Fake news alert: viral video claims passersby forced to kneel before soldier funeral

Source: Yevhen Boyko/Facebook

A video circulating online claims that people in Lviv were aggressively forced to kneel as a funeral procession with soldiers carrying a casket of a fallen troop pass. The clip features an unidentified man shouting through a loudspeaker, demanding that everyone kneel.

The voice in the video harshly commands, “Get on your f******* knees before the hero. Only a moskal [Russian] would walk past. Bow your head, bow your knee.”

Yevhen Boyko of Lviv City Council, addressed the controversy, explaining that the video had been doctored with the voice added to footage showing the funeral of paramedic Iryna Tsybukh, held on June 3.

“No one in our city has ever addressed passersby in such a manner, neither at this funeral nor at any other. So, please, don’t spread this nonsense that is being pushed by obscure channels,” Boyko emphasized.

He suggested that the fake video aims to “destabilize the city and undermine respect for its heroes”.

In the comments section, users who attended the funeral confirmed that no such statements had been made during the ceremony.