The claim
Vitali Klitschko acts the drama of the recorded scene in the Ukraine war. While he feigns “total panic” in the foreground, “relaxed” photos could be taken in the background. Therefore the war drama is only staged.
Our conclusion
The photo is not from the Ukraine war in 2022, but from January 2014. Klitschko was sprayed with firefighting foam as a result of his attempts to calm a demonstration. The picture was taken shortly afterwards.
Facebook statement about the war
At the beginning of October, hundreds of users shared the Klitschko photo with the claim on Facebook and Twitter . It shows the Ukrainian politician in front of the camera in Kiev. His jacket is dirty and the image in the background is smoky, suggesting a connection to the current war. The other people in the background also seem to be taking photos of the situation and of Klitschko. However, these people look relaxed and calm and the photo therefore does not look like an acute and threatening war situation, as Klitschko seems to describe it.

The user on Facebook or Twitter wrote a sarcastic comment on the photo post: “ Total panic is acted out in the foreground and the photos are taken in a completely relaxed manner in the background. “Caution: bomb impact!!!”. But before we escape, we first have to put Klitschko in the spotlight and take sensational photos. The fearless hero of Ukraine.”
It is not the first time that there have been opinions about the war in Ukraine that claim that the events were staged or presented in an intensified manner. These included theories about the discovery of corpses in Butscha , but also many scenes that were allegedly only faked by the media: war victims, mass panics or even the shelling of the Ukrainian city of Irpin.
Photo is not from the Ukraine War
As AFP Fact Check reports, a reverse search of the image led to some media reports from 2014. More detailed investigations provide an exact date of the photo taken by photographer Efrem Lukatsky: January 19, 2014.
At this time there were some protests in Kiev that were directed against tightening the right to demonstrate. The then Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had previously signed a legislative package that, among other things, provided for fines for demonstrators who wear helmets or mask up. Protests against the president's decision not to sign an association agreement with the European Union began three months earlier, in November 2013.
The resulting mass protests led to serious clashes between security forces and demonstrators in the center of the Ukrainian capital. Police officers had to use batons and tear gas against the demonstrators.
Klitschko sprayed with firefighting foam
Klitschko was already an opposition politician in Ukraine and tried to calm the demonstrations. A video that was published at the time by the British news site “Belfast Telegraph” and can now also be found on YouTube shows Klitschko trying to calm a large crowd with a megaphone. He is then suddenly attacked with a fire extinguisher; An unknown person from the crowd sprays him with an enormous amount of firefighting foam, causing the situation to spiral out of control.
being incorrectly linked current Ukraine war on social media
Conclusion
The photo circulating on social media does not allow any associations with the current war in Ukraine. Instead, according to research, it is more than 8 years old and shows Klitschko on January 19, 2014 with a dirty jacket covered by firefighting foam after his attempt to calm down a Ukrainian demonstration in Kiev at the time.
Sources
AFP
TAZ
USA-Today
Belfast Telegraph
Author: Nick L.
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Notes:
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