Is it true that in Neftekamsk, at the funeral of a pedophile from the Wagner PMC, a children’s convoy was deployed?

In January 2023, a photograph circulated on social media purportedly depicting the moment of honoring a former convicted pedophile. We have verified whether this photo is genuine.

The photograph depicts a guard of young men in a cemetery of a certain northern city, judging by the background. The photo is accompanied by the caption: “In Neftekamsk, a soldier who died heroically in the Northern Military District, previously convicted of pedophilia, was buried with honors. As a sign of gratitude, an honor guard of Youth Army members was placed in front of the hero.”

A photo with such a caption was distributed by some websites (JoyReactor (1, 2), "RusMonitor", "Kasparov.ru»). But she gained particular popularity on social networks -Facebook and Telegram. It is worth highlighting the channel "Trukha Ukraine"(1.1 million views), personal channel of a famous journalist Alexandra Nevzorova (620,000), as well as resources "Peter is against mobilization" (43,000) and "Real Belarus"(15,000).

How known, as part of the private military company "Wagner" Russian prisoners are taking part in the war against Ukraine, whom the founder of the PMC Evgeniy Prigozhin promised pardon upon return from the front, if any. Regarding "Youth Army", then this military-patriotic social movement was founded in 2016, and six years later horrible on the EU sanctions list because its members “supported Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and disseminated Russian war propaganda.”

However, let's take a look at the dry facts associated with the replicated photograph.

1. PMC “Wagner” has no official resources. On unofficial website PMC in the “Vacancies” section states that having a criminal record for crimes of a sexual nature will result in the application being rejected. Similar information is provided on a specialized page in “VKontakte" About similar restrictions Yevgeny Prigozhin also reported.

2. The photo was taken from the official website of the Youth Army branch, only not in Neftekamsk (Bashkortostan), but in Turinsk (Sverdlovsk region). On the original photos You can also make out the name on one of the gravestones: Arkady Dmitrievich Pritchin. This is obviously about participant World War II and a holder of the Order of the Red Star, originally from the village of Useninovo near Turinsk. Full address The photo suggests that it was uploaded to the site in February 2018.

3. The Russian media have not recently reported anything about the burials of members of the Wagner PMC in Turinsk or Neftekamsk.

4. According to our information, a photograph with a misleading caption began to circulate on the evening of January 12 (example). Let us note that on the morning of the same day, major Russian media reported news that in Serov, another city in the Sverdlovsk region, PMC fighter Sergei Molodtsov, who was serving a sentence for the murder of his own mother, was buried with military honors. It is likely that this real story could serve as a source of inspiration for the authors of the “news” about the guard of honor at the grave of a pedophile.

Cover photo: social networks

Fake

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