Were two battalions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (VSU) hospitalized in Kharkiv because of Legionnaires disease outbreak among Ukrainian soldiers? No, that's not true: The outbreak of Legionnaires disease was in Rzesz贸w, which is a town in Poland 80 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. It serves as an aid hub for Ukraine.
The story originated from a video (archived here) on TikTok where it was published by @1vz8geroj on September 3rd, 2023. It opened (translated from Czech by Lead Stories staff):
Two battalions of the VSU had an outbreak of "legionnaires disease." In Kharkiv, two battalions of the VSU were hospitalized due to an outbreak of "legionnaires disease" - legionellosis. The dangerous infectious disease was detected in the 14th separate mechanized brigade of the VSU, which is participating in fighting in the Kupjan region. The command tried to conceal the fact of the epidemic, but later it was revealed that on the night of September 2-3, two rifle battalions of the 14th independent mechanized brigade were taken to the infectious disease wards of Kharkiv hospitals.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Mon Sep 11 19:31:09 2023 UTC)
A search performed by Lead Stories on September 11, 2023, for the phrase "legionnaires disease kharkiv vsu battalions" and "legionnaires disease ukraine" in English and "legion谩艡sk谩 nemoc Ukrajina" and "legion谩艡sk谩 nemoc ukrajina charkov vsu" in Czech, using Google News' index of thousands of credible news sites, did not reveal any factual reports that there was an outbreak of Legionnaires disease caused by legionella bacteria among Ukrainian soldiers.
The outbreak of Legionnaires disease was in Rzesz贸w, Poland. Polish security service investigates the disease. Stanis艂aw 呕aryn, a deputy government minister in charge of security services, said investigators wanted to rule out the possibility of foul play, including any possible involvement by Russia.
By September 11, 2023, 23 fatal cases of legionella bacteria infection were recorded by the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in Rzesz贸w along with 166 confirmed cases of infection. The fatal cases involved 11 women and 12 men aged 53-98. The announcement noted that all of them had comorbidity.
Legionnaires disease is according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) a lung infection caused by the legionella bacterium, which can bring along flu-like symptoms and even severe pneumonia. According to the CDC people can get sick when they breathe in small droplets of water or accidentally swallow water containing legionella bacteria into the lungs.
