Video miscaptioned to claim Putin warned US against Israel involvement | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Putin warning US not to interfere in the Israel-Hamas war
An Oct. 9 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) includes a video of Russian President Vladimir Putin and claims he delivers a warning about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
“Putin: I am warning that #America should not interfere in #IsraelPalestineWar,” reads the caption on the post. “If America does that we will openly help #Palestine.”
Other versions of the claim were shared hundreds of times on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Fact check roundup: Israel-Hamas war sparks many misleading claims online. Here's what's true and false.
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Our rating: False
The video predates the ongoing Israel-Hamas war by nearly a year and does not match the caption. It shows Putin discussing the threat of nuclear war in December 2022. He did not mention Israel or the U.S. in his remarks.
Putin discussing nuclear war in clip, not Israel-Hamas war
The video matches a clip from Putin’s televised meeting with his Human Rights Council on Dec. 7, 2022.
A USA TODAY translation of the clip posted to YouTube shows Putin discussing the threat of nuclear war in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Putin said the “threat is growing” and that Russia considered nuclear weapons a potential means of defending itself if necessary.
Putin did not reference Israel or issue a warning to the U.S. in the meeting, according to various news reports and the Kremlin's full transcript.
Fact check: Viral video predates Israel war, doesn't show Hamas parachuting into Israel
Putin said on Oct. 13 that Israel has a right to defend itself from Hamas, though he expressed concern about Israel’s tactics in doing so because of their effect on Palestinian civilians. Those comments came just over a week after a Russian attack killed more than 50 civilians in northeastern Ukraine.
Putin has also blamed the war on what he described as failed U.S. policy in the Middle East, as reported by Reuters. His spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia was talking to both sides of the conflict and sought to help resolve it, even amid the country's own war with Ukraine.
USA TODAY has debunked an array of claims about the Israel-Hamas war, including that the Las Vegas Sphere displayed an image of the Israeli flag, that Israel bombed a historic church in Gaza and that a video showed rockets fired during a “new air assault” against Israel.
Reuters, the Associated Press and Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.
USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
Our fact-check sources:
USA TODAY (YouTube), Dec. 8, 2022, Putin on nuclear weapons: ‘Threat is growing’
Associated Press, Dec. 7, 2022, Putin says Ukraine fight is taking longer than expected
Reuters, Dec. 7, 2022, Putin says Russia may be fighting in Ukraine for a long time
The Kremlin, Dec. 7, 2022, Council for Civil Society and Human Rights
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim Putin warned against US involvement in Israel | Fact check
