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Russophobic pencils in the service of propagandists

Today, we’ve been swamped by requests to verify information about russophobic pencils allegedly sold by a Lviv company. First of all, it’s very easy to check this out. Just try to buy such pencils. If you succeed, it means it’s true. If not, it’s a lie. Spoiler alert: we failed. So what kind of business is this that is so unsuccessful? Secondly, our russophobia is, as always, insufficient
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What’s this about?

Screenshots of the Instagram page for “THE REAL PENCIL in Lviv” have been widely circulated on social media. The sets being sold by the page allegedly include wax crayons intended for schoolchildren, featuring the following inscriptions: black – “A bag with the corpses of russian soldiers”, red – “Blood in which we will drown Crimea”, orange – “Fire when we burn moscow”.

russian propagandists are claiming that “death, blood, burn, destroy ruin and wreck... This is the real Ukraine! While enjoying life, creating and learning is not for Ukrainians.”

It’s worth noting that information about these sets can be found only in the (pro)russian segment of social networks and on junk websites.

Explainer

  • The absence of these pencils being sold is the most questionable aspect, which leads to the argument that the messages are fake. They seem to have been created to portray Ukrainians as bloodthirsty monsters, dehumanizing them and making others feel no pity for killing them.
  • All publications featuring images of these pencils reference the Instagram page “pravdyvyj_olivets” (real pencil), which is a private account closed to the public. Despite sending a follow request, we didn’t receive approval within half a day. This raises questions about their business strategy, doesn’t it?
  • The text on the pencils appears to have been photoshopped. Although the surface is curved, the text is flat, which is not typical for cylindrical labels. As an illustration, we used the example of a Coca-Cola can, where the blue logo is from Wikipedia, scaled and colored for contrast, while the white is the original inscription (see the image below this post). 

Regarding the messages on the pencils, we must question their meaning. For example, “Fire when we burn moscow” and “Urine when we piss on russian prisoners”. These statements make little sense, and it’s not clear what they are trying to convey. Furthermore, the word “ссать” (piss) is often used by russians, whereas Ukrainians use “сцяти”, sorry about this. It also suggests that the text may have been translated from russian, as the russian language often uses this word to describe the process of urination.

No one in their right mind would write such things, especially when attempting to sell a product. Moreover, the use of the word “Перегніють” (rot through) raises further concerns.

In addition, few Ukrainians would use the word “руські" (Ruski) to describe russians, as they recognize the difference between the words “руські” (Ruski) and “russian”. The former is an ancient name for Ukrainians. 

If these arguments aren’t enough to convince someone, then they should consider Russell’s Teapot. While it is theoretically possible that similar pencils may be sold somewhere, the burden of proof lies with those making extraordinary claims, not their opponents small logo

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Halyna Dolynna
Halyna Dolynna
editor of the English texts
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