Russian Officials Explain 'Photoshopping' Dead Soldier Into Awards Photo

Russian officials offered an explanation on Tuesday for photoshopping a soldier who was killed in the war in Ukraine in a photo that shows him receiving an award.

In the Republic of Bashkortostan, also known as Bashkiria, a republic of Russia, the administration of the Yanaul district published a photograph on July 18 that shows a soldier of the Dostavalov battalion, Artur Sultangaliev, receiving a medal from a military commissar for participating in the war.

Russian media outlets and commenters quickly pointed out that the image was photoshopped.

According to officials, Sultangaliev was wounded and hospitalized with a serious illness in January. He died on September 24 and was buried on Monday.

A soldier of the Dostavalov battalion, Artur Sultangaliev (left), receiving a medal from a military commissar for participating in the war. Russian media outlets and commenters quickly pointed out that the image was photoshopped. Administration of the Yanaul district/VK

"We admit [using] Photoshop, yes," the acting head of the district, Salavat Gilmiev, told local publication Podem.

He explained that Sultangaliev came to an award ceremony in a T-shirt and flip-flops in July, and was given the medal at the military registration and enlistment office.

"He just came in a T-shirt and flip-flops, so they made him a military uniform...he died on Sunday, September 24. On Monday he was buried with honors as a member of the Northern Military District," Gilmiev said.

Newsweek has reached out to Russia's Foreign Ministry via email for comment.

The photoshopped image was removed from the administration's public page after being picked up by local media, according to Podem. The post, which details his award, remains online.

The medal "is awarded to military personnel and civilian personnel of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation for: 1. reasonable initiative, diligence and distinction in service; 2. impeccable and efficient civil service; 3. conscientious performance of labor duties; 4. direct execution of tasks in the zone of a special military operation; 5. successful completion of tasks contributing to the achievement of the goals of a special military operation," the administration said in the July 18 post.

The news comes amid Kyiv's counteroffensive to reclaim the territory that Russia has seized throughout the war, which began when Ukraine was invaded on February 24, 2022.

Volunteers have a military training in Rostov on December 6, 2022, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. A Russian soldier killed in Ukraine was photoshopped in a photo published by local officials. STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images

As part of its daily update on the war, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces posts figures on Russia's troop and equipment losses. Moscow lost 320 soldiers over the past 24 hours, according to the military's Wednesday casualty toll of Russian troops, bringing the total to 276,990.

Estimates of military casualties in the conflict vary widely, with figures provided by Ukraine usually higher than those given by its Western allies. Russia rarely releases figures on its own troop losses, but when it does, its estimates are far lower than those of Ukraine.

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