Fact-Check: AI-Generated Images of Vladimir Putin as a Buddhist Monk Go Viral

These images are created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) on an AI art tool known as Midjourney.

Fact-check: The viral photo of Vladimir Putin dressed up as a monk is AI-generated and is being falsely shared as a real photo.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A set of two images showing Russian President Vladimir Putin in a Buddhist monk's attire is going viral on social media, claiming that Putin has embraced Buddhism.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

Are these images real?: These images not real. They are created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) on an AI art tool known as Midjourney.

How did we find out the truth?: We ran a reverse image search on the viral pictures and came across a Facebook post from 18 March.

• This post was found on a group called 'AI CREATIVES THAILAND'.

• The post carried four images which included two viral photos of Putin and two images of United States President Joe Biden, where both of them were dressed up as Buddhist monks.

• The post's caption clarified that these images are not real and are generated by an AI tool, Midjourney.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

The user who posted these images identified himself as a digital creator who has shared several such AI-generated images on his page.

The user's name was ต๋องสุเกะ สุวรรณกิจ, in Thai language.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

What is Midjourney?: It is an AI-powered tool which can created realistic images suitable to the given prompts by the users.

• We checked more AI-generated images of Putin on Midjourney with similar commands and came across similar AI-generated images showing Putin dressed up as a Monk.

(Note: Swipe to check all the screenshots.)

This image was created using commands about a vintage portrait of Putin dressed as a monk.

This image was created using commands about Putin dressed as a monk in Tibet.

We have reached out to the creator of these images, the article will be updated once we receive a response.

Conclusion: Clearly, the viral photo of Vladimir Putin dressed up as a monk is AI-generated and is being falsely shared as a real photo.

Several such AI-generated image have recently gone viral as real and The Quint's WebQoof team has debunked some of them here and here.

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