A 2021 video shows Putin celebrating a WWII anniversary, not promising to aid Palestinians
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his speech during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow, Russia, Sunday, May 9, 2021, marking the 76th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Social media users are sharing a clip of Putin’s 2021 speech to falsely claim Russia announced sending aid to the Palestinians in the Israel-Hamas War. (Alexei Nikolsky, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
CLAIM: A video shows Russian leader Vladimir Putin announcing Russia will send “help to Palestine” in the latest Israel-Hamas War.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The video is from 2021 and shows Putin speaking at Russia’s Victory Day military parade. He doesn’t make any references to the Middle East conflict in the speech, but rather talks about the defeat of Nazism. Russia has so far issued carefully calibrated criticism of both sides in the Israel-Hamas war.
THE FACTS: Since the start of the conflict in October, social media users have repeatedly shared false claims about foreign leaders’ comments on the war.
In the latest instance, users are sharing an old video of Putin to falsely claim Russia has thrown its support behind one side.
The video shows Putin speaking in Russian at a podium and then clips of a parade featuring military equipment and personnel.
“Putin Announced Russia Will Openly Help To Palestine,” reads the caption overlaying the video.
However, the footage is from May 2021, and actually shows Putin speaking at the annual Victory Day military parade in Moscow’s Red Square, which marks the anniversary of the end of World War II. The full broadcast can be seen in a post on YouTube.
A transcript of the full speech published by the Russian news agency Tass shows Putin spoke about the defeat of Nazism in World War II while warning that Nazi beliefs remain strong. He did not mention the current conflict in the Middle East.
Anna Borshchevskaya, a senior fellow in The Washington Institute and an expert of Russian foreign policy toward the Middle East, confirmed Putin says in the video: “Glory to the victors.”
Borshchevskaya added that Putin has historically made efforts to build good relations with Israel but Hamas leadership has made repeated visits to Moscow as well.
“Putin has always positioned himself as someone who can talk to all sides,” Borshchevskaya told the AP.
Putin has not made any explicit claims around Russia’s stance over the Israel-Hamas war, though he publicly declared in early October that Moscow could play the role of mediator.
The Russian leader has condemned the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, but at the same time warned Israel against blockading the Gaza strip, the AP reported.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
