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| - Fact Check: Did Ukraine's president don the army uniform to fight against Russian troops?
Soon after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to stay in Kyiv, images of him purportedly in military uniform began circulating on social media, with claims that he joined the Ukrainian army in the war against Russia.
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India Today Fact Check
These images are from Zelenskiy’s different visits to border troops in the conflict-hit Donbass region in 2021. He is only wearing the safety gear, not the army uniform.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on February 25 pledged to stay in the country’s capital Kyiv as Russia continued its invasion. He also called out European leaders over their silence on Ukraine's NATO membership.
Soon after his video address, several images of him, purportedly in military uniform started circulating on social media with claims that he joined the Ukrainian army in the war against Russia.
The caption to one such viral post on Facebook with over 33,000 shares at the time of writing this read, “This is the President of Ukraine Zelensky. He took off his clothes and put on a military uniform to join the troops in fighting to protect the Ukrainian homeland. He is a true leader.”
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found the photos to be old and not related to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict.
AFWA probe
With the help of a reverse image search, we found the first image posted on Getty Images.
According to the description on Getty Images, the image was from Zelenskyy's visit to the front-line positions of the Ukrainian military in Donbass on December 06, 2021.
Similar images were also carried by Reuters and other media outlets in December 2021. According to Reuters, it was also the day of the Armed Forces in Ukraine.
We found the second image in a Reuters report dated April 21, 2021. As per this report, the image of Zelenskyy was from a different visit he had made in Donbass region on April 9, 2021.
“Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits positions of armed forces near the frontline with Russian-backed separatists in Donbass region, Ukraine April 9, 2021. ” read the description of the image.
Several other images are available on the internet of Zelenskiy visiting the Donbass region with the Ukraine army. Images are also available of Zelenskyy visiting the border troops in Donetsk as recently as February 17, 2022. However, notably, in all these images, Zelenskiy was wearing only safety gear and not the uniform of the Ukrainian army.
We also couldn't find any credible report to substantiate the viral claim.
It is hence clear that the images of Zelenskiy in circulation are old and they do not show the President fighting against the Russian army at the frontline.
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