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Remember this "exclusive" story in the Daily Star about "general Pavel", who was supposedly "dragged out of retirement" by Putin and sent to Ukraine? [The "obese general" story was completely fictional.]
Twitter (via Threadreader) ^ | July 8th, 2022 | Rien Emmery

Posted on 07/09/2022 9:03:08 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007

Remember this "exclusive" story in the Daily Star about "general Pavel", who was supposedly "dragged out of retirement" by Putin and sent to Ukraine?

So yeah, turns out that's total bullshit.

@Lotte_Lambrecht and I found out who's _actually_ in this photo. Follow along!

1/ ImageImage
The Daily Star quoted an anonymous "senior intelligence source" for the article.

It was picked up by virtually every other tabloid in the UK and by a lot of international newspapers. In Belgium @HLN_BE also ran the story: archive.ph/166h9

2/ ImageImage
Reverse Image Search didn't reveal much, apart from the fact that the earliest online version of the photo was a Russian fat joke on Twitter (June 5th) calling our chonky guy the "Commander-in-chief of the Canteen".

3/

In June, the photo also circulated on Reddit, in the r/AbsoluteUnits and PhotoshopBattle-subreddits.

Meme-pages were also having a lot of fun with it.

But nobody mentioned anything about the actual context of the photo.

4/

reddit.com/r/AbsoluteUnit… ImageImage
Also, a lot of people were sceptical of the Daily Star's story. 'Pavel' is only a first name, for instance, and some claimed that the camo worn by 'general Pavel' was actually Ukrainian instead of Russian.

So I became obsessed with finding out where this picture was taken.

5/
We resorted to PimEyes and its facial recognition search capabilities to identify the people on the photo.

We didn't find 'Pavel', but the people to his left turned out to be local administrators from the Yelansky district (Volgograd Oblast), some 800 km from Moscow.

6/ ImageImageImage
Could we find our 'Pavel' in the Yelansky district? Off to Google Maps!

Unfortunately, however, there's no Google Streetview available for Yelan, the largest town in the district. But there are some visitor's photos available for its 'Central Park'.

7/ Image
At about the 50th photo, we spot a pretty distinctive war monument that's also visible in the background of the picture with 'general Pavel'.

8/ Image
The pavement on our picture also matches the pavement in Yelan's central park.

Importantly, at that exact location, there also seems to be a smaller monument in the background, consisting of a red-green pole and a black memorial plaque.

9/ Image
So we have confirmed a location: a park in Yelan, Volgograd Oblast, near some memorials.

But when was this photo taken? Who are the other people in it? And why would 'general Pavel' be there?

10/
It turns out those red-green posts are Russian border pillars.

But Yelan is not near the Russian border. So that leaves the possibility of a memorial for the Border Guard.

11/ Image
And sure enough, the green hats worn by several people in the photo, including our 'general Pavel', turn out to be the (ceremonial) caps of the Russian border guard.

The Border Guard is part of the FSB, not the army.

Is 'Pavel' a border guard?

12/

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_Se… Image
Cue my colleague @Lotte_Lambrecht, who - through some deep searches on Russian search engine Yandex - finds an article on local news site Elanskie-Vesti about a ceremony in Yelan's park on 27 May 2022, with... a larger, original version of our photo!

13/

elanskie-vesti.ru/news/media/202… Image
It turns out to be a local ceremony celebrating "Border Guard Day", a holiday for (former) border guards in Russia.

On Yelansky district's official Telegram, we even find a picture of 'Pavel' at the microphone stand giving a military salute.

14/

kp.ru/family/prazdni… ImageImage
But even though, at this point in our research, we know the exact location and date of the picture, and even though we have identified several other people in it, we still don't know anything about 'general Pavel'.

But that is about to change.

15/
On the Russian social network Odnoklassniki, Lotte finds a group for border guard veterans from Yelan.

And soon after, we find our elusive 'general Pavel'.

Who turns out... not to be a general named Pavel. 😬

16/ Image
Our '67-year old general Pavel' turns out to be the 58-year old Ivan Ivanovich Turchin, veteran of both the Russian military and the Border Guard.

