The Photo Does Not Show Russian Officers Detained on Charges of Trading Secret Information
The Claim
The photo shows two Russian officers being detained on charges of communicating information to a foreign embassy.
News posted on
Emerging story
Facebook and Twitter users have recently shared a photo with a caption that reads: Russian national guards arrested a number of police officers on charges of communicating information to a foreign embassy that is yet to be identified.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s team investigated the circulated claim and found it misleading. The photo does not show two Russian police officers being detained for communicating information to a foreign embassy. Instead, the photo was taken of two drug dealers recently arrested for impersonating the Russian police. According to Channel One Russia, the drug dealers were initially detained after failing to provide proper identification.
In addition, Misbar’s team did not find the alleged news captioned with the photo or any other related news in any reliable media outlet.
The claim started to circulate as tensions continue to soar against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian standoff and the continued amassing of soldiers near the two countries’ borders amidst warnings against a possible war.
Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri
