2018 Photo From Turkey Falsely Shared As Tragic Scene From Ukraine
BOOM found that the image shows an old man with his pet cat after his house caught fire in Turkey in 2018.
A moving picture of teary-eyed old man holding on to his cat is being shared on social media platforms with captions suggesting that it shows a tragic scene from the war-torn Ukraine as the European country is under constant attack from Russia.
BOOM found that the image is old and not from Ukraine.
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Ukraine is currently facing an armed invasion from its neighboring country Russia. The Russian attack has left several Ukrainians dead and homeless, and people have taken to social media to share images and videos to raise awareness against the ongoing war. The image is viral in this backdrop.
The caption with the image reads 'When humans act with cruelty we refer to them as animals, yet the only animal that displays cruelty is humanity. This is a very touching image'. The hashtags such as "#Ukraine", "#UkraineRussianWar" and "#StopRussia" used with the image suggest that it is being shared in the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Click here, here and here to view archive of such posts.
The same photo is being shared on Facebook with similar claim.
Click here, here, here and here to view the posts.
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Fact Check
BOOM did a reverse image search and found the same photo on a Turkish news outlet Daily Sabah's official Instagram profile uploaded on January 17, 2018.
The caption with the photo reads 'An old man hugs his cat as he helplessly watches his house burn right in front of his eyes in Turkey's Bolu province on Jan. 17, 2018. (AA Photo)'.
Taking cue, we did a relevant keyword search on Turkey's global news agency Anadolu Images' website and found the viral picture mentioning the same information. The photo can be seen below.
We also found a Daily Mail article published on January 20, 2018 reporting the incident. The report also carried a video of the man where he can be seen crying while holding the cat after the incident.
The video can be watched below.
According to the report, "Ali Meşe, from Ordu Province in the Black Sea region of Turkey, burned his house down after trying to light his wood stove with gasoline. As everything he loved perished in front of him, he took comfort in cuddling up to his adorable feline friend."
The report also stated that well wishers from across the world raised nearly $6000 (£4000) for the 83-year-old man and his family.
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