Russia spreads fake news about Prague shooter's connection to Ukraine
Russia spreads fake news about the Prague shooter's connection to Ukraine (photo: Getty Images)
Russian-affiliated propaganda Telegram channels are spreading fake reports that a young man in Prague, Czech Republic, who recently opened fire at Charles University, was an immigrant from Ukraine, states the Center Countering Disinformation (CCD).
False reports claim that the "Prague shooter" was an ethnic Ukrainian from the western regions of the country.
"According to ru-propagandists, the Czech media are trying not to voice this fact, as Ukrainians have allegedly already committed too many serious crimes in the country," the post says.
Meanwhile, the CCD emphasizes that this information "is a fake, which was refuted by the Czech Interior Minister Vit Rakusan." The minister said at one of his briefings that the shooter, David Kozak, was a Czech by birth who grew up in a Czech family.
"He had no relations with Ukraine," the Czech Interior Minister added.
The Center urges citizens to trust only verified sources of information.
Shooting in the center of Prague
On December 21, a man opened fire at a university in the city center of Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Initially, 10 victims were reported, but later in the evening, local law enforcement officials clarified that the shooter killed at least 15 people and injured at least 24.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Oleh Nikolenko told RBC-Ukraine that according to Czech police, as of Thursday evening, there were no Ukrainians among the victims.
According to Czech police chief Martin Vondrasek, the attacker committed suicide when law enforcement officers fired at him. Czech media reported that the shooter could be a 24-year-old student of the philosophy department of a local university, David Kozak.
The police were checking the shooter's social media posts, which may indicate that he took his cue from a Russian eighth-grader. In early December, she shot and killed two people at a school in Bryansk, injuring five others. After the shooting, the schoolgirl committed suicide.
