| schema:text
| - Fact Check: Old photo of Ukrainians praying passed off as recent amid ongoing conflict with Russia
A photo of a group of men and women praying in the snow has gone viral, with the claim that it shows Ukrainian Christians praying outside for their country in the midst of a war threat. India Today Anti-Fake News War room (AFWA) has found the photo to be old.
Listen to Story
India Today Fact Check
The viral image is not related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. It was taken in Ukraine in 2019. Ukrainian Christians were praying for their country in the snow at Freedom Square in Kharkiv.
On Thursday, February 24, Moscow launched massive airstrikes on Ukraine. As per reports, explosions could be heard in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and Kharkiv, in the country’s northeast. The Russian military said the civilian population and members of the military who surrendered were not being targeted.
In the days that led to this, a picture of a group of men and women praying in the snow has gone viral. The photo has been shared with claims that it shows Ukrainian Christians praying outdoors for their country in the middle of the looming threat of war.
Several Facebook users shared this image with a caption that reads, “Ukrainian Christians pray outdoors, in the snow, for their country in this phase of war danger. Let's pray for our Christian family in Ukraine, in the face of these particularly critical times; may God grant wisdom, discernment, strength, courage, protection to His children, to the authorities & to the whole population!”
The India Today Anti-Fake News War room (AFWA) found that the viral image is not related to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. It was taken in Ukraine in 2019. Ukrainian Christians were praying for their country in the snow at Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
AFWA probe
With the help of reverse image searches, we found that the viral image was published on multiple websites in 2019.
We found that the International Mission Board — a website that is known to publish articles on Christian faith and activities — published the viral image on September 25, 2019.
The author of the article, Nicole Leigh, wrote about her experience of joining a prayer on an early morning at Freedom Square in Kharkiv, Ukraine in 2019. According to the article, a group of Ukrainian Christians had been praying outdoors every morning, withstanding the inclement weather since 2014. They prayed for peace in their country.
The author wrote, “When the prayer group began in 2014, they were threatened by soldiers and violence as well as policemen who said they had to disperse or face jail.” But despite all odds, this prayer group kept on praying every day, relentlessly for their country.
The year 2014 was a critical juncture in the history of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Ukraine has been fighting pro-Moscow separatists since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea. This was followed by mass protests in Kyiv, and more than 14,000 people lost their lives fighting in the Eastern fringe of the country.
Hence, it is clear that an old picture of morning prayers by Ukrainian Christians has been falsely linked to the ongoing crisis in the region.
Please share it on our at 73 7000 7000
You can also send us an email at factcheck@intoday.com
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)