No, Putin Didn't 'Warn India' Against Interfering in Ukraine Conflict

We could trace the original bulletin back to 2019, which actually spoke about Russia and US elections.

An altered screenshot of English news channel CNN is doing the rounds on social media to claim that amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned 'India against interfering.'

However, we found that the screenshot is an altered one. We could trace the original screenshot back to November 2019 which was about the 2020 US Presidential elections.

But it must be noted that after invading Ukraine on 24 February, Putin did warn countries against interfering and said that any interference will lead to 'consequences greater than any in the history.'

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CLAIM

The screenshot is being shared with a caption that reads that Putin has warned India against interfering in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

The screenshot is being massively shared on Twitter and Facebook and an archived version of the post can be seen here, here, here, and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We conducted a reverse image search on the image using Yandex search engine and came across a video published on CNN on 12 November 2019.

The report was headlined, 'Russian interference in U.S. elections now comedy fodder for Kremlin.'

On comparing the viral image with this bulletin, we found that the viral image was altered to replace the bottom text which read 'Top Russian Official Jokes About Interfering in US Elections in 2020' to 'India should not interfere, otherwise be ready to face the consequences.'

We also found the screenshot on the official Twitter handle of 'The Lead CNN', which was posted on 13 November 2019.

Russian interference in U.S. elections now comedy fodder for Kremlin @fpleitgenCNN reports https://t.co/CPKGSlRssa pic.twitter.com/o9kZeEBONT

— The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) November 12, 2019

On looking for news reports related to Russia warning India, we did find Putin's statement warning countries against interfering, but nothing which suggested he specifically said this to India.

Further, India abstained from voting on the United National Security Council (UNSC) resolution condemning Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Clearly, an altered screenshot is being shared to falsely claim that Russian President has warned India against interfering in the Russia-Ukraine matter.

(The story was first published on Quint Hindi on 27 February)

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