Fact Check: This lady soldier with a rifle is neither the Ukraine's First Lady nor Vice President's wife
India Today's Anti Fake News War Room has found that the woman in the photograph is a soldier at a rehearsal site of a military parade in 2021.
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India Today Fact Check
This is a 2021 photo of a female soldier from the rehearsal of a military parade organised ahead of Ukraine's 30th Independence Day. There is no executive role of Vice President in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 24 said the government will provide weapons to all citizens who wish to defend their country against Russian attacks. Thousands of citizens have reportedly joined the Ukraine army to fight the invasion.
Now, an image of a woman in Ukrainian army uniform and holding a gun is circulated on social media with the claim that she is the wife of the country's Vice President. She has decided to fight alongside the army against Russians, it said.
The same image is also circulated with the claim that the woman is Olena Zelenska-- the First Lady of Ukraine.
The archived versions of similar posts can be seen here and here.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that the image in question is old. The woman photographed in the picture is a soldier at the rehearsal site of a military parade in 2021.
AFWA probe
With the help of a reverse search on Google, we found the viral image of the woman on stock image site iStock. According to the description provided by iStock, the image is from the rehearsal of a military parade organised as part of Ukraine’s 30th Independence Day. It was clicked on Khreshchatyk street in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv on August 22, 2021.
The same image was found on stock photo-sharing platform Alamy.
We also found an image of the same woman with other Ukrainian soldiers on iStock. The image was dated August 20, 2021.
Further investigation showed that Ukraine got no executive role of Vice President in Ukraine. The First Deputy Prime Minister of the country is a woman named Svyrydenko Yulia.
Also, there is no executive role of Vice President in Ukraine. The First Deputy Prime Minister is a woman, Svyrydenko Yulia.
We couldn't find any news reports to prove that the first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska joined the frontline forces. Also, there are no updates on her social media handles substantiating the viral claim.
An image of Zelenska uploaded on her verified Instagram handle can be seen below.
It is hence clear that the image in question is old and belongs to a female soldier in the Ukrainian army.
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