He retired in 2011, after 20 years of service at the border in Uzbekistan.

17/

ok.ru/profile/530054… Image
His social media are absolutely packed with photos from his past, and several pictures of him attending Yelan's Border Guard Day ceremony, at least since 2013.

His recent posts include recipes, songs and inspirational quotes. Nothing indicates that he's in Ukraine.

18/ Image
So this 'exclusive' story - first published by the Daily Star, and picked up by The Sun, The Daily Mail, the New York Post etc. - turns out to be entirely fictional.

We have reached out to the Daily Star for comment but have not received a reply, as of today.

19/ Image
Many thanks to @Lotte_Lambrecht form @Knack for the collab on this fact-check.

You can read her (detailed) write-up of our research here:
knack.be/factcheck/fact…

Follow her on Twitter for more stellar fact-checks!

20/
My own article (also in Dutch, no paywall) can be found below.

In conclusion: always be skeptical of clickbaity tabloid stories. And let Ivan enjoy his retirement.

Thanks for following along!

ends/

vrt.be/vrtnws/nl/2022…
P.S. Well, this blew up.

As I cannot keep up with all mentions coming from this thread: send me a private message if you need to ask me something. DMs are always open, especially for fact-checking requests or other tips.
Just a final note: the message here is _not_ that "(western) media can't be trusted!"

Lotte works for @Knack, I work for @Knack and public broadcaster @vrtnws. So we are both journalists for "western media".

(But yes, evidently all media that ran this story should retract it.)


TOPICS: Government; Politics; Society
KEYWORDS: 1moretime; bidenliars; butthurtneocons; chechens; chechnya; dailymail; deathtochechnya; deathtoputin; deathtorussia; frpottymouths; generalpavel; globalistpropaganda; neocons4biden; putinholsters; putinlovertrollsonfr; putinsbuttboys; putinworshippers; russia; russianaggression; ukraine; zottheneocons; zottherussiantrolls
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To: Ultra Sonic 007
Darn! I thought Russia was getting a 3 for 1 deal with Generalissimo Pavel, er Artie Lange, er the Ukrainian Guy!
21 posted on 07/09/2022 10:02:17 AM PDT by Jan_Sobieski (Sanctification)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Fictional, but correct.


22 posted on 07/09/2022 10:06:05 AM PDT by exinnj
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To: marcusmaximus

Proving my point completely that you are a dishonest actor in this debate!


23 posted on 07/09/2022 10:06:19 AM PDT by SoConPubbie (Mitt and Obama: They're the same poison, just a different potency)
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To: SoConPubbie

24 posted on 07/09/2022 10:08:03 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
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To: PGR88

They haven’t all left, but they are some of the most wretched weasels and liars I have seen in my quarter century here.


25 posted on 07/09/2022 10:10:39 AM PDT by Luke21
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

We could use this guy at our southern border. We don’t have to supply him with a horse and whip and the risk of bad political optics. Just have him stand with his hand behind his back at the banks of the Rio Grande and block. They’ll never get out of the river


26 posted on 07/09/2022 10:11:45 AM PDT by chuckee
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To: Ultra Sonic 007
For all the usual suspects who gloated over this story: be more discerning in the propaganda you consume.

Why bother?

Tomorrow they'll post the latest "117th General killed" story from the Daily Fail, the only media outlet where Ukraine is winning the war.

27 posted on 07/09/2022 10:18:41 AM PDT by Drew68 (Ron DeSantis for President 2024)
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To: Drew68

I’m afraid you’re right; check posts #20 and #24.

It’s like he doesn’t even care that the story about “General Pavel” was debunked as an utter falsehood, he just carries on anyway.


28 posted on 07/09/2022 10:21:51 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (There is nothing new under the sun.)
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To: marcusmaximus

He was very likely effective as a border guard, having blocked so much of the border himself.


29 posted on 07/09/2022 10:33:56 AM PDT by DPMD ( )
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To: DPMD

He ate all of the illegal border crossers it appears.


