Claim: Russian President Vladimir Putin posted a video on X saying that countries would choose sides after World War III starts.
Fact: The now-deleted X account was a Putin parody account. Further, the video with the post has been shared out of context.
On 14 April, X user @Brics_Dolllar, a verified parody account of Putin posted on X, “An attack on Israel by Iran means one thing: There is likely to be a world War where countries globally will take sides.” Then he said, “If you side with the west (United States, France, NATO, Ukraine, UK, Australia) you are likely to find yourself supporting Israel.” Secondly, “If you BRICS (China, Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa) you will likely find yourself supporting Iran.”
“World War III will likely threaten human existence,” the post added.
This was posted after Iran began its retaliatory attack on Israel on 13 April, that included more than 300 missiles and drones, 99% of which Israel and its allies intercepted.
The user also shared a minute long video of Putin speaking in Russian apparently about the possibility of World War III to make the claim seem legitimate.
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check analysed the X handle and found that by posing as a Putin parody account, the user was able to garner thousands of views for its false claim about World War III.
The username “@Brics_Dollar” and “(parody)” after “Vladimir Putin” on the X title clearly show it’s not an official account of the Russian president. However, we found an article based on this viral post, “Putin Ensures BRICS Defends Iran if NATO Acts, World War III Signal?” assuming the parody account’s claim as true. Interestingly, the embedded viral post in this article does not show “(parody)” after the title, signalling possibly that the X user changed it afterward.
Taking cues from this, Soch Fact Check conducted a Wayback Machine search for the X archives and found this indeed was the case: the user was posing as the Russian president at the time of Iran attack on Israel. “(parody)” as the handle now has in its title, is absent on archive snapshot of 14 April. This further amplified the reach of the misleading claim, garnering at least one million views.
The Russian president has an official X handle, “President of Russia” with over 1.9 million followers. But the account has not posted on X since March 2022, ruling out that Putin posted about World War III.
The Russian video of Putin subtitled in English with the post has been used to suggest that Putin did in fact predict the possibility of World War III.
Soch Fact Check conducted a Google Reverse Image Search of the keyframes from the video and found The Economic Times’ original YouTube video. The logo of this publication, the footage from 0:35 mark onwards, is exactly similar to the viral claim’s video.
However, the subtitles do not make any reference to World War III. Dated 31 October 2023, five months before the Iran-Israel conflict, the video report is about the Israel-Hamas War that began at the time.
“And they (Western countries) do not like it when someone tells or acts not in accordance with their wishes,” said Putin in the video, “They do not want durable peace at the Holy Land. They need chaos in the Middle East.”
We also conducted a keyword search and found that Putin made these statements during a meeting with the Russian Security Council and government officials. The transcript of the official memo matches the subtitles of the video, confirming the meeting took place five months before, on 30 October 2023. “…they are trying hard to discredit countries that are insisting on an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, on ending the bloodshed, and that are ready to make a real contribution to resolving the crisis, rather than parasitising on it,” said the concluding remarks of the Russian president. There is not a single mention of World War III.
Moreover, the watch on the table at the right, the microphone, and other features in the official memo pictures match The Hindustan Times video scenes.
Therefore, Soch Fact Check concludes Vladimir Putin did not post on X about World War III after Iran attacked Israel on 13 April.
Virality
On X, the post garnered at least 1 million views.
It was also shared on X here and here.
Conclusion: Vladimir Putin did not post on X about the possibility of World War III after Iran attacked Israel on 13 April and predicting which sides the countries would choose if it happened. The viral video was recorded five months before the recent attack, in October 2023, when the Israel-Hamas War began.
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Background image in cover photo: Reuters
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