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| - Fact Check: Did a Russian tank accidentally run over recent conscript? This shocking video is from 2014
In the viral video being widely circulated on social media, a Russian armoured vehicle tank can be seen trampling one of the soldiers during a recruitment parade.
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India Today Fact Check
This incident is from 2014. News reports from the time, however, have discrepancies in terms of the soldier’s name or even how seriously he was injured.
President Vladimir Putin recently said that Russia should be finished calling up reservists in two weeks, promising an end to its controversial mobilisation drive that has seen hundreds of thousands of men summoned to fight in Ukraine. Reportedly, men in their fifties have been conscripted. The drive has led to many Russians fleeing the country, some even resorting to unusual means to do so.
Amid all this, a video allegedly showing Putin’s newly-mobilised recruits taking part in a parade has been shared widely online. What makes the video shocking is that an armoured vehicle tank tramples one of the soldiers during the event.
In this video, soldiers could be seen standing in attention. With audible gunshots in the background, two military vehicles could be seen moving. As one of the vehicles took a sharp turn, it ran over a soldier. The visibly injured soldier managed to get up before ultimately collapsing.
On Facebook, people shared the video with captions like, “During a Russian military procession and ‘show of might’, a military vehicle runs over a Russian soldier who is part of the parade.” Many media outlets, including The Irish Sun, reported this as a recent incident.
AFWA’s investigation, however, found that the viral video dates back to 2014.
AFWA Probe
Reverse-searching frames from the video on Tin Eye led us to a report by a Vietnamese news website that reported on the video on June 17, 2014.
We also found a June 16, 2014, Daily Mail report on the incident.
This report identified the soldier as 19-year-old Pavel Touromov, who had just completed his military training in the south-eastern Russian city of Ussuriysk when the accident happened. According to this report, Touromov suffered serious internal injuries after a BMP armoured personnel carrier that weighed 20 tonnes ran him down. An eye witness told the tabloid, “He went down and straight under the wheels, his body making the vehicle bounce. It was sickening to watch. I thought he was killed instantly but then, amazingly, he bounded up and ran off.”
However, some Russian reports have identified the soldier as Alexei Agishin and said that he sustained only just minor injuries. Another 2014 Russian news report, featuring a photo of the soldier in the hospital, quoted him on how he managed to survive.
Named here as Anatoly Agishin, the soldier reportedly said, “I stood with my back to this armored personnel carrier. At the last moment, I turned around and a second later there was a blow. I don’t remember how the front two wheels drove over me. But I remember that when I saw a gap between the wheels, I grouped up and crawled under the hull of the armored personnel carrier. I waited for him to pass and then only tried to get to my feet. But then I don’t remember anything.”
So, while there are some discrepancies in how the story has been reported, it is nonetheless clear that it is in no way a recent incident.
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