Graffiti depicting Zelenskyy being hanged has not appeared in The Hague

Context

Since June 26, 2023, a photograph of graffiti depicting Zelenskyy being hanged has circulated widely online. The artwork appears to have been created with chalk in a public area, identified in the picture as The Hague. As the home of the International Court of Justice, the Hague is closely associated with the persecution and punishment of war crimes, and the creators of this image appear to be alluding that Zelenskyy is responsible for such actions. 

Since its creation, this image has been shared widely. In under 24 hours, a post containing it has been retweeted over 2,300 times and liked by more than 11,000 Twitter users. A significant number of these users appear to believe that the artwork is genuine and was completed at The Hague, as claimed. 

While the image appears convincing, Logically Facts has uncovered the true location shown in the photograph and further context that casts doubt on the physical existence of this graffiti. 

In Fact

In the background of the photograph, there is a distinctive blue and white pole with what appear to be paddles attached. Using google lens, Logically Facts found that this resembled wind sculptures created by the artist Yvan Pestalozzi. A search for public installations of Pestalozzi’s work revealed that a significant amount of it has been recently installed in a development named the Glasi-Quartier in the Swiss city of Bülach. A review of publicly available images of the Glasi-Quartier posted on Google confirmed that the photograph was taken in this area, not The Hague. 

The image being circulated was created by a group that referred to themself as Typical Optical. While they have a small following on Instagram and Telegram, their work has gone viral numerous times in the past when shared by larger accounts, which is what has happened in this instance. Crucially, after every instance, it has been revealed that the image posted by the group has been digitally altered and that no physical graffiti exists in the location shown. 

To determine whether the graffiti shown exists, Logically Facts contacted a local resident in Bülach. They confirmed that no such artwork exists in the location shown and provided a photograph proving this. 

The Verdict

This photograph was not taken in the Hague, and the graffiti has been added digitally. It does not exist in the real world, as confirmed by a resident of the area shown. This claim has therefore been marked as false.