By: Nikolaj Kristensen
August 30 2023
BBC News video claiming Prigozhin death was staged is a fake
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Fact-Check
The Verdict False
The BBC has not reported that Prigozhin’s death was staged or that he is still alive. The video is a fake.
Claim ID 7dcae463
Context
An alleged BBC News social media video containing claims that the Kremlin staged the death of Yevgeny Prigozhin and that the Wagner leader is still alive is circulating on social media. "BBC is going full conspiracy theory 'It was all staged - Prigozhin is alive,'" reads one post containing the video, uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) on August 29, 2023, that has amassed 335,000 views.
The video is edited in the style of videos uploaded to the BBC's social media channels, using the BBC News logo. However, the video is a fake. The BBC has not reported that Prigozhin's death was staged or that he is still alive. On the contrary, the BBC has cited Russian authorities sources that Prigozhin died in a plane crash on August 23, 2023, and have reported from the cemetery where he is believed to have been buried on August 29.
In fact
BBC Verify journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh debunked the video on X (formerly Twitter). "A fake video with the logo and branding of BBC News is being shared online, claiming that Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin's death was staged by the Kremlin. The video is completely fake. BBC News has never published such a video," wrote Sardarizadeh in a post.
A BBC spokesperson told Logically Facts: "We are aware of this fake video, and our lawyers are urgently looking into it. In a world of increasing disinformation, we urge everyone to check links and URLs to ensure they are getting news from a trusted source."
The fake video is edited similarly to authentic videos uploaded to the BBC's social media channels, but neither has ever published the video.
There are no reports on the BBC website that the death of Prigozhin was staged and that he is still alive. At the time of writing, the most recent report on the website regarding the death of Prigozhin is a clip of BBC's Russia editor Steve Rosenberg reporting from the cemetery in St. Petersburg where the Wagner chief is believed to have been buried.
On August 23, the BBC reported that Prigozhin was believed to have died in a plane crash in Russia's Tver region. On August 27, the BBC cited Russian authorities confirming that Prigozhin was among the individuals killed in the plane crash.
The verdict
A fake video using the BBC's logo and style claims that Yevgeny Prigozhin's death was staged by the Kremlin. The video has never been available on BBC media channels and has been debunked by a BBC journalist. No reporting corresponding with the video can be found on BBC's website. Therefore, we have marked the video as fake.