Photo Showing Putin Handcuffed Digitally Altered
Many photos and video clips related to the Russia-Ukraine war have been posted on social media since the war broke out more than a year ago, including inaccurate photos and videos. Meanwhile, a photo showing Putin in a military uniform with his arms in handcuffs was posted on a user’s Facebook account, receiving multiple shares and reactions. However, Fact Crescendo Cambodia’s fact-finding revealed that the photo was edited.
This is about our investigation of this photo.
Social Media Claim
On June 31, 2023, a Facebook user posted a photo showing Russian President Vladimir Putin being arrested and handcuffed in military uniform. The above photo was shared several times by social media users, along with various expressions and reactions as well.
The following is a snapshot captured from the Facebook account of the user who wrote in Khmer and translated in English as, “Know that he is a bad person and there are still supporters who want to support Russia”.
The same photo was also posted and seen on other social media sites. Below is a snippet captured from the photo posted on Twitter, along with a claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin was arrested during a surprise visit to Kiev.
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia reviewed and verified the above photo through the Google Reverse Image Search process, which led us to find the following facts:
A photo showing a man in a military uniform and handcuffs was found on the Alamy website, confirming that it is not the Russian leader Vladimir Putin as claimed above. According to the same website, the man handcuffed was Viktor Medvedchuk, a Ukrainian politician who was arrested and accused of treason because he tended to support Russia’s war of aggression.
The following is an excerpt from Alamy’s website: "The Special Security Services of Ukraine detained escaped treason suspect Viktor Medvedchuk, a pro-Kremlin Ukrainian politician".
The arrest of the pro-Russian politician has also been reported in major international news media, such as the British BBC and Arab news media Al Jazeera. Read the full story of the BBC report here (archived link) and the Al Jazeera report here (archived link).
According to Al Jazeera, the Ukrainian politician has been charged by the Kiev government with treason for providing military secrets to Russia and looting natural resources in Crimea. Read more here.
Below is a comparison between the edited photo found on social media and the original photo.
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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.
Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found that the photo mentioned above was digitally altered. The photo shows the arrest of a traitor suspect, Viktor Medvedchuk, by the Special Security Services of Ukraine.
