukraine, but in Russia!

The photo from the reviewed post has been graphically altered, i.e. edited, to falsely represent that the flag is Ukrainian. It was taken next to the statue of Lenin in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk, next to the administrative building of this city in the Kemerovo region, Russia. The trick is that the flag is not blue and yellow (like the Ukrainian one), but in the original photo, the guests are holding a flag that is black and yellow. It looks like the one used by the Russian Empire in 1858, although the bottom part (the white line) is not visible because of the people standing in front of it.

The original photo can be found online dating back to at least 2018, for example on Russian internet forums such as this one.

Reuters fact-checkers write that the original photo, with a black and yellow flag, can be found on a Russian site (according to the language and domain) and dates back to 2016. You can see a slider with a comparison of the two photos, the original and the graphically modified or manipulated photo here.

In 2018, a Ukrainian website reported that the original photo was taken in the city of Novokuznetsk in Russia. You can see the object in front of which the photo was taken in the following photo:

The photo was taken in front of a monument to Lenin in Novokuznetsk as can be seen by the structure of the building in the background and it is also available on the map.

Multiple foreign fact-checkers also report that the photo has been graphically altered to falsely portray the Ukrainian flag in front of which the newlyweds and their guests posed with Nazi symbols. Truthmer has previously written about multiple cases of forcing the narrative that Ukraine is Nazi by misusing photos, photomontages of real photos, and using incorrect facts. Due to all of the above, we assess that the photo in the post we are reviewing has been graphically modified in order to spread a propaganda narrative.

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