30 posted on 07/09/2022 10:43:39 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

There was a song British and American soldiers liked to sing about Hitler having only one ball. Humorless people might point out that it wasn’t actually true, but it didn’t matter because it was for laughs and Hitler having two balls didn’t make him a good guy, who is just a victim of vicious slander.


31 posted on 07/09/2022 11:29:38 AM PDT by Krosan
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To: Krosan

That scenario (a song mocking the leader of the nation you’ve declared war against) is hardly comparable to the one at hand (a tabloid depicting a retired border guard as an obese general summoned by Putin, which is then uncritically reposted worldwide).

But I’m sure you know that.


32 posted on 07/09/2022 11:39:28 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (There is nothing new under the sun.)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Daily Star is very yellow, but them posting a picture of some fatass to laugh at isn’t key to anything.

Russia causing death, destruction and suffering is the important thing. It’s ugly and it is sad. Laughing at some fatso is just unimportant diversion.


33 posted on 07/09/2022 11:43:30 AM PDT by Krosan
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To: Krosan

It’s not the fact they posted a picture of a fat guy that’s the issue; it’s the fact they deliberately lied and deceived people about who he is.

When media propaganda misleads the public about the military condition of an ostensible opponent, it can drive them (or their political representatives) to further engage against a nation they’ve been led to believe is weaker than in actuality, which contributes to more of the death, destruction, and suffering you spoke of.

This is also notwithstanding the fact that, morally speaking, ANY falsehood should be rejected, regardless of the subject matter.

Neither Russia nor Ukraine are sinless in this conflict of theirs, and we have no business getting involved on one side or the other in yet another regional conflict between Slavs.


34 posted on 07/09/2022 11:56:22 AM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007 (There is nothing new under the sun.)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Isn’t he encased in a tomb somewhere?


35 posted on 07/09/2022 12:20:37 PM PDT by Libloather (Why do climate change hoax deniers live in mansions on the beach?)
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To: Ultra Sonic 007; Krosan; Kevmo; PIF; marcusmaximus; alexander_busek; All

Yes, it certainly is a shame that Putin was lured into invading Ukraine because the Ukrainians tricked him into thinking they were weaker than they are. It is also a shame that Putin’s military lured him into attacking Ukraine because they told him Russian military is stronger than it is. Simple solution, pack up and go home. Accept the fact that Ukraine has gas and oil resources and the right to develop them and sell them to Europe. Theft is never justified by honest competition for markets. Warfare and mass murder of civilians far less so.


36 posted on 07/09/2022 12:22:30 PM PDT by gleeaikin (Question authority)
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To: marcusmaximus

The Russian military brass are on the front lines and therefore more likely to be killed. The US military brass are in some faraway air conditioned room evaluating the situation. General Flynn was fighting the cognitive dissonance of our brass who were unable to discern expectations vs reality. Afghanistan is the perfect example of this reality. Sadly, Ukraine will be no different. My heart goes out to all the innocent lives destroyed and caught up in the deceit. We should have played the peacemaker but the neocons are nothing but plotting warmongers. They infiltrate both parties but represent neither. McCain & Lindsey are perfect examples. Step outside the box, son.


37 posted on 07/09/2022 2:00:59 PM PDT by LilOlLady
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To: Ultra Sonic 007

Does this article infer we cannot trust news printed about the Russia/Ukraine war?

Inconceivable!


38 posted on 07/09/2022 2:02:39 PM PDT by Rebelbase (Crush, smash and obliterate the Liberal New World Order)
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To: kiryandil

I said at the time it was totally Fake.

The usual crowd said it was real. They have no credibility on this site for almost any of the junk they post here from fake news sources.


39 posted on 07/09/2022 2:16:16 PM PDT by Trumpisourlastchance
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To: Trumpisourlastchance
They have no credibility on this site for almost any of the junk they post here from fake news sources.

There's going to be a shake-out of the newstrollers eventually, at the end of the Ukraine thing.

40 posted on 07/09/2022 2:17:59 PM PDT by kiryandil (China Joe and Paycheck Hunter - the Chink in America's defenses)
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