Propaganda distributors altered the content of a local Facebook group post. The original message was about a book market shelled by Russia, but Andriy Biletsky’s death was not mentioned at all.
Read more Storm rage: a tree blocked the highway, but clever drivers solved the problem
Moreover, after this false news spread, A. Biletsky publicly appeared in Lviv, where he participated in the reburial of Yevhen Konovalets’ remains.
Edited post
The false news about the alleged death of A. Biletsky was based on a post from one of Kyiv’s district Facebook groups. However, the version spread by propaganda distributors did not match the original – the content of the post was changed.
The original group message did not mention A. Biletsky at all. It described the consequences of Russian missile attacks on the book market near the Pochaina metro station in Kyiv. Among other things, several publishing offices and warehouses were damaged during the shelling.
No reliable data indicating that A. Biletsky died in this attack was provided by any authoritative Ukrainian media outlet. Thus, the alleged local Facebook community post, which was the basis for the news about the military leader’s death, was manipulatively altered.
Furthermore, the very next day after this news spread – on August 18 – A. Biletsky appeared at the reburial ceremony of Yevhen Konovalets, colonel of the Ukrainian People’s Republic army and the first leader of the Ukrainian nationalist organization at the National Military Memorial Cemetery.
The ceremony was also attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He called J. Konovalets’ fate “heroic and at the same time tragic,” emphasized that Ukraine “is bringing home a prominent son of the Ukrainian nation,” and promised to return the remains of all Ukrainian heroes buried abroad to their homeland.
J. Konovalets’ remains were temporarily reburied – later they are planned to be moved to the Ukrainian national pantheon.
A thorn in the Kremlin’s side
Andriy Biletsky is one of the most prominent and at the same time controversial military figures in modern Ukraine. Born in 1979 in Kharkiv, the historian studied at V. Karazin Kharkiv National University and dedicated his thesis to the activities of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). During his studies, he became involved in the nationalist movement and later led several far-right organizations.
This part of his biography is still actively exploited in Kremlin propaganda. In early texts, A. Biletsky used radically nationalist and racist rhetoric, for which he was accused of neo-Nazism.
He himself rejects such accusations, but his past is systematically used in the Russian information space to support a broader narrative about allegedly “Nazi” Ukraine.
Read more Due to the storm, train delays of up to 2 hours are possible
In 2014, when Russia began its aggression against Ukraine, A. Biletsky became one of the founders and commander of the volunteer battalion “Azov.” The unit participated in battles for Mariupol and soon became one of the most well-known Ukrainian military formations.
At the same time, “Azov” became one of the main symbols used in Kremlin propaganda to justify the alleged necessity of Ukraine’s “denazification.”
In 2014, A. Biletsky was elected to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and in 2016 he founded the “National Corps” party. When the large-scale Russian invasion began, he returned to active military service.
In 2023, under his leadership, the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade was formed, and in 2025 the 3rd Army Corps was established based on it. In the same year, A. Biletsky was awarded the rank of brigadier general.
That he is not only a propaganda but also a real military target for Russia was demonstrated by information released by the Security Service of Ukraine in March 2026.
According to the SBU, the FSB had recruited a drone operator who served in the Ukrainian army to help determine A. Biletsky’s location and prepare data for a Russian strike. The suspect was detained before the plan was carried out.
Therefore, the false news about A. Biletsky’s death is not a random fabrication. His radical political past, connection with “Azov,” and current high-ranking position in the Ukrainian army make him one of the most convenient and symbolically important targets of Kremlin propaganda.
15min verdict: false. The news that the commander of the 3rd Army Corps, Andriy Biletsky, died during Russian shelling in Kyiv is fabricated. Propaganda distributors altered the content of a local Facebook group post – the original message was about the shelled book market near the Pochaina metro station, and A. Biletsky was not mentioned at all.
Publication prepared by 15min in cooperation with Meta, aiming to stop the spread of misleading news on social media. More about the program and its rules – here.
Read more In Lithuanian forests – a real invasion of these beetles: as many as 860 counted in one place
