Channel One accused Ukraine of spreading fake news about the atrocities of the Russian military in the occupied regions of Ukraine:
“It seems that there is already a clear crisis in the genre – at least, judging by the photo that the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense presented as evidence of torture. The container contains teeth that were allegedly pulled out by Russian soldiers from people. Probably, among the inhabitants of the village of Pesky-Radkovsky (this is the Kharkiv region) or the district – it was there that the photo was allegedly taken. But the journalists of the German newspaper Bild did not buy into the provocation, and found out that all this “wealth” belongs to a local dentist.
“I'm the only dentist here, so if they were found here, they must be mine. My God, no! These are not the teeth of the dead! They are from people I have treated over the years. I removed those teeth because they were bad,” says the dentist.
This is also reported by Izvestia (in an article titled “ Bild exposed the fake of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense about torture with tooth extraction”), Life (the article is titled “Ukrainian propaganda gave out a collection of a rural dentist as evidence of “torture” by the RF Armed Forces”), the REN TV channel ( " Bild exposes Ukrainian fake about torture with teeth pulled out").
It seems that the head of the investigation department of the National Police in the Kharkiv region, Serhiy Bolvinov, who posted the photo on Twitter, really mistook the box with the removed dentures as evidence of torture. But for some reason, all the propaganda media are limited to just one quote from the Bild publication and present it as a refutation of reports of torture. In fact, the German edition confirms the fact of torture:
“This photo of alleged gold teeth in a box has gone around the world on social media and evoked terrible associations. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry also shared the photo on Twitter.
International media outlets such as Britain's The Telegraph have made the unverified speculation that the teeth were taken from Russian dungeons. What really happened here?
Bild journalists yesterday visited the recently liberated village of Pesky-Radkovsky in the Kharkiv region (eastern Ukraine) and found victims who confirmed torture by Russian soldiers. However, the teeth found apparently did not belong to the dead or tortured, but to the patients of a local dentist.
“These teeth look like the ones that were stolen from my collection,” said 60-year-old Sergei, who was shown the photo by Bild . I'm the only dentist here. So if they were found here, they must be mine."
The doctor suspects that the Russians stole the teeth because they thought it was real gold (it's actually stainless steel) and to intimidate the Ukrainians. “Local residents told me that the Russians apparently used it to intimidate people,” Sergey said.
When asked if the crowns could have belonged to the dead, the dentist said, “My God, no! These are the crowns of people I have treated over the years. I removed those teeth because they were bad.” <…>
It is not clear where the gas mask came from in the photo posted on the Internet. But one thing is certain: in the village, as in many other places occupied by the Russians, cruel torture was practiced. Several residents told Bild that they heard cries for help from various buildings for a long time.
Volodya, 46, was one of the victims of torture by Russian soldiers in Pesky-Radkovsky, a neighbor denounced him as a sympathizer of Ukraine. Volodya: “They just took me with them. When I was beaten, they said: 'If you don't work with us, we'll shoot you in the legs and that's it.' And the other said: 'Why shoot him in the legs, we'll treat him like the other one.' And the room, the roof of the room, was full of bullet holes. I think they scared those who were there before me.”
Andrey, 46, was held by the Russians for several weeks. His wife Olga told Bild : “About eight people came to our yard. The two checked the documents. They returned mine, but they took my husband right away because he was on the list.”
Andrei was gone for two months. For five days Russian soldiers kept him in the basement, beat him and took him to other towns and villages. There he had to clean the streets, later Russian soldiers forced him to dig trenches for Russian soldiers in Liman.