This video shows a Russian mayor being detained in 2020 -- he is not Joe Biden's assistant
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on December 29, 2020 at 06:00
- 2 min read
- By AFP Hong Kong
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The video was posted here on Instagram on December 19, 2020.
It was viewed more than 20 times.
The clip shows a handcuffed man being escorted down a flight of stairs by a group of people wearing uniforms.
The post’s caption, written in traditional Chinese language, translates to English as: “Biden's assistant was officially arrested! Start to draw the net. The good show is yet to come, and it's just the beginning...”
The video was also shared with a similar claim here, here and here on Facebook; and here on Twitter.
The claim is false.
A Google reverse image search using keyframes extracted from the footage found a longer version of the same video on YouTube, published on November 13, 2020 by Russian city Tomsk’s local television outlet ТВ2.
Corresponding visuals can be seen at the three-second mark of the YouTube video.
Below are two screenshot comparisons of the video in the misleading Instagram post (L) and the YouTube video (R):
The Russian-language headline of the YouTube video translates to English as: “How Tomsk Mayor Ivan Klein was detained”.
The same video about Ivan Klein’s detention was also published such as by Russian television channels RBC TV here and Mir 24 here.
A statement on the detention was published here on November 16, 2020 by the Investigative Committee of Russia.
The title translates to English as: "Why was Tomsk Mayor Ivan Klyain arrested?"
The report translates in part as: "The press service of the regional Investigative Committee arrested the regional head on suspicion of exceeding his commission".
As of December 29, 2020, there are no credible media reports that an assistant employed by Joe Biden has been arrested on suspicion of spying.
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