Morphed CNN graphic portrays Putin warning India to not interfere in Ukraine crisis

by Kinjal

In the midst of the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, an alleged screengrab from a CNN News broadcast has gone viral on social media. The screengrab has a picture of Russian President Vladimir Putin along with the quote, “India should not interfere, otherwise be ready to face the consequences”. Twitter user Sonu Mehra tweeted this screengrab and remarked that Putin is warning India while the country’s media is propping up the Russian president. The tweet drew over 3,000 likes as of this writing. (Archived link to the tweet)

Twitter user @Manav_SS_Gupta tweeted the same image and garnered around 750 likes. (Archived link to tweet)

Several other users have shared this screengrab on Facebook, Twitter and Whatsapp.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Fact-check

Through a simple reverse image search, Alt News found the original CNN report dated November 12, 2019. But unlike the viral screengrab, the original reads, “Top Russian official jokes about interfering in U.S. elections in 2020”. Above that text, it says “Putin’s New Punchline”.

It is thus obvious that the original text has been replaced with the fake quote in the viral screengrab.

‘The Lead CNN’ had tweeted the original screengrab on Twitter on November 12, 2019.

Thus, a screengrab of CNN’s broadcast was morphed to portray the Russian president warning India to not interfere in the Ukraine crisis.

Donate to Alt News!
Independent journalism that speaks truth to power and is free of corporate and political control is possible only when people start contributing towards the same. Please consider donating towards this endeavour to fight fake news and misinformation.

Donate Now

About the Author

Kinjal Parmar holds a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology. However, her keen interest in journalism, drove her to pursue journalism from the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. At Alt News since 2019, she focuses on authentication of information which includes visual verification, media misreports, examining mis/disinformation across social media. She is the lead video producer at Alt News and manages social media accounts for the organization.