When Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted a video to prove that he was in Kyiv, he spurred a new round of claims that he had in fact, fled the capital.
Rumors have been circulating in Russia since the conflict began that the Ukrainian leader was in hiding or in retreat. His strategy has been to come out and show himself to the world on social media in his office or the streets outside.
In his latest clip, he turns his smartphone against the window to show the illuminated city outside, "I'm not hiding!" the caption to the video reads. He returns to his office to discuss current events, to preempt accusations the video was filmed in advance.
READ MORE
But his efforts didn't and perhaps couldn't prevent accusations that it was part of a misinformation campaign. Russian websites suggested that the president's hairstyle was different at the end of the video from the start, that his stubble was a different length or that a picture mysteriously disappeared from a wall. The objective was to suggest that the images had been manipulated.
However, close watching of the video reveals that these apparent changes are simply a result of a different camera angle. There is nothing to indicate that the footage is anything other than genuine
It's not only Zelenskyy's videos that come under close scrutiny. A video of Russia's Vladimir Putin meeting a group of female airline staff raised questions after a clip on social media appeared to show the president's hand passing through a microphone.
In the original footage, however, the same scene shows Putin waving his hand behind the microphone. The glitch would appear to have been caused when the video was compressed during the upload onto social media, removing some frames and resulting in the apparent trickery.