FACT CHECK: Image Misidentifies Moscow Terrorist Attack Suspect

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An image shared on Facebook claims to show a suspect in the Moscow terrorist attack.

Verdict: False

The image shows two different men. The Chechen Islamist leader fighting for Ukraine has not been captured in Russia nor taken part in the Moscow terrorist attack.

Fact Check: 

ISIS took credit for a terrorist attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed at least 137 people, according to The Washington Post. A U.S. official told the outlet that they did not have reason to doubt ISIS’s claim they carried out the attack, the outlet reported.

Social media users are sharing an image of a man captured and claiming it shows a Chechen who fights for Ukraine. One user wrote, “Interesting figures took part in Moscow terror attack. Rustam Azhiev (real name) Abdulkhakim Shishani. Part-time mercenary of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”

This claim is false. The man in the image is Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, who said that he was a citizen of Tajikistan, according to TASS, a Russian state media outlet. The Associated Press did not report the name Rustam Azhiev or Abdulkhakim Shishani when it listed the names of the suspects.

“The investigators charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, with committing a terrorist attack resulting in the death of others,” the outlet reported.

Logically Facts also debunked this claim. The outlet noted that even before the names of the suspects were released, there were clear differences between the two men. (RELATED: Donald Trump Claims He Defeated ISIS In 4 Weeks)

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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