On August 16, prominent Russian propagandist Andrei Lysenko claimed that Ukrainian forces had shelled the Galactica shopping mall in the Russian-occupied city of Donetsk.
Lysenko is wanted by the Ukrainian Ministry of Interior for spreading malicious propaganda and disinformation on behalf of the Russian government.
In descriptions of two video clips he posted 20 minutes apart on the messaging app Telegram just after noon Kyiv time on August 16, Lysenko described horrific events resulting from a purported attack by Ukrainian forces, with numerous casualties, and then called on Russian President Putin to “take” all of Ukraine and “cleanse” all Ukrainians.
https://t.me/lisenko1972/5705
https://myrotvorets.center/criminal/lysenko-andrej-aleksandrovich/
“Galactica (shopping mall) is burning. Many people have been burned alive, including children. Women are screaming hysterically that their children are there. We have saved and rescued as many people as we could. … Vladimir Vladimirovich (Putin) … Ukraine is occupied and everyone needs to be cleansed.”
https://t.me/lisenko1972/5706
This is incorrect.
Denis Pushilin, the Kremlin-appointed governor of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which is controlled by Russia, said 11 people suffered moderate or minor injuries in the Galactica Mall fire. No footage has been released during or after the fire that shows rescue efforts, injured or burned children or women, or anyone with visible injuries related to the Galactica Mall fire.
The footage Lysenko shared online focuses on Lysenko himself. The footage shows an empty parking lot with one car parked in front of a shopping mall while a cinematographer chases Lysenko around the burning building. Contrary to Lysenko’s claims that he had to pull people from the fire and rescue them, the footage shows Lysenko driving away from the mall to avoid the smoke. While running around the building, Lysenko encounters several people who are clearly in distress, but no one shows signs of burns or other trauma.
Numerous Russian media outlets reported on the deadly attack on the Galactica mall in Donetsk, all quoting Lysenko, but none, including Russia’s most-watched state-run TV station, Rossiya-1, provided their own reports or exclusive footage from the scene of the alleged disaster.
https://ukraine.ru/20240816/1056910287.html
https://by.tsargrad.tv/news/volonter-lysenko-zhenshhiny-i-deti-zazhivo-sgoreli-v-rezultate-udara-vsu-po-tc-galaktika_1041432
https://bloknot-donetsk.ru/news/lyudi-sgoreli-zazhivo-zhenshchiny-krichat-byutsya–1764190
https://argumenti.ru/incident/2024/08/914319
Боевики ВСУ нанесли ракетные удары по ТЦ «Галактика» в Донецке — в огне погибли много людей
https://360.ru/news/ukrainian-crisis/nikto-ne-uspel-vybezhat-volonter-nazval-chislo-pogibshih-v-tts-galaktika-v-donetske/
https://dzen.ru/a/Zr8095XBcXUIuIwf
Russia 1’s 60 Minutes program uncritically repeated Lysenko’s fakery: “Ukraine is committing insane atrocities on the orders of the West,” host Olga Skabeyeva said in commenting on the Lysenko footage.
(From 32:21) https://smotrim.ru/video/2851518
Pro-Kremlin users and channels on social media platforms such as YouTube, VKontakte and Telegram promoted Lysenko’s videos, reaching millions of viewers.
https://vk.com/wall-65960786_10254436
https://t.me/shot_shot/70263
https://m.vk.com/wall-119533440_736639
https://tlgrm.ru/channels/@rlz_the_kraken/69639
https://vk.com/wall-153855784_2554590
https://vk.com/video-43618728_456323644
https://vk.com/video-51966513_456243476
Two hours after the first video, Lysenko posted another video to his Telegram channel, this time claiming that “dozens of people died” in the shopping center fire, though he provided no evidence to back up his claim.
https://t.me/lisenko1972/5707