Vladimir Putin: Was the Russian leader at the Wagner chief's funeral? Viral video spreads fake news

Updated on September 5, 2023 at 2:55 PM

Since the mysterious death of former Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, there has been much speculation. Now a video is circulating, suggesting that Vladimir Putin was at his funeral.

Experts believe this video shows Vladimir Putin at Wagner chief's funeral but it dates far back

Almost a fortnight ago, the former Putin confidant and head of the Russian mercenary group Wagnerdied in a plane crash. Nine other passengers are said to have been on board.

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In the meantime, a DNA comparison has confirmed beyond doubt that one of the dead is indeed Prigozhin. Nevertheless, there are still numerous speculations about the death of the former Wagner boss.

A video resurfaced, showing Vladimir Putin at a funeral

Some voices are still not sure whether the crash was really an accident. The Kremlin, however, continues to deny any involvement in the whole affair. Likewise, it has so far been clearly announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be present at the funeral of his former confidant.

However, a video that has gone viral is now said to show the opposite, as reported by t-online and euronews. By Monday 4 September 2023, the video had already gathered 900,000 views on X (formerly Twitter) and the same video has gotten 1.8M on TikTok, leaving observers confused. So did Vladimir Putin attend Yevgeny Prigozhin's funeral in Saint Petersburg after all?

The video is actually much older

However, closer investigations and observations by euronews clearly show that the viral video has nothing whatsoever to do with Prigozhin's funeral. In fact, it dates back from 2013.

According to further information, Putin's former judo coach died in that year. The Russian president can be seen in the footage standing by the coffin of his late coach and saying goodbye. So this definitely won't silence speculation that the Kremlin may have been involved in the crash of the plane with Prigozhin on board after all.