--- description: As the conflict in Ukraine continues, another battle rages far from the front lines – a battle between Russian news sites and a group of journalists accusing them of misrepresentation. The issue? The Kiev-based reporters say the sites are misusing, and even fabricating, news photographs filed from Ukraine. title: In Ukraine, A Battle of Words and Images image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta1ac2ca1d4ecb715/6987e81c06f2c13c48337656/stopfake_ron_haviv1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # In Ukraine, A Battle of Words and Images by [Josh Raab](/author/josh-raab/) ## Josh Raab Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 8, 2014 8:01 AM CUT  Ron Haviv's iconic image, taken on March 31, 1992, shows Serbian paramilitary officers known as Arkan's Tigers kill and kick Bosnian Muslim civilians during the first battle for Bosnia in Bijeljina. It was recently shared on social media sites with a caption claiming to portray Ukrainian soldiers in 2014. Ron Haviv's iconic image, taken on March 31, 1992, shows Serbian paramilitary officers known as Arkan's Tigers kill and kick Bosnian Muslim civilians during the first battle for Bosnia in Bijeljina. It was recently shared on social media sites with a caption claiming to portray Ukrainian soldiers in 2014.Ron Haviv—VII by [Josh Raab](/author/josh-raab/) ## Josh Raab Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 8, 2014 8:01 AM CUT As the conflict in Ukraine [continues](http://time.com/tag/ukraine/ "undefined"), another battle rages far from the front lines—a battle between Russian news sites and a group of Kiev-based journalists who say the sites are misusing, even fabricating, news photographs filed from Ukraine. In an effort to put a stop to what they see as fraud, the journalists—who are alumni and students at Kiev’s [Mohyla School of Journalism](http://ukma.edu.ua "undefined")—have launched [Stopfake.org](http://www.stopfake.org "undefined"), a “fact-checking project, which aims to help people separate the truth from the lie in the media,” as the group’s co-founder and editor-in-chief Oleg Shankovskyi tells TIME. Shankovskyi and his colleagues feel that the best way to combat what they see as an inappropriate use of images is simply to point out the inaccuracies. “Very often people just don’t think critically about what they hear from the media—they just believe it,” he says. The group points to one recurring instance of apparent misrepresentation as typical of the stories they are trying to counter. A woman called Maria Tsypko periodically emerges in interviews on Russian TV, each time in an apparently different pro-Russian role. She has been interviewed as a separatist camp organizer in Odessa, played a political refugee in Sevastopol and even collected donations in Crimea to ask Russia for help. Not all misappropriated media has been this blatant, the group says. Often photographs shot in China, Canada and Mexico over the past 30 years are recaptioned to represent events currently occurring in Ukraine. [One photo of a burning tank claimed to be from conflicts in Donbass](http://www.stopfake.org/en/photo-from-china-dated-1989-presented-as-the-actual-events-in-donbass/ "undefined") was actually taken in 1989 during the Tiananmen Square protests. Another image [pictured a crying girl sitting on the body of her deceased mother](http://www.stopfake.org/en/snapshot-of-movie-the-brest-fortress-is-being-presented-as-a-photo-of-donbass/ "undefined"), allegedly killed in Donbass. The image is actually a promotional photo from the 2010 Russian war film _Fortress of War_. One of the more obvious examples of misappropriation involves Ron Haviv’s iconic 1992 image from the Bosnian War, which shows Serbian paramilitary officers, known as Arkan’s Tigers, kicking the dying bodies of Muslims. The photo recently went viral on Facebook and Twitter, with a caption claiming it portrayed Ukrainian soldiers in Crimea. “This, of course, is just a complete misuse and fabrication, and is being used to instill fear,” says Haviv. “It doesn’t represent the current situation in Ukraine because it’s not Ukraine.” Indeed, he views photo misuse as part of a larger trend in recent conflict photography. War-torn countries like Syria have become too dangerous for many professional journalists to visit, leaving the media often dependent on images and videos produced by the combatants themselves. “I think we’re certainly seeing with the war in Syria, and now in this conflict, the power of social media,” says Haviv. “It’s so easy to take an image from one place, put another caption on it and put it out there.” The line between news and propaganda has never been so thin. --- **_Josh Raab_** _is a contributor to LightBox_ ---  Ron Haviv's iconic image, taken on March 31, 1992, shows Serbian paramilitary officers known as Arkan's Tigers kill and kick Bosnian Muslim civilians during the first battle for Bosnia in Bijeljina. It was recently shared on social media sites with a caption claiming to portray Ukrainian soldiers in 2014. Ron Haviv—VII  This photo of a burning tank spread across VK, Russia's largest social network. The picture was claimed to depict the situation on the ground in Donbass, Ukraine. Stopfake.org/Facebook  However, the image was actually from the Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, China in 1989. Hei Han Khiang  This photo posted on Politikus.ru claimed to show a morgue in Sloviansk overstocked with bodies of Ukrainian militants and National Guardsmen who were about to be buried as unidentified. Stopfake.org/Politikus.ru  However, the photograph was actually taken in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico on February 18, 2009. Eduardo Verdugo—AP  This picture published on Mix News allegedly shows the city of Sloviansk, Ukraine after a bombardment by the Ukrainian Army. Stopfake.org/Mix News  However, it is actually the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec following a train derailment that sparked several explosions on July 6, 2013. Sûreté du Québec/The Canadian Press/AP  This photo posted across social media is of a girl who is apparently a victim of military action in Donbass, Ukraine. Stopfake.org/J/Twitter  However, it is actually a promotional photo from the 2010 Russian war film “Fortress of War”. Stopfake.org/G2 Pictures  This image from social networks and posted by Donetsk website Navigator, supposedly shows Donetsk in flames. Stopfake.org/politnavigator.net  However, the image was heavily photoshopped. The original picture was taken in 2011. Ivan Nokonechnyy ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3810444/ukraine-fake-images-claim/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3810444/ukraine-fake-images-claim/"},"headline":"In Ukraine, A Battle of Words and Images","datePublished":"2014-07-08T08:01:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:40:24.525Z","description":"As the conflict in Ukraine continues, another battle rages far from the front lines – a battle between Russian news sites and a group of journalists accusing them of misrepresentation. The issue? 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