Is it true that Dmitry Nagiyev published a selfie in front of a car with a Z sticker?

In March 2024, a photograph of the Russian showman circulated on social networks, accompanied by his statement in support of Vladimir Putin. We have checked whether this photo is genuine.

As reported, Nagiyev, who had not previously openly expressed his position on the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, unexpectedly published a selfie in front of a car with a St. George’s ribbon in the shape of the letter Z pasted onto the glass. The image was accompanied by the inscription: “For a strong country, a strong president,” which, against the backdrop of the recent elections in Russia, was regarded by Internet users as support for Vladimir Putin.

The main field for spreading the news was Telegram, where channels such as “Pozdnyakov 3.0"(290,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), KB (222,000), "Putin on Telegram"(180,000), "Uncle Slava"(168,000), "Observer» (153,000) and Voblya (131,000).

After the start of a full-scale war between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, Dmitry Nagiyev stopped hosting popular TV shows and practically does not appear at social events. In the showman’s online activity one can see transparent hints of his negative attitude towards the Russian invasion. So, on March 12, 2022, after news about the upcoming blocking of Instagram in Russia, Nagiyev posted video with the caption: “Goodbye. We will definitely meet again. I love you, despite the tart taste of lost hopes. As my grandfather said before communion: “What have I done, old man?” As background music, the artist chose a fragment of the song “Train on Fire” by the Aquarium group, beginning with the words “According to new intelligence data, we were at war with ourselves.” In April of the same year, after news of the mass death of civilians in the Kyiv region, the TV presenter published fast with the words “Maybe that’s enough,” and in February 2023 rejected an offer to become the host of the annual award of the Muz-TV channel, saying: “The time will come, and we will definitely work and reward the truly best musicians. In the meantime, as my grandfather said: “Shish to you, not the honey fair in Luzhniki.” Previously, Nagiyev sharply criticized “any aggression” (in particular, inscriptions “We can repeat” and “To Berlin” on Russian cars) and sarcastically regarding the reset of Putin's presidential terms.

In the absence of any direct statements by Nagiyev on the topic of war, rumors on this topic appeared from time to time in the public space. In the spring of 2022, the showman was credited with anti-war text “Our victory!”, and in January 2023 the news spread that he allegedly donated 200 million rubles. for the needs of the Russian army. Both reports turned out to be false.

Nagiyev has only one verified account on social networks - his profile on Instagram (@nagiev.universal). There, “Verified” did not find any traces of a photograph in the background of the letter Z or a signature with words about a strong president.

The showman's director, Elena Shaikina, commented on the picture that was circulated. To the correspondent of the Daily Storm portal she stated: “I don’t know where the photo came from. I have never seen such a photograph of the artist. I don’t understand what public pages you are on that you find such a story. This photo just doesn’t exist, which is probably why they didn’t see it on [Nagiyev’s] social networks.” In a conversation with representatives of the online publication News.ru Shaikina spoke out more categorically: “This is some kind of fake.”

Not only is the photo not found in any reputable sources, but it also doesn't look very realistic. The green foliage does not correspond to the March weather in central Russia, not to mention the autumn-yellow crown of some trees. In addition, “Verified” could not find other photographs of Nagiyev wearing the same glasses and jacket.

According to TGStat, the first photo and statement attributed to Nagiyev was distributed by the Telegram channel “Pozdnyakov 3.0", where the corresponding post appeared on March 19 at 14:08 Moscow time. This channel repeatedly was spotted in the dissemination of false information related to Ukraine, and it is led by Vladislav Pozdnyakov, the creator of the “Male State” movement, which promotes gender discrimination, organizes persecution of people and organizations and has been declared extremist in Russia.

Cover photo: social networks

Fake

What do our verdicts mean?