Child injured in Russian strike labeled as 'fire victim': Fake video of Prince Harry in Lviv debunked

This was reported by Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation.

An English-language fake video, allegedly from the BBC corporation, has been spreading online. The creators of the video claim that the boy Prince Harry met in Lviv did not suffer from the war, but from a fire caused by his drunk mother.

According to the Center for Counteracting Disinformation, this video does not appear on any official BBC platforms. Additionally, the fake video used footage from Prince Harry’s actual visit to Lviv last week. During that visit, the Duke of Sussex visited the Superhumans rehabilitation center, where only those injured due to Russian aggression receive treatment.

The child featured in the video, Roman Oleksiv, was injured in the Russian missile strike on Vinnytsia in 2022. At that time, Roman lost his mother and suffered 45% body burns.

“The goal of such fakes is to devalue Russia’s crimes and portray Ukraine as a country manipulating the feelings of the international community,” emphasized Center for Countering Disinformation.

The creators of the fake video used a screenshot from an Espreso article as “confirmation” of their information. In reality, the article describes a fire in a building on Sykhiv in May of the previous year, in which the homeowner—a man born in 1956—was injured.

Prince Harry in Lviv

On Thursday, April 10, Duke of Sussex Prince Harry made an unannounced visit to Ukraine. He visited Lviv, where he met with injured Ukrainian soldiers and children who survived missile strikes. The honorary guest was presented with an Easter cake, made with flour from wheat grown on demined fields.

The visit was only made public after Prince Harry left Ukraine for security reasons. He was accompanied by participants of the Invictus Games—an international competition for veterans that Harry founded in 2014. The invitation for the Duke to visit Lviv was extended by Olha Rudneva, the executive director of the Superhumans center.

Moreover, during his visit to Lviv, Prince Harry met with a 10-year-old schoolboy from Lviv, who was severely injured as a result of a Russian missile strike in the center of Vinnytsia in July 2022.

What is known about Roman Oleksiv, who was injured in the Russian missile strike

On the morning of July 14, 2022, 7-year-old Roman and his mother were waiting for a doctor's appointment at the Neuromed clinic in Vinnytsia. At approximately 10:40, Russia launched a missile strike on the city, killing the boy's 29-year-old mother from Lviv and leaving him with severe injuries. That day also claimed the lives of 26 other people. 

In December 2023, Roman Oleksiv met with Pope Francis. The pontiff embraced the Lviv schoolboy and blessed him.

In July 2024, Roman and his father visited the site of the tragedy in Vinnytsia for the first time in two years.

In November of the previous year, the boy was finally able to remove the compression mask from his face, which he had worn for over two years.

In February of this year, the 10-year-old schoolboy, along with his father Yaroslav, became a guest of Vatican Radio. "No matter what happens, never give up… A true person must be ready to help," said Roman Oleksiv in his message to all the children of the world. Roman also shared with the host about his latest meeting with Pope Francis.