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| - Fact Check: 17-year-old image of Belarusian prisoner shared as that of 'Nazi' Ukrainian soldier
A photo of a man with Nazi tattoos all over his body being treated by a military doctor has gone viral on social media, with claims that it shows a Ukrainian soldier being examined in Russian custody. India Today's AFWA has found the claim to be misleading.
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India Today Fact Check
The image is unrelated to the Ukraine-Russia crisis. It was photographed at a Belarusian prison during a medical check-up in 2005.
Since the beginning of the invasion, pro-Russian handles on social media have been pointing fingers at the "neo-Nazi elements" in Ukrainian ranks to justify Putin's decision to carry out "demilitarization" and "denazification" of Ukraine.
Amid these allegations, the image of a man with Nazi tattoos across his body being treated by a military doctor has gone viral. Several netizens claimed it was a captured Ukrainian soldier being examined in Russian custody.
"Donetsk, a Ukrainian POW's medical examination. There is no Nazi in Ukraine, they said...," a user who tweeted the photo wrote.
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found these claims to be misleading. This image, shot in 2005, shows a Belarusian prison doctor examining a convict. It is unrelated to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
AFWA Probe
A reverse search of the viral image took us to the website of stock photography website Getty Images. It said the photo was taken on June 22, 2005 at a prison in Mogilyev, Belarus. "A Belarus prison doctor examines a prisoner covered with Nazi tattoos at the 15th prison in the town of Mogilyev, some 200 km from Minsk," the caption read. It said a large number of prisoners were pardoned and released "according to the amnesty granted for the 60th anniversary of the end of WWII."
Getty Images credited the image to AFP photographer Viktor Drachev.
Pursuing this clue, we tracked the same photo to the AFP website alongside the same caption.
The reverse search also showed that Reuters fact-checked the photograph in June.
Nazi presence in the conflict
While they are lauded for their valour, Ukraine's Azov Battalion have been photographed with Nazi tattoos such as the swastika. Per reports, their uniforms feature Nazi insignia and are accused of human rights violations by organisations like Amnesty International and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
While several far-right volunteer groups like the Azov Battalion constitute the Nazi segment of the Ukrainian side, some media reports have reported similar elements on the Russian side as well. Quoting a German weekly, The Moscow Times in May reported that at least two neo-Nazi groups are fighting for Russia in Ukraine.
However, the man in the photograph with Nazi tattoos on his body is not a Ukrainian soldier as claimed. It is a seventeen-year-old image that is unrelated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
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