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German social media users have been widely sharing a picture that they say shows supporters of Russia flying in a hot air balloon emblazoned with the face of President Vladimir Putin in Berlin.
In the photo, we can see Putin against the colours of the Russian flag, with the balloon flying over the Brandenburg Gate and the Fernsehturm, or TV Tower.
One of the users sharing the picture appears to affiliate themselves with the far-right AfD party, adding captions that say that “political sympathisers” of Putin were responsible for the balloon, which was flying in full sight of the Reichstag.
The user also says that the police couldn’t do anything about it because of the passengers in the basket, and that passersby applauded and showed their approval of it.
Many appear to have been taken in by the claims, with hundreds of shares and thousands of likes for this one post alone.
However, the image is fake and has been digitally manipulated, and there are several clues showing us why.
Looking closely, the balloon and basket appear more akin to illustrations rather than something you’d see in a photo, and their dimensions in comparison to their surroundings also look off.
Additionally, we can compare the picture with Google Maps street view imagery of the Brandenburg Gate.
When put side by side, we can see that not only is the TV Tower unusually tall in the fake, but it’s also in the completely wrong location compared to real life.
There are no trees around, as the real photo shows, and the central, pedestrianised zone is nonexistent in the fake picture.
Finally, there have been no official sightings or media reports of the supposed flight — a balloon of such magnitude and showing support for such a controversial figure would surely have garnered far more attention.
