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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke September 27, 2023

Don’t fall for this supposed anti-Ukrainian billboard declaring ‘Glory to Urine’

If Your Time is short

  • This video was altered. 

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently visited New York City, and an Instagram post suggests some toilet humor awaited him. 

"Glory to Urine," reads the text on a digital billboard that shows a Ukrainian flag and an image of Zelenskky in what looks like a Fox News Digital clip. 

"There was a greeting message for Zelensky's arrival in New York," a Sept. 22 Instagram post sharing the clip said. "But instead of Glory to Ukraine, the flag read Glory to Urine."

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Some of the buildings in the clip have signage — Five Below, Regal, and Thomson Reuters — and we identified the billboard’s location on West 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue by mapping those businesses.

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Google Street View shows the billboard belongs to Big Outdoor.

A spokesperson for Fox News told PolitiFact that Fox News Digital didn’t publish the image or air it on Fox News. 

Erin Watkins, general counsel for Big Outdoor, told PolitiFact that "Glory to Urine" never appeared on the billboard and that the "original video that was used to create the doctored images appears to be at least over a year old."

"The images are 100% fake," Watkins said. 

Meanwhile, NBC News reporter Ben Collins posted a video on X showing that the clip couldn’t have appeared during Zelenskyy’s recent New York trip because it doesn’t show multiple restaurants that are now at the intersection. 

Markian Kuzmowycz, who analyzes digital threats for Microsoft Corp., said on X: "It’s not a typo, it never happened. The video shared is from last year at least, the intersection looks entirely different now." 

We rate claims that a "Glory to Urine" message showed on a billboard during Zelenskyy’s New York visit False.

Our Sources

Instagram post, Sept. 22, 2023

The Associated Press, Russia has turned food, energy and even children into weapons against Ukraine, Zelenskyy says at UN, Sept. 19, 2023

Tweet, Sept. 21, 2023

Tweet, Sept. 21, 2023

Tweet, Sept. 21, 2023

Times Square, Digital screens & billboards, visited Sept. 27, 2023

Reuters, Fact Check: ‘Glory to Urine’ video is fabricated, not published by Fox News, Sept. 25, 2023

Email interview with Erin Watkins, general counsel, Big Outdoor, Sept. 27, 2023

Email interview with Irena Briganti, senior executive vice president, corporate communications, Fox News Media, Sept. 27, 2023

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Don’t fall for this supposed anti-Ukrainian billboard declaring ‘Glory to Urine’

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