In October 2024, two videos were distributed on Telegram channels, the authors of which talked about relatives of famous Colombians killed in the war in Russia and Ukraine. We have verified the authenticity of both videos.
Shakira's relative
On October 11, a 40-second video allegedly published by the Colombian publication El Espectador went viral in Russian media and Telegram channels. It says that a relative of singer Shakira joined the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in mid-September, with which he entered the Kursk region. It is reported that five days later the man was killed near the village of Borki, and his remains were sent to Colombia. The video is accompanied by English subtitles. The video was distributed among others Lenta.ru, "Constantinople" and Telegram channels "KB"(215,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "Falcon"(180,000), "Culturally" (92,000) and "The goat screamed"(80,000).
Shakira counts the most successful Colombian singer, to her credit more than 100 million records sold worldwide and dozens of prestigious awards, including a Grammy Award. The performer's full name is Shakira Isabelle Mebarak Ripoll. How is it accepted in Colombia, she received her surname from both parents (Ripol is her mother's surname, and Mebarak is her father's). In an interview with the artist toldthat her family leads a non-public life.
Shakira's relative, who allegedly died in the Kursk region, is called Rafael Mebarak Ripoll, he was 31 years old. The viral video says that he is the cousin-in-law of the singer - as in English they can call either the cousin's husband or the spouse's cousin. The second option is not suitable - in 2022 Shakira announced about breaking up with football player Gerard Pique after 11 years of marriage, but the surname of the allegedly deceased relative coincides with the maiden name of the artist. If, after all, we mean the cousin’s husband, then it is at least strange that he bears the same last name as Shakira herself (especially considering that the artist got it from both parents, and the singer is the only child in the family). “Verified” was unable to find any mention of a person named Rafael Mebarak Ripoll that appeared on the Internet before the publication of the viral video.
At the fifth second of the video, a photograph of soldiers appears, holding a Ukrainian flag in their hands, and behind them is a banner with the inscription “Karpatska Sich”. It is at this point that Raphael Mebarak Ripoll is mentioned in the subtitles.
A reverse photo search revealed that this photo was published in the profile of the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the social network X. The caption says that the legionnaires of the 49th battalion “Carpathian Sich” received “Brother for Brother” medals. It is also clarified that many foreign volunteers serve in the “Carpathian Sich”, especially from South America.
The tweet is dated September 9, 2023. The video says that Shakira’s relative joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine only a year later. It is possible that the photograph was used for illustrative purposes, but the caption mentioning Raphael Mebarak Ripoll is still misleading to the viewer. “Verified” examined the image using the PimEyes facial recognition service, but did not find any other photos of this person.
The video says that a relative of the singer died in the village of Borki in the Kursk region. There are two settlements with this name in the region. In this case, most likely, we mean a village in the Sudzhansky district. Analysts from the Ukrainian OSINT project DeepState statedthat the Ukrainian Armed Forces occupied this settlement on August 16, 2024, and a month later the Russian Ministry of Defense reported about the transfer of Borkov under the control of the Russian Federation. Since then, there have been no reports of fighting in Borki, so it is strange that Shakira’s alleged relative died in battles near this village at the end of September, when the Ukrainian Armed Forces had already been driven out of there.
In the upper right corner of the viral video is the logo of the Colombian publication El Espectador. The video is designed in the same style as the short vertical videos on his verified channels on YouTube and in TikTok. While the viral post features El Espectador's signature design elements and closing title sequence, there are some differences. For example, in the video being distributed, the font is noticeably different, this is especially evident in the letters a, g and j.
The actual videos also have different covers. El Espectador always indicates the category to which they belong; this is not the case in the video they distribute.
But most importantly, El Espectador is a Spanish-language publication that does not publish material in English. “Verified” did not find a video about Shakira’s relative killed in the war on the verified resources of the Colombian publication in X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and on YouTube, nor on his official website. This news is not available in other authoritative sources.
The earliest publication containing a viral video that “Verified” was able to find appeared in the pro-Russian Telegram channel “Kot Kostyan - official channel"(88,000 views) October 8 at 20:14 Moscow time. This channel is regularly mentioned in “Verified” reviews as disseminating false information. For example, in October 2023, “Cat Kostyan” published a fake that, according to Bellingcat, Ukraine sold Hamas weapons received from NATO countries. A falsified video was also used as evidence then, this time with the BBC logo. The creation of misinformation videos that mimic the stories of well-known and authoritative foreign media is a common technique among Russian propagandists. “Verified” regularly analyzes similar videos that imitate content BBC, Al Jazeera, euronews, Deutsche Welle and other media.
Thus, information about the death of Shakira’s relative during the fighting in the Kursk region is based solely on a video designed in the style of the Colombian publication El Espectador. However, this media did not publish such a story, and the fake is indicated by differences in the design of the story, the use of English, a different font and photographs more than a year ago.
Pablo Escobar's relative
A 53-second video with the logo of the Colombian publication El Tiempo began spreading in Telegram channels on October 3, 2024. The English-language subtitles say that a relative of drug lord Pablo Escobar named Rodrigo Gaviria arrived in Ukraine at the end of August, and on September 20 entered the Kursk region as part of the International Legion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The man's death became known three days later. The video claims that over the past month and a half, 240 Colombians who fought on behalf of Ukraine have died in the Kursk region. Some sources called Gaviria Escobar's great-nephew, others his great-grandson. The death of a Colombian was reported “Constantinople" And "Arguments and facts", as well as Telegram channels "Kot Kostyan - official channel"(79,000 views at the time of writing this analysis), "World No. 3" (41,000) and "Reports of the Novorossiya militia Z.O.V.” (36,000).
The video says that Gaviria was Escobar's to the murdered in 1993, grandnephew, that is, a great-nephew, grandson of a brother or sister. It is known that the drug lord had two brothers: the elder, Roberto de Jesus Escobar Gaviria, and younger, Luis Fernando Escobar Gaviria. All three brothers' surnames are a combination of their parents' surnames: their mother name Hemilda Gaviria, and her father is Jesus Dari Escobar. This means that Escobar's great-nephew, allegedly killed in the Kursk region, bore only his grandmother's surname, although both Escobar brothers took their parents' full surnames. Gaviria - common Colombian surname, but “Verified” did not find information about the connection of a certain Rodrigo Gaviria with the Escobar family.
In the upper right corner of the video you can see the logo of the Colombian media El Tiempo. The design of the video also resembles the design of the content published on his YouTube channel. Although the video lasts less than a minute, it was filmed not in the more suitable vertical format, but in a horizontal one. Similar short horizontal videos of El Tiempo also issues, but they still last several minutes and are full-fledged stories with the participation of a host in the studio and/or a correspondent. A similar approach is used in videos published on YouTube in shorts format and in TikTok. In turn, the viral video contains only voice-over music and is accompanied by English subtitles, although El Tiempo publishes all its materials in Spanish.
“Verified” did not find the video published in pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, neither on the El Tiempo website, nor on its pages on social networks (YouTube, TikTok, X, Instagram, Facebook). Spanish-language and Colombian media also did not report the death of Escobar's relative.
It is noteworthy that, as in the case of the video about the death of Shakira’s relative, the earliest publication with a video about Escobar’s great-nephew, which “Verified” was able to find, appeared in the Telegram channel “Kot Kostyan - official channel" The corresponding post was published on October 3 at 12:12 Moscow time.
Thus, reports about the death of Escobar’s descendant, who fought in the Kursk region on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, are based on a falsified video and are not confirmed by other sources.
Cover photo: The People
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