This video shows Muslim prayers in Russia, not France
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on May 26, 2022 at 12:47
- 2 min read
- By Uzair RIZVI, AFP India
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"Believe it or not, this is Paris. Yes, the fashion city Paris in SECULAR France," reads a tweet shared on May 7, 2022.
The tweet contains a 30-second video that has been viewed more than 200,000 times.
France has one of Europe's largest Muslim populations, and concern about Islam challenging the country's strict secular laws has fuelled tensions.
The video was shared alongside a similar claim in Facebook posts here and here; and on Twitter here and here.
"Aren't there mosques in Paris? Why are they praying on the road?" one comment read.
"France will soon be an Islamic republic," said another.
However, the footage was filmed in the Russian capital Moscow.
The video's 20-second mark shows a distinctive structure with a golden, dome-shaped roof.
A reverse image search of the video's keyframe on Yandex found the clip was filmed outside the Moscow Cathedral Mosque.
The same mosque can be seen on Google Street View.
Below is a screenshot comparison of the mosque in the misleading posts (left) and the same location seen on Google Street View (right):
The earliest version of the video AFP found was in May 2022. However, AFP has not been able to establish the exact date it was filmed.
AFP has published several photos of Muslims praying at the same location in Moscow here in 2014 and here in 2017.
The mosque has a capacity of 15,000, although, given the size of the Muslim population in Moscow of around one million, worshippers often spill out onto surrounding streets.
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