Ukraine War

Morphed screenshot of CNN is viral as Putin warning India not to interfere in the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Written by Md Mahfooz Alam

A screenshot of CNN is in wide circulation on social media platforms with the claim of Russian President Vladimir Putin warning India to not interfere in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.  The viral screenshot has the image of Putin with an anchor and at the bottom, the text reads: “PUTIN’S NEW PUNCHLINE: India should not interfere, otherwise be ready to face the consequence.”

We searched news reports about Putin’s warning to India and didn’t find any. The claim is misleading; however, Putin did warn while announcing special military operations in Ukraine that any attempt by other countries to interfere with the Russian action would lead to “consequences they have never seen.”

On Twitter, the screenshot of the CNN is being shared with the caption: “पुतिन ने भारत को चेतावनी दी है, बीच में घुसने की कोशिश न करे वरना अंजाम भुगतने को तैयार रहे । और यहां की गोदिमीडिया साहब को विश्व का महान नेता बता रही है

(Translation: Putin has warned India, do not try to interfere in the middle or else be ready to face the consequences. And the Godimedia is calling him the great leader of the world)

(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)

Multiple users have shared the morphed screenshot. Their posts can be accessed here.

The morphed screenshot is also viral on Facebook.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

FactO Check:

On carefully examining the screenshot, we found inconsistency in the background of the bottom text. The portion of the text has a pale-white background and the portion beside has a bright white background. This gave us the clue that the text portion is superimposed on the original text.

Further, on conducting a reverse image search of the viral screenshot we came across a video report of 2:26 minutes on the website of CNN.  The video is about the Russian interference in the U.S elections and at 1:12 minutes, it has the visual same as the viral screenshot. The text at the bottom reads: “PUTIN’S PUNCHLINE: TOP RUSSIAN OFFICIAL JOKES ABOUT INTERFERING IN U.S. ELECTIONS IN 2020”

(Source: CNN/Screenshot)

For a better understanding, we have made a collage highlighting the similarities and differences between the viral screenshot and the unedited CNN screenshot.

Conclusion:

Therefore, it can be concluded from the above findings that the viral screenshot is morphed and the claim made along with it is misleading.

 

Donate to FactO!
If you love what we do @ FactO, you can pour some love and made us feel stronger. We are independently committed to your excellence with full accountability and transparency. You can click on the button below and make a payment of your own choice.

Pay Now

By Clicking on PAY, you agree to our Privacy Policy.

About the author

Md Mahfooz Alam

Mahfooz is a multimedia journalist and regularly writes fact-check stories for Facto News. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. He has worked as an intern fact-checker for The Quint. He specializes in research and fact-checking and aspires to do investigative reporting.

Leave a Comment