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Ciara O'Rourke
By Ciara O'Rourke March 25, 2024

Viral video misquotes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent state of the nation address

If Your Time is short

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin doesn’t make these comments in this video.  

"Russia’s President Putin makes a shocking announcement," read the text above a video of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The March 24 Instagram post featured an English-speaking voice talking over Putin, who is making remarks at a lectern. 

"Ladies and gentlemen, people of Russia, today we stand on the precipice of a monumental revelation," the English-speaker said, seemingly translating Putin’s speech from Russian. "A moment that redefines not only our understanding of history but also the path forward for our great nation. In an extraordinary discovery, hidden beneath centuries of lore and legend, we have opened what can only be described as the oldest vault known to mankind. What we found within its ancient conflines challenges the very fabric of our beliefs … we discovered figures of Biblical proportions. … They are all Black."

This post was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)

Featured Fact-check

The video is from February and shows Putin delivering the annual state of the nation address in Moscow. But searching C-SPAN’s transcript of his remarks translated into English, we found no mention of the Bible, anything biblical, or Black.

News coverage reflects that Putin discussed the war in Ukraine, Russia’s nuclear capabilities, the country’s economy and foreign relations. He vowed to "revamp education and health care and support young families," The Associated Press said. Reuters quoted Putin as saying, "Russia is ready for dialogue with the United States of America on issues of strategic stability." 

But we found no evidence that his address included the comments featured in the Instagram post. 

We rate it False.

 

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Viral video misquotes Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent state of the nation address

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