False claims that Ukrainians killed a teenage boy in Germany
The woman goes on to claim that a friend said the boy subsequently died
(REUTERS) - A video is circulating on social media falsely claims that a group of Ukrainian nationals attacked a 16-year-old youth in Euskirchen, a German town near Bonn, after speaking to them in Russian. The police responsible for the area said it had no record of such an incident and the person who originally made the claims has since confirmed they are false.
In the video, which was first posted to TikTok before spreading on other social media platforms, a woman speaking Russian details the alleged beating.
The woman claims a boy was “beaten up” in Euskirchen at the train station, according to a translation of the video.
She adds: “A group of Ukrainians beat him up half to death — so that he was taken to intensive care. He was in a coma. These bastards were simply taken by the police to the home where they lived. So far nothing has been done to them.”
The woman goes on to claim that a friend said the boy subsequently died, according to the translation.
The video has been shared on social media in several languages, with users posting the assertion that Ukrainian “refugees killed a 16-year-old teenager in Germany”.
However, police said they had no record of an incident matching the details described in the video.
“The Bonn police, who are responsible for capital crimes in the Euskirchen area, have no information whatsoever about such a violent attack or even about a death,” the police force said in a statement on its website and Twitter.
It added: “The state protection of the Bonn police has started the investigation. The experts are currently assuming that it is an intentional ‘fake video’ intended to stir up hatred.
“We ask you not to distribute this video any further and to check all information, especially from social media, very carefully for the authenticity of the reported facts.”
The woman who made the claims in the viral footage uploaded a second video on TikTok, confirming that the claim the 16-year-old boy was beaten to death was false.
Reuters previously addressed a video shared online to support claims that Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion had an altercation with a man on a train in Rome here. The video was from 2018 and unrelated to the fallout from the present Russia-Ukraine conflict.
