Latest fact checks & sources

Russian President Vladimir Putin remained in New Delhi during his two-day visit. Viral images claiming to show him visiting Ayodhya and Ujjain with PM Modi, bathing in the Ganges in Varanasi, and reading the Gita on a plane are AI-created.

A photograph widely shared on social media claims to show Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting a temple with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. NewsMobile investigated the viral picture and found that it is AI-generated.

Claim: A viral notification claims India asked Russia to replace S-400 systems destroyed in a conflict with Pakistan in May 2025. Fact: There is no credible evidence supporting this claim and the notification had clear discrepancies and has been debunked by PIB

Claim: The image shows NSA Ajit Doval meeting Mikhail Khodorkovsky in London. Mikhail is a Putin critic and an exiled Russian oligarch. Fact: The claim is false. The image has been generated using AI.

Russian President Vladimir Putin remained in New Delhi during his two-day visit. Viral images claiming to show him visiting Ayodhya and Ujjain with PM Modi, bathing in the Ganges in Varanasi, and reading the Gita on a plane are AI-created.

As Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in India for defence and trade talks on December 4, an old video surfaced in social media posts falsely claiming it showed New Delhi sending fighter jets to escort the leader’s plane. The footage was published by Russian state news agency Sputnik in December 2017 and shows Putin’s plane being escorted by Russian jets en route to Egyptian capital Cairo after a visit to Syria.

The viral image showing Vladimir Putin posing with the Bhagavad Gita on a plane is AI-generated and not real.

French Decree No. 2025-1030 – the document Russian outlets point to as proof of Paris allegedly greenlighting a private military company for Ukraine – does nothing of the sort. Instead, it outlines rules for civilian economic operators conducting training and technical missions as part of international military cooperation, with no connection to PMC deployment.

Claim: The viral video shows Indian Air Force fighter jets escorting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aircraft as he enters Indian airspace during his recent visit to India. Fact: The video is from December 2017 and shows Russian Su-30 fighter jets escorting President Putin’s aircraft during his visit to the Khmeimim Air Base in Syria. Hence, the claim is FALSE.

An image recently shared on social media claimed to show Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting the Ram Temple in Ayodhya along with PM Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath. However, in its investigation, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the image is not genuine and has been AI-generated. No official or credible report confirms such a visit. An AI-generated image of Russian President Putin visiting the Ram Temple in Ayodhya was falsely shared as real to mislead viewers.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent visit to India, an image has surfaced on social media claiming to show him posing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. […] NewsMobile verified the claim and found that the image is AI-generated.

Claim: Russian President Vladimir Putin has started reading the Bhagavad Gita after Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted him a copy during his visit to India. Fact: The claim is false. While PM Modi did gift Putin a Russian-language Bhagavad Gita, the viral photo of him reading it on a plane is AI-generated.

A photo circulating online that appears to show Russian President Vladimir Putin holding the Bhagavad Gita, aboard an aircraft is not real and has been created using artificial intelligence.

The video dates back to December 2017, when Putin visited the Russia-run Hmeimim Air Base in Syria.

From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The viral video doesn’t show IAF jets escorting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aircraft through the Indian skies. The video is old. It shows the Russian fighter jets escorting President Putin’s plane during his visit to Syria in December 2017.

Claim: The video shows IAF fighter jets escorting Russian President Putin’s aircraft as it enters Indian airspace. Fact: The claim is false. The video shows Putin’s unannounced visit to Syria, where Russian Su-35 jets escorted his aircraft in 2017.

A video showing fighter jets covering the presidential aircraft of Russian President Vladimir Putin is being shared online with a false claim that it shows Indian Air Force (IAF) jets escorting him in Indian airspace during his recent visit. BOOM found that the video is from 2017 when Putin visited Syria accompanied by fighter jets of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

We can conclusively say that the viral clip claiming to show an Indian youth trapped in the Russia-Ukraine conflict is AI-generated.

An artificial intelligence (AI) generated video claiming to show an Indian youth from Haryana fighting for the Russian Army and desperately pleading for help from the Indian government, is circulating online as a real video.

Multiple social media users recently shared the video claiming it showed a youth from Haryana trapped in the Russia-Ukraine war and pleading for rescue. However, the PTI Fact Check Desk found that the video is AI-generated and was falsely shared as real, despite genuine reports of Indian citizens being lured into the Russia-Ukraine conflict.