FACT CHECK: Video Claims To Show Vladimir Putin Traveling To Iranian President’s Funeral

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

A video shared on Facebook claims to show Russian President Vladimir Putin traveling to the Iranian president’s funeral.

Verdict: False

The video is from 2017. It does not show Putin going to an Iranian funeral.

Fact Check:

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was buried in his hometown of Mashhad, Iran on May 23, according to BBC News. Raisi died in a helicopter crash earlier this month, the outlet reported.

Social media users are sharing a video of Putin a plane, claiming it shows the leader heading to Raisi’s funeral. One user wrote, “Putin on his way to Iran for Ibrahim Raisi’s funeral. Looks scared don’t he.”

This video, though, does not show Putin going to Raisi’s funeral. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the video is from 2017 and is unrelated to any Iranian function. The video was posted to YouTube with the title, “Vladimir Putin’s plane was escorted by Russian Aerospace Forces fighters on its way to Cairo.”

Russian outlet Sputnik reported that the video shows Putin being escorted to Khmeimim airbase, where he ordered the withdrawal of Russian troops from Syria before he visited Cairo, Egypt.

Russia did not send a delegation to Raisi’s funeral, according to Russian state media outlet TASS. Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters that “no international presence was envisioned” at the funeral, the outlet reported.

Logically Facts also debunked the video. (RELATED: No, Video Does Now Show IDF Troops Celebrating Iranian President’s Helicopter Crash)

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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