On February 18, the Facebook account Dodo Demurishvili posted the Reels, in which the Russian opposition politician, Aleksei Navalny, is depicted in a Nazi salute and with an image of Hitler tattooed on his chest. The author of the post used this photo to describe the reaction to Navalny’s death. The caption to the photo reads: “This is why our fascists mourn Navalny.”
The disseminated photo is photoshopped, with the face of Navalny replacing the face of a person depicted in the authentic photo. In fact, Aleksei Navalny did not have a tattoo depicting Hitler.
This fabricated photo has circulated on various websites for years now, and after Navalny’s death, it was posted again.
The authentic photo does not show Aleksei Navalny. It shows a young man who has a tattoo of Hitler on his chest. This authentic photo was published by several Russian-language websites. The photo was also used by the US publication HUFFPOST in its piece on Putin and Russia.
A tricolor flag can be seen in the background of the photos, which belongs to a nationalist movement, “Russians,” founded by Dmitry Demushkin in 2011. Every year, they participated in processions held to celebrate the National Unity Day on November 4. The organization was banned as an extremist group in 2015. The young man depicted in the disseminated photo is thought to be a far-right activist. Other photos found in open sources depicting other nationalist gatherings also show this man participating in them.
Disinformation about Aleksei Navalny has been spread for years and continued after his death too. Myth Detector has repeatedly verified the claims used by Kremlin propaganda against the Russian opposition politician:
- RUSSIAN DISINFORMATION ABOUT NAVALNY
- SPUTNIK QUESTIONS BELLINGCAT INVESTIGATIONS – FROM NAVALNY POISONING TO MALAYSIAN BOEING
- WHO DOESN’T BELIEVE IN NAVALNY POISONING WITH NOVICHOK?
Aleksei Navalny was a Russian opposition politician and bogger. On February 16, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service released a statement about his death. Having undergone a four-month course of treatment after he had been poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok, he returned to Moscow from Germany and was arrested on January 17, 2021, and held in the special regime colony since 2023. Last August, a Russian court increased his sentence by 19 years on new charges. On February 14, Navalny was transferred to one of the harshest, most punitive penal colonies located on the Yamal Peninsula, where he died. According to an official Kremlin statement, Navalny felt ill during a walk and died.
About the source:
Facebook user Nodo Demurishvili also previously spread false information, which was verified by Myth Detector.
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