Russia and Ukraine censor same Spider-Man scene for different reasons

Newsweek · 🇺🇦 public Ukraine · Aug 21, 2026 · 419 words · By Brendan Cole

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What to know about Russia and Ukraine censor same Spider-Man scene for different reasons

The blockbuster “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has fallen foul of censors in both Russia and Ukraine, according to reports, due to a song in the film by a Russian singer who has condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion.

Claims checked 14

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center50%

Right50%

2 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

The 2024 song "Monopoly" by Elizaveta Gyrdymova, better known by her stage name Monetochka, was included the soundtrack of the latest version of the Marvel franchise.

Common ground

It is heard in a scene where the character Peter Parker is at the New Avengers headquarters in Brighton Beach and meets Yelena Belova, portrayed by Florence Pugh.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Russia and Ukraine censor same Spider-Man scene for different reasons?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that the Ukrainian theatrical release of the film which premiered in Kyiv on July 29?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/russia-and-ukraine-censor-same-spider-man…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 14 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

schedule Pending 4

help Insufficient Evidence 2

verified Verified By Reference 1

info Single Source 1

verified

Claim 1: “the Ukrainian theatrical release of the film which premiered in Kyiv on July 29”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While there is evidence of a premiere in Hollywood on July 27, 2026, the provided evidence does not specifically confirm a Kyiv premiere date of July 29.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Football Club Arsenal Kyiv (Ukrainian: Футбо́льний Клуб Арсена́л–Київ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FC_Arsenal_Kyiv

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Independence Day of Ukraine (Ukrainian: День Незалежності України, romanized: Den' Nezalezhnosti Ukrainy, IPA: [ˈdɛnʲ nezɐˈlɛʒnos⁽ʲ⁾t⁽ʲ⁾i ʊkrɐˈjinɪ]) is a state holiday in Ukraine, celebrated on 24 Au…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_of_Ukraine

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine, also known by its Russian-based name Kiev. Kyiv or Kiev may also refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyiv_(disambiguation)

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “the Russian version of the film has followed suit”

CORROBORATED

Newsweek and a Wikipedia entry for Monetochka both state that the song was cut from the distribution in both Ukraine and Russia.

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web search NEUTRAL — Spider-Man: Brand New Day - Post-Credits & Ending Explained! - Mutant Saga & Doomsday Teases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uf9p0tP11Ig

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web search NEUTRAL — Monetochka's song "Monopoly" was used as a part of the soundtrack for the 2026 movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day.[18] It was cut from the distribution of the film both in Ukraine (after complaints by ac…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetochka

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The blockbuster “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has fallen foul of censors in both Russia and Ukraine, according to reports, due to a song in the film by a Russian singer who has condemned Moscow’s full-s…
https://www.newsweek.com/entertainment/russia-and-ukraine-ce…

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Claim 3: “Russian theaters are showing unofficial copies of the film, where Monetochka’s song “Monopoly” was removed and replaced with an instrumental track and her name cut from the credits”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided regarding the use of unofficial copies in Russian theaters or the specific replacement of the song with an instrumental track.

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Claim 4: “The blockbuster “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” has fallen foul of censors in both Russia and Ukraine... due to a song in the film by a Russian singer who has condemned Moscow’s full-scale invasion.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources, including Newsweek and other web search results, confirm that 'Spider-Man: Brand New Day' faced censorship in both Russia and Ukraine due to a song by a Russian singer who condemned the invasion.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Brand New Day is the tenth album by the band Blood, Sweat & Tears, released in November 1977. This was the band's only release on ABC Records. It was produced by Roy Halee and the band's former drumme…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_New_Day_(Blood,_Sweat_&_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Lada (Russian: Лада [ˈladə] , marketed as LADA) is a brand of small cars manufactured by AvtoVAZ (originally VAZ), a state-owned company in Russia. From January 2021 until May 2022, Lada was integrate…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lada

