Did Ukrainian TV channel 1+1 broadcast a video where Ukrainian environmentalists offer a "greener" alternative to traditional funerals by burying the Armed Forces casualties in biodegradable bags that will later serve as soil fertilizer? No, that's not true: The Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation refuted the claim stating that neither the TV channel had aired such a video nor ecologists had proposed such an initiative.
A TikTok video (archived here) appeared on September 15, 2023 that was published by planet.404 with the text on the video (translated from Russian by Lead Stories staff):
In Ukraine they thought of how to deal with insanely fast-growing cemeteries! Just look at it...
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Sep 19 07:18:48 2023 UTC)
A search of the Google News index of thousands of web pages, using the keywords in Russian "Burying Ukrainian soldiers in biodegradable bags" returned no credible independent reports of the claim.
The fragments of the TikTok video were taken from an animated video of Capsula Mundi burial pods.
In 2018 a draft bill was introduced to Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) adding eco-burials as a solution to the shortage of cemetery space in the city of Kyiv. The initiative suggested using special materials that are eco-friendly and can biodegrade in 5 years with interments in specialized parks.
