Concert video predates Russian mercenary uprising
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on June 28, 2023 at 19:29
- 3 min read
- By AFP USA
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"This is Russia a day after the failed mutiny," says a June 26, 2023 tweet from far-right American blogger Ian Miles Cheong.
Similar claims circulated elsewhere on Twitter and Facebook.
The feud between Wagner and the Russian army escalated for months before culminating in an aborted revolt in late June 2023. The leader of the privately run military group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, made increasingly scathing statements against the country's handling of the Ukrainian offensive.
But the footage shared online is not new and is unrelated to Wagner mercenaries' uprising against Russian military leaders, which sparked the country's largest political crisis in decades.
AFP found iterations of the video shared on various social media platforms months before the insurrection. Russian online retailer Sima-Land first posted the footage February 21, 2023 on Telegram.
"Let this beautiful moment stay here. Friends! You are the best! And thanks to you, your energy and solidarity - our concerts will be remembered forever," says the caption, translated to English from Russian.
Other footage of the concert also spread on YouTube (archived here) and in online articles.
"SHAMAN performance in the office of the Sima-Land online store, Yekaterinburg, 02/21/2023," says the caption of a YouTube short (archived here), referencing a popular Russian singer.
The information in the post coincides with the description of another clip shared February 22 on the Russian social media platform VK (archived here).
"#SHAMAN - I AM RUSSIAN, 'Sima-land', Yekaterinburg, 21.02.2023," the caption says, referring to the Russian city where the concert took place.
The company, which has offices in Yekaterinburg, has previously organized employee events and flash mobs in support of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
AFP contacted Sima-Land for further comment, but a response was not forthcoming.
AFP has debunked other misinformation about the Ukraine conflict here.
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