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Spider-Man: Brand New Day (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the film score to the Columbia Pictures / Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Brand New Day composed by Michael Giacchino. The soundtrack …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_Brand_New_Day_(sou…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “The country’s Planeta Kino theater chain said that the song had been completely removed from the Ukrainian version of the film”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm that the song 'Monopoliya' was cut from the Ukrainian release and mention the Planeta Kino chain in the context of Ukrainian cinema.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The Ukrainian theatrical release of the new Spider-Man film has cut “Monopoliya” (“Monopoly”), a song by Russian singer Monetochka that appears on the film’s soundtrack, according to users on the soci…
https://meduza.io/en/news/2026/07/30/song-by-russian-singer-…

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web search NEUTRAL — Music 1 song. Монополия. Монеточка.Sunflower, Post Malone, Swae Lee, (Extended Versión). El Compa Alfred.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWgP7nuPgJ8

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Planeta Kino is a Ukrainian movie theatres chain that can be simply described as «the first and the best». The first movie theatre was opened in Kyiv in 2008 and first in Ukraine featured the IMAX tec…
https://www.behance.net/gallery/45631593/Planeta-Kino

info

Claim 6: “Her outspoken anti-war position has included her raising money for Ukrainian refugees.”

SINGLE SOURCE

This specific detail about raising money for refugees is mentioned in the Newsweek report, but no other independent sources in the provided evidence corroborate this specific action.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Get the 2026 season FIFA World Cup standings on ESPN. Find the full standings with win, loss and draw record for each team.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/standings/_/league/fifa.world

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The 2026 FIFA World Cup[A] was the 23rd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international men's soccer championship contested by the national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament began…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_FIFA_World_Cup

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Visit FIFA.com to see standings for FIFA World Cup 2026™ with latest group tables and knockout brackets.
https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/worldcup/canadamexi…

schedule

Claim 7: “A criminal case was opened against Monetochka in Russia In September 2024 for "evading the duties of a foreign agent"”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 8: “the film has no official distribution in Russia after Sony Pictures suspended operations due to the war.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided in the search results to confirm Sony Pictures' specific operational status or the lack of official distribution for this specific film in Russia.

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Claim 9: “Monetochka left Russia after being designated a foreign agent by the Russian Justice Ministry over her criticism of Russia's aggression in Ukraine.”

CORROBORATED

Both Meduza and Newsweek confirm that Monetochka was designated a 'foreign agent' by the Russian Justice Ministry and left Russia due to her criticism of the war.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, an international peace prize established according to the will of Alfred Nobel, was announced on 10 October 2025 by the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway. It was aw…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Nobel_Peace_Prize

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A "foreign agent" in Russia is a designation by the Russian government for persons or entities it deems have received funding from abroad while participating in political activities in Russia, dissemi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_agents_in_Russ…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Yelizaveta Andreyevna Gyrdymova (Russian: Елизаве́та Андре́евна Гырды́мова; born 1 June 1998), better known by her stage name Monetochka (Russian: Моне́точка, lit. 'Little Coin'), is a Russian pop roc…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monetochka

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “A Russian judge this year sentenced her in absentia to one year in prison.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 11: “The 2024 song "Monopoly" by Elizaveta Gyrdymova, better known by her stage name Monetochka, was included the soundtrack of the latest version of the Marvel franchise.”

CORROBORATED

The inclusion of the song 'Monopoly' by Elizaveta Gyrdymova (Monetochka) in the film is confirmed by Newsweek and a Wikipedia entry for the artist.

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Claim 12: “she is living in exile in Lithuania”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 13: “the director Destin Daniel Cretton said he was pleased with the reaction to the song.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 14: “It is heard in a scene where the character Peter Parker is at the New Avengers headquarters in Brighton Beach and meets Yelena Belova, portrayed by Florence Pugh.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results specifically describe the scene where Peter Parker meets Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and the presence of the song in that context.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — "Brand New Day" is a comic book storyline in The Amazing Spider-Man, published by Marvel Comics beginning in 2008. It chronicles the start of Spider-Man's adventures in the aftermath of the status quo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brand_New_Day_(comics)

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a 2026 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man. Produced by Columbia Pictures, Marvel Studios, and Pascal Pictures, and distributed by Sony…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man:_Brand_New_Day

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.