2013 Video of Putin Walking Alone Widely Shared Amid Ukraine-Russian War

The video is from 2013 when he had walked alone in the streets of St. Petersburg following the death of his coach.

A video of Russian President Vladimir Putin walking in the streets ditching his motorcade is being shared on social media with the claim that he "snubbed his presidential motorcade and walked home," indicating he is "clearly frustrated."

The claim comes in the backdrop of the Russian war on Ukraine, as Putin ordered a "special military intervention" in the country on 24 February.

However, we found that the video is from August 2013 and showed a pensive Putin walking through the streets of St. Petersburg in Russia after he attended the funeral of his lifelong friend and martial arts coach Anatoly Rakhlin.

CLAIM

The video was shared by a user on Facebook with the claim, "Russian President Vladimir Putin snubs his presidential motorcade to walk home after a press briefing. (sic)"

The video posted on 26 February has 30 million views and over three lakh reactions.

More archived links of the video shared with the same claim can be seen here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND

We conducted a keyword search on YouTube and found a longer version of the video posted by a user on 31 March 2014.

The title read, 'President Vladimir Putin walks alone in the streets of St. Petersburg in the Russia'.

Taking a cue from here, we conducted another keyword search and looked for news reports.

We found a report published by Foreign Policy, an international magazine, that read that Putin had attended the funeral of his martial arts coach Anatoly Rakhlin, who died in St. Petersburg, aged 75.

"Seeking solitude after the funeral, the president took a walk on Vatutina Street, an unusual gesture for the Russia’s president, who never walks alone," the report from 9 August 2013 read.

We also found the news on United Kingdom (UK)-based media outlet The Independent published on 9 August 2013.

Further, we also found multiple images of Putin walking alone in 2013 on Getty Images.

The caption in one of the images on Getty Images read, "Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the funeral of his former judo trainer Anatoly Rakhlin on 9 August 2013 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Rahklin died on August 7 at 75 years old."

Next, we found the video on Russian state-affiliated media RT's YouTube channel. It was posted on August 2013. The title in Russian translated to 'Putin walked alone in St. Petersburg.'

Clearly, an old video is being shared now falsely claiming that a frustrated Putin ditched his motorcade after a press briefing and walked home.

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