A post has been shared stating that a Russian soldier returned from the War in Ukraine and went to thank Putin. This is not a Russian soldier or someone who was in the conflict.
A video is circulating on social media showing Vladimir Putin standing next to a man in a wheelchair with no arms or legs. The video’s description reads: “A Russian soldier was sent to invade Ukraine to satisfy Vladimir Putin’s expansionist desire. He returned from there with no arms or legs. He thanked Putin and said: ‘We are Russians. God is with us.'”
In fact, there is a lot of misinformation in this context. The man in the video is a Belarusian, not a Russian, national, and in a speech to Vladimir Putin he says, according to the video’s subtitles: “We will not let you down. We are proud that you and our leader Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko are holding the line in such a brotherly manner. (…) We are Russians. God is with us. I serve the country.”
The video itself is not manipulated. But there are some false aspects surrounding the publication.Of course, the individual in the picture is not a Russian soldier who was sent to war in Ukraine. This is Aleksei Talai, Belarusian Paralympic swimmerwhich is actually registered on the International Paralympic Committee website.
An online search reveals a photograph of the same ceremony featured in the video in the German photo agency Imago’s image bank. Reading the caption, we learn that the ceremony in question depicts the moment when Aleksei Talai received the Order of Friendship from the Russian president, at a ceremony held in the St. Catherine Hall of the Kremlin in Moscow.
The life story of Aleksey Talai appears on the website of photographer Pavel Volkov. The Belarusian was the victim of an accident as a child. He tried to put out a fire, but ended up stepping on an underground mine and lost arms and legs. Thus, He did not lose arms or legs in the Ukrainian war.
Conclusion
The video shown in the post, in which Vladimir Putin appears next to a man without arms or legs, is real. However, this individual is not a Russian soldier who lost limbs during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is a paralympic athlete from Belarus who suffered an accident as a child.
Thus, according to Observer’s classification system, this content is:
MISTAKEN
In Facebook’s rating system, this content is:
FAKE: The main content claims are factually inaccurate. This option usually corresponds to “false” or “mostly false” ratings on fact-checking websites.
NOTE: This content was selected by Observador as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.
Source: Observadora
