This Image of Wagner Site Conveying a Message to Enemies Is Altered
The Claim
Image showing Wagner fighters using a sign to send a "hello".
News posted on
Emerging story
Following the death of the Wagner leader, social media users circulated a satellite image showing Wagner fighters using a sign to send a "hello" message to satellites who were filming them in Belarus.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the viral image and found it to be fake.
A thorough reverse image search revealed the circulating image to be digitally manipulated.
The Original Image Is Unrelated to the Wagner Group Site
The image, in contrast to the viral claims, has been manipulated to display the written word on the ground.
The original image is not related to the Wagner Group site and does not convey a message to enemies. Instead, it shows a satellite picture capturing the deployment of ground forces in Yelnya, Russia, on November 1, 2021.
Sky News featured the image in a published article, confirming that the image was taken on November 1, 2021, and captured in Yelnya, Russia.
The BBC also published the unaltered image in November 2021, featuring the build-up of Russian forces located approximately 300 kilometers (185 miles) away from Ukraine.
Wagner Leader Confirmed Dead
Russian authorities have officially confirmed the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner Group, due to a jet crash, resulting in the deaths of all on board.
Genetic testing conducted on the ten recovered bodies from the crash site aligns with the flight's passenger manifest, according to a statement by Russian Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko on Sunday. The list of passengers and crew members included Prigozhin and some of his key associates, as stated by Russia's civil aviation authority.
The Investigative Committee has not indicated the cause of the crash of the business jet, which occurred between Moscow and St. Petersburg, Prigozhin's hometown. Nonetheless, suspicions of a potential Kremlin-engineered assassination have arisen due to the timing of the crash, a notion that Russia vehemently denies.
The crash also claimed the lives of Yevgeny Prigozhin second-in-command, Dmitry Utkin, and Valery Chekalov, who was the mastermind behind Wagner's logistics. Utkin was widely thought to be the founder of Wagner and had given the group its name through his nom de guerre.
Wagner's Leader Announces Mutiny Against Russia
In an incident two months prior, Yevgeny Prigozhin, aged 62, led a daylong mutiny against the Russian military, guiding his mercenary forces from Ukraine towards Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin denounced this act as "treason" and pledged consequences for those involved. However, the Kremlin swiftly reached an agreement with Prigozhin to quell the rebellion. Under this agreement, he was granted freedom without facing charges and allowed to relocate to Belarus.
Doubts linger regarding whether this former ally of Russia's leader will eventually face repercussions for the brief uprising that posed a substantial challenge to Putin's authority during his lengthy rule of 23 years.
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Disinformation Around the Reported Demise of Russian Warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin
