FAKE: Photo of a poster in support of Ukraine near the Martin Luther King Memorial in Alaska

Information is being spread online claiming that Ukrainians brought a poster to the Martin Luther King Memorial in Alaska with the inscription: “M. L. K. was also Ukrainian! He had a dream of free Ukraine!” To support this claim, the authors of the post attached a corresponding photo. They allege that in this way, Ukrainians are desecrating the memory of King, who fought for the rights of Black people.

However, this is fake. The photo was most likely generated by AI — the facial features of King on the real sculpture do not match those on the image circulated by propagandists. The image was published only by Russian channels.

A similar Martin Luther King Jr. memorial does indeed exist in Anchorage, Alaska, located in Delaney Park. However, the original sculpture differs from the one shown next to the poster supporting Ukraine. The eyes on the fake sculpture are more open and wide, while in the original, they are narrower and the corners are sharper. The nose on the real sculpture is straighter, with a less pronounced curve than in the circulated photo, and the lips on the fake sculpture are larger. The most noticeable difference is in the earlobes — on the real King Jr. memorial, the outer edge of the ear has a distinct curve and clearly defined helix line, and the earlobe is separate and volumetric, while this is missing in the fake photo. Moreover, behind the actual memorial, there are indeed red buildings, but two of them — not one, as seen in the fake photo.

The text on the poster looks too even, as if it were printed rather than handwritten. Moreover, there are blurred areas on the red building, particularly on the right edge of the photo and on the lower left side near the branches, resembling smudges. Such distortions often appear in images generated by artificial intelligence. Therefore, this and the details mentioned above may indicate that the sculpture and the poster were created using AI. 

In addition, in the authentic 2024 photo of King’s sculpture, traces of paint and generally more surface irregularities and curves are visible, while in the circulated photo, the sculpture appears much smoother.

Ahead of the meeting between the presidents of the United States and Russia on August 15, 2025, rallies in support of Ukraine were indeed held in Anchorage, Alaska. However, no media outlet reported that a poster reading “He had a dream of free Ukraine!” was placed next to the King Memorial. This image was also not shared by English-speaking social media users; it was published only by Russian and pro-Russian channels.

Earlier, we debunked a fake claiming that in a bar in Alaska, all of “Putin’s signature dishes” had been sold out.