Claim: A photo shows Russian President Vladimir Putin reading a book by Imran Khan titled ‘Pakistan: A Personal History’.
Fact: The photo is doctored. In the actual photo from June 2016, Putin can be seen reading a different book.
Fact or Fiction?
On 6 January 2023, a social media user Mahnoor Malik, shared a photo on Twitter claiming that it shows Russian President Vladimir Putin reading Imran Khan’s book ‘Pakistan: A Personal History’.
“Imran Khan is read by the world and we are very lucky to have a leader like Imran Khan. Thank God, Lord of the worlds,” her tweet reads.
عمران خان کو دنیا پڑھتی ہے اور ہم بہت خوش نصیب ہیں کہ ہمیں عمران خان جیسا لیڈر ملا
شکر الحمداللہ رب العالمین pic.twitter.com/oVebHLkav6— ماہ نور ملک (@Mahnoor2662) January 6, 2023
Soch Fact Check found the claim to be false. A Google Reverse Image Search led to a stock photography company’s website, Alamy. The website published the same image on 14 June 2016.
The caption of the photo reads, “Russian President Vladimir Putin reviews a book during a meeting with President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vladimir Fortov and Director of the Federal Agency for Scientific Organisations Mikhail Kotyukov at the Kremlin June 14, 2016 in Moscow, Russia. Credit: Planetpix/Alamy Live News.”
The viral image is doctored. The cover of the book has been edited to make it look like Putin is reading a book authored by Imran Khan.
Virality
The claim was found here, here, here, here and here on Facebook.
On Twitter, it was found here.
Conclusion: The photo doing the rounds on social media is doctored. Putin can be seen reading a different book in the original image from 2016.