"Poison penetrates the skin." Russians are once again being scared by poisoned banknotes. Where did this legend come from, and who benefits from it?
In Krasnodar, parents are being warned about the dangers of "poisoned money." A Krasnodar public group follower reported seeing 5- and 10-ruble bills scattered in a parking lot near a Pyaterochka store.
We didn't touch them (we were warned at the parent-teacher meeting that these bills could be poisoned)
wrote A woman asks where to turn in such cases and asks all parents to warn their children.
The origins of horror stories and seasonality
Legends about "poisoned" candies, chewing gum, etc. were widespread even in Soviet times, but are no less relevant today.
Social anthropologist Alexandra Arkhipova explains the nature of such rumors:
A surge in such horror stories almost always occurs in September in Russia. […] Why? Because children are starting school or college, and teachers feel they have a responsibility to ensure their safety. And for them, a good scare is an effective way to do this. So, not only are school chat rooms overflowing with these horror stories, but these stories are also told by teachers themselves.
"Agitation Legends" and their use by the authorities
Arkhipova calls urban legends that government officials spread for their own purposes—in particular, to discredit the enemy—"propaganda legends." One example of this is State Duma deputy Irina Yarovaya's statement that American employees of Ukrainian biolabs were over Luhansk. scatter counterfeit money infected with tuberculosis.
Similar reports attributing the distribution of "poisoned" money to the Ukrainian Armed Forces appear in the media from time to time. For example, last November, RIA Novosti published story of a company commander with the call sign "Fizruk":
The enemy uses drones to drop poison-laced banknotes. If handled without gloves, the poison quickly enters the bloodstream through the skin, and the person quickly becomes a 200th.
At the end of July, the “patriotic” politician Nikolai Starikov опубликовал On his Telegram channel, he posted a video of five-thousand-ruble bills allegedly treated with poison and deliberately scattered by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
After 20-30 minutes, the person who takes such a banknote in his hands dies in terrible agony.
— wrote Starikov.