DISINFO: Ukrainian fascists stored weapons and ammunition in Uman synagogue
SUMMARY
Ukrainian armed formations used the synagogue in Uman as a storage place for weapons and ammunition. The Russian Ministry of Defence received information about this from a member of the local Jewish community.
Photos were published showing Ukrainian militants loading equipment disguised as bags of construction rubble into dump trucks.
RESPONSE
An unfounded claim about a weapon storage place in the central Ukrainian city of Uman. The claim is presented by the Russian Ministry of Defence as justification for the ongoing Russian military invasion of Ukraine, which started on 24 February 2022 with multiple attacks and broad incursions from Belarus, Russian soil and from the non-government-controlled areas (NGCA) in Eastern Ukraine.
The Jewish community of Uman calls the claim that the local synagogue is being used as a military base by nationalists a lie. A rabbi specifically filmed a video in the synagogue to show that it was empty, there were no soldiers, no weapons, and no military equipment in the building.
As for the photograph that the Russian Defense Ministry presented as proof of its claim about ''nationalists in the synagogue', it in fact doesn’t prove the presented claim. In an interview with the Israeli Haaretz newspaper Iryna Rybnytska from the Rabbi Nachman fund emphasized: “It is perfectly clear from these photographs that the synagogue is closed and the people in the photographs are not on the territory of the synagogue."
Moreover, the presented pictures of the Russian Ministry of Defence also show very clearly that the military is standing on the street opposite the synagogue in Uman. There are no soldiers, military equipment or vehicles on the premises of the synagogue itself - the courtyard is visibly empty. See further debunking from StopFake.
Russia, in its war against Ukraine, permanently uses the pretext of "Ukrainian nationalists" to justify the shelling of civilian objects: schools, hospitals, theatres and shopping centres. According to multiple international media reports, Russian troops are regularly shelling and bombing residential areas, schools, kindergartens, hospitals, orphanages, churches and other civilian objects. They are also planting mines in cities.
See the EU's response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine here along with EU vs Disinfo's Guide to Deciphering Pro-Kremlin disinformation around Putin's War.