At the end of February 2024, RuNet reported that in gratitude to Russia for its help in the fight against coronavirus, one establishment in Naples sold beer at half price in honor of the speech of the Russian President on February 29. We have verified the accuracy of this story.
Vladimir Putin appealed with a message to the Federal Assembly in Moscow on February 29, 2024. Speech by the Russian President lasted a little over two hours. The day before this event, publications appeared on social networks with a short video filmed as reported, in an Italian city. “Italians still remember how Russia saved them from coronavirus. Somewhere in Naples on the day of the Russian President's message, the owners of one of the Italian bars (or cafes, as write other resources. — Approx. ed.) are offering a 50% discount on “beer from Putin,” says the Telegram channel “Tsargrad-TV"(36,000 views at the time of writing this analysis). IA "Regnum" addsthat the action lasted all of two hours, that Putin’s speech was broadcast.
Similar posts appeared in Telegram channels “Release the Kraken!"(217,000 views including repost of the channel "Sheikh Tamir"), "Heavenly"(138,000), "Kot Kostyan - official channel"(82,000), "Special Operation Z" (53,000), "Movement of the Forty Forties (ZOV)"(46,000),"Freshness"(36,000), "Notes from Zhirinovsky"(11,000), etc. Also, news about a discount on beer can be found in "Zene", "VKontakte" (examples here And here) and social networks X (here, here And here).
The seven-second video being distributed shows a certain establishment at the entrance of which there is an announcement in Italian with a portrait of the President of the Russian Federation, reading: “Remember 2020. February 29 beer from Putin, minus 50%.” At the same time, a Russian male voice sounds behind the scenes: “Funny! They remember how they were saved from the crown. Like this".
Due to the difficult situation of the spread of coronavirus in Italy in March 2020, Russia suggested to help this country fight the pandemic. So, reportedthat from the evening of March 22 to the morning of March 25, 15 planes arrived in Italy, delivering about 100 Russian military virologists and Ministry of Defense specialists in the field of epidemiology, eight medical and nursing teams, as well as equipment for diagnostics and disinfection measures. Subsequently, the Italian authorities thanked RF for help. However, the news that in February 2024 “beer from Putin” was sold in Italy is not true.
“Verified” found out that the video being distributed shows the pizzeria Dal Presidente, which really located in Italian Naples at Via dei Tribunali, 120. However, not a single website establishment, nor on its social networks (Facebook*, Instagram*) there are no publications mentioning a discount on beer in honor of Putin’s speech on February 29.
We asked our fellow fact checker Antonio Di Noto from the Italian project Open.online, call the pizzeria and ask about a promotion with a discount on beer. “No, we have never had billboards with Putin’s image,” replied the representative of the establishment. In addition, “Verified” wrote on WhatsApp via number, listed on the Facebook page of Dal Presidente Pizzeria, where, in response to a request to comment on the viral video, we were told that someone “made this crap up.”
Thus, the Italian bar did not sell beer at half price in honor of Putin's address to the Federal Assembly. Apparently, unknown persons edited the original video filmed in Naples, superimposing an advertisement with the image of the Russian president on top. Previously, “Verified” analyzed many other pro-Russian videos created in a similar way based on videos from Milan, Tokyo And New York.
*Russian authorities think Meta Platforms Inc., which owns the social networks Facebook and Instagram, is an extremist organization; its activities in Russia are prohibited.
Cover photo: social networks
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