UPDATE: The Toronto Sun has issued an apology for publishing this cartoon HERE.
The Claim:
A cartoon featured in The Toronto Sun newspaper on December 21, 2023, portrays Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky picking the pocket of US President Joseph Biden, insinuating that Zelensky’s government engages in theft from the US and its allies. Notably, the cartoon depicts Zelensky, who is of Jewish descent, with a prominent hooked nose—a historically employed element in anti-Semitic propaganda.
Narrative Context:
The Russian government has persistently used information and influence operations to depict the Ukrainian government as corrupt and that aid to Ukraine is being misused or stolen.
Russian state media has even gone so far as to promote the outrageously false claim that Ukrainian authorities were selling children for their organs.
These Russian government narratives are aggressively published and amplified to erode public support for Ukraine in the Western world in efforts to end the supply of weapons and aid to Ukraine.
The Facts:
The US government closely tracks US aid sent to Ukraine. A March 2023 Congressional hearing found no evidence that aid sent to Ukraine was being misused.
Similarly, false claims regarding weapons being sent to Ukraine and sold on the black market have been thoroughly debunked by investigative journalists, revealing them as part of a Russian disinformation operation.
Corruption, historically connected to Russian-linked oligarchs, has been a challenge for Ukraine. Nevertheless, the Zelensky government has been actively working to address this issue. As a candidate aspiring to join the EU, Ukraine has made notable progress in combating corruption and implementing various reforms necessary for its prospective full membership in the European Union.
