Fact Check: This video doesn’t show Putin attending Wagner Group chief Prigozhin’s funeral

A video making rounds on social media purports to show Russian President Vladimir Putin at Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin’s funeral. In the video, Putin could be seen laying a bouquet of red roses on a coffin and extending his condolences to those seated nearby. Later, the Russian president could be seen standing by the open casket and looking inside. The archived version of one such post can be seen here.

Prigozhin was confirmed dead by Russian officials following genetic analysis conducted on the bodies recovered from the August 23 plane crash near the village of Kuzhenkino in the Tver Region. The Investigative Committee stated that all 10 victims' identities were confirmed, and they matched the flight’s passenger list.

India Today found that the video dates back to 2013 and shows the funeral of Putin's judo trainer, Anatoly Rakhlin.

Our Probe

At the time of writing this, no official announcement regarding the date of Prigozhin's funeral had been made. When asked by reporters if Putin would attend the Wagner Group chief's funeral, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "the president had a rather busy schedule at the moment." According to a BBC report, Putin sent his condolences to the families of the victims, and he described Prigozhin as a "talented person" who "made serious mistakes in life".

To find the source of the video in question, we then ran a keyword search on the funeral ceremonies attended by Putin and found a video similar to the now-viral clip uploaded to the YouTube channel “Epsilon News Network” on August 10, 2013. It contained the shot of Putin standing by the open casket. The video also featured several shots from other angles that looked similar to the viral clip.

The description of the video stated that this was the funeral of Putin's former judo trainer, Anatoly Rakhlin, held in St. Petersburg, Russia. Following the ceremony, Putin took a moment for himself and walked alone along Vatutina Street. The channel added that Putin's association with Rakhlin dated back to 1966 when he began practising judo under his guidance at the age of 14.

A part of the video in question was also included in a report by Sky News in 2013. This report, too, stated that the video showed Putin attending the funeral of his childhood mentor and judo trainer Rakhlin on August 9, 2013. The report also added that following the incident, sceptics quickly raised doubts about the genuineness of the stunt, pointing out that the roads seemed to have been cleared beforehand, and cameras were conveniently positioned to capture the solemn walk of the president.

Russian state-owned video news agency Ruptly also uploaded a similar video on its website in 2013 with the headline, “Russia: Putin shows his respect for his lost mentor Rakhlin.”

An avid judoka, the Russian president participated in the sport during the 2012 London Olympics and holds a black belt in judo. In February 2022, due to the "ongoing war conflict in Ukraine," the International Judo Federation suspended Putin from his role as its honourary president and ambassador. Additionally, World Taekwondo revoked the honourary black belt bestowed upon Putin in November 2013.

It is hence clear that the video in question is more than a decade old and has no connection to now-dead Wagner Group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin.