the photo supposed to prove the presence in kyiv of the former French soldier Adrien Bocquet is a photomontage

A poor quality photo, with a red crossed out road sign with the inscription “kyiv” in Ukrainian. In the foreground, Adrien Bocquet. This former French soldier made the rounds of radio and television in May (on BFM, LCI, Sud Radio, Valeurs Actuelles, etc.) to give his testimony on the war in Ukraine. The man said he went there and witnessed abuses committed by not Russian but Ukrainian fighters, serving in the controversial Azov regiment. He assured to have the proof of his statements in videos.

But Release and the StopFake collective pointed out the inconsistencies, in particular chronological ones, and the gray areas leading to doubt of the veracity of his story. Checknews also revealed that the former soldier had embellished his service records under the tricolor flags. Under fire from the critics of Freed, Adrien Bocquet tweeted on June 4 this photo supposed to show him at the gates of the Ukrainian capital, in order to prove that he went to kyiv. “The Revealers” of France Televisions polygraphed this photo and discovered… that it had been faked.

A photo taken 570 km west of the Ukrainian capital

Thanks to the architecture of the houses in the background of the photo, “Les Révélateurs” managed to find on Google Street View the exact place where the photo was taken. Adrien Bocquet is not posing at the gates of the Ukrainian capital, but 570 km west of kyiv. It is located precisely near the village of Horodok, on the road between Shehyni, a Ukrainian town on the border with Poland, and Lviv, the big city in western Ukraine.

This location is consistent with the investigations carried out by Checknews and StopFake, which geolocated several photos and videos of Adrien Bocquet in the vicinity of Lviv, where the former French soldier went in early April to bring medical packages, according to the two anti-disinformation sites.

A shot retouched to insert a “kyiv” sign

How then can a sign marking the exit from the Ukrainian capital be on the side of a road so far from kyiv? The answer to this question is provided by an analysis of the image file tweeted by Adrien Bocquet. The Forensic tool of the InVid software, dedicated to the detection of retouched images, reveals an anomaly: a difference in compression between the part of the photo containing the traffic sign and the rest of the image. However, on the views of Google Street View, “kyiv” traffic sign is missing. In its place is a sign indicating a pedestrian crossing. The sign “kyiv” has therefore in all likelihood been added in place of the sign indicating the pedestrian crossing.

Adrien Bocquet denies having “photoshopped” the image himself

Questioned by the team of the program “Vrai ou fake” of franceinfo, Adrien Bocquet denies having modified the image. “It’s totally wrong.he says, reached by telephone. Me, I’m answering you officially, I haven’t ‘photoshopped’ any photos”. Could the image he uploaded then have been modified by a third party? “It may be possible”replies the interested party.

A former soldier, Adrien Bocquet, appeared on several TV channels to testify to Ukrainian war crimes he witnessed. @CheckNewsfr and @RevelateursFTV showed that his testimony was partly bogus. I called him so he could explain himself. pic.twitter.com/zvF2ldIVK9

— Julien Pain (@JulienPain) June 15, 2022

Adrien Bocquet continues to present himself as a witness to Ukrainian war crimes. He recently appeared in “Vremia”, the most watched news program on the first Russian channel, as reported by France Inter in early June. He commented on videos of acts of torture of Russian soldiers committed by Ukrainian soldiers. Images filmed before his arrival in Ukraine. The world confirmed their authenticity, which proves that abuses were indeed committed by members of the Ukrainian army.

However, the multiple contradictions of Adrien Bocquet about his trip to Ukraine mean that the former French soldier cannot be considered a credible witness. To date, the man has not provided any tangible proof of his presence in kyiv or Boutcha, a martyred city northwest of the Ukrainian capital.