International fact-checkers got a lot of work after the Ukrainian winning band Kalush Orchestra was suspected of fascism on various social media channels. An alleged Hitler salute, which Kalush singer Oleh Psjuk is said to have shown after the winner’s trophy was handed over at the end of the TV gala, served as evidence.
The television pictures show the departure of his band when Psjuk greets the audience again with his outstretched right arm and “wave hand”. A short time later there are clip montages that alienate this scene or take it out of context.
One shortens the cheering greeting and only shows a side shot of the hand as “proof” of the fascists’ activities. In another image mix, the section is reduced so much that the hand position is no longer recognizable. Diagnosis: greeting from the leader.
Whisked together with the official Russian state propaganda that the Ukraine must be liberated from fascist structures through the war, pro-Russian activists insinuate that the band is close to the Azov regiment. This has its roots in a right-wing extremist movement. After the ESC performance, Psjuk demanded for the surrounded defenders of the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol: “Please help Ukraine, Mariupol, help Azovstal now!”
In the course of this woodcut-like furor, the Polish ESC presenter Ida Nowakowska is also accused of Nazi gestures. When she announced the full twelve points from her country for the winning song “Stefania”, her hand is said to have gone up in the Hitler salute. In the official records, the research teams saw fingers forming a peace sign. In assembly, it looked completely different.
The transformation of the cheering gestures around the Kalush Orchestra into Hitler salutes may seem technically flat and almost comedy-like if it weren’t so sad. The strategy of the anti-Ukraine activists aims to ensure that a residual suspicion lingers on.
In addition, those who are already convinced of the “special operation” will feel confirmed that the “West” has conspired against Russia even in the field of harmless pop music. This is how the previous cracker bash ESC becomes an arena of politics.