Fact Check: Viral image of Ambedkar’s portrait in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s office is morphed

An image allegedly showing a portrait of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar hung in Russian President Vladimir Putin's office is viral on social media with a claim that Russia took this step to honour India on the occasion of the social reformer’s birth anniversary.

This image went viral on the internet after the 132nd birth anniversary of Ambedkar which was celebrated on April 14. The text along with the image reads: “Russian President Mr. Vladimir Puttin has displayed Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's photo in his office....a great honor for India.!”

FACT CHECK:

The viral image is morphed.

Upon performing a reverse image search, we found the original image on image stock website, Alamy. The picture was published on February 15, 2007 and shows the national emblem of the Russian Federation flag, the official governmental symbol of the Russian Federation, inside the Security Council office.

Its description stated that it showed Putin holding a conference on economic issues. The image was captioned as, “Russian President Vladimir Putin holding conference on economic issues in the Kremlin From left to right Sergei Ignatyev…..”

A side by side comparison shows that Dr Ambedkar’s picture has been morphed.

A similar picture of the conference room can also be seen on the official website of the Russian President’s office. Here the picture is dated November 27, 2001. The picture shows the Russian emblem instead of Ambedkar's photo. The image is headlined, “Vladimir Putin chaired a Security Council session” and “President Putin at a Security Council session.”

Evidently, the viral image is fake. A portrait of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar was not hung up in Putin's office on the occasion of his birthday. An old image has been morphed to pass false claims.

Thus, the claim is false.