Russian propaganda bizarrely claims Ukrainian 'Nazi Assassins' owned Sims 3

Russian propagandists betrayed a lack of attention to detail when they shared an image claiming to show items belonging to a group of anti-Russian terrorists.

Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) released a series of photos sharing things they said 'Nazi assassins' owned including a photo of Hitler stuck to a PC speaker, Totenkopf patches, a red t-shirt with a swastika on the front and... a copy of The Sims 3.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

They said they had found the belongings while investigating a plot to kill Vladimir Solovyov, a Russian TV presenter linked to Putin, with a car bomb, but given the inclusion of the computer game, people weren't so sure it was legit and suspected that maybe, just maybe, it was Russian propaganda designed to trick us all.

Solovyov 'believed' it though, and used his TV show later that night to claim that the 'Nazis' had been sent by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

A possible explanation for the inclusion of the video game is that whoever took photos were told to get Sim Cards but confused it with the Sims game.

Meanwhile, it comes as Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its 62nd day. Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said deliveries of western weapons to Ukraine mean Nato is “in essence engaged in war with Russia” and warned of a "real" danger of a third world war.

About 15,000 Russian troops have been killed since the start of the invasion, the UK defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has said in parliament and Russia is also believed to have lost more than 60 helicopters and fighter jets.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.