Fact check: Did Putin enjoy a comedy performance by Zelensky?

New Delhi, Apr 01: Amidst the ongoing war in Ukraine a video is in circulation claiming that a few years back Russian President Vladimir Putin allegedly enjoyed the comedy by Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky.

The short video of around 15 seconds shows Zelensky performing on stage. It also shows Putin in the audience smiling. This has been shared with messages saying, as fate would have it. The artist-comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy, current president of Ukraine, performed in front of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, a few years ago, the post also said.

On a closer look, we found that this is a doctored video. Two separate videos have been stitched together to make it look as though Putin is smiling while watching Zelensky perform on stage.

The video of Zelensky performing was posted on the YouTube channel of KVN in 2012. The title reads, " KVN major league 2002." In the original video which is over an hour long, Putin cannot be seen even once.

In another video Putin can be seen sitting in the audience. The video in Russian titled KVN Premier League Team-Special Project 2006 was posted on the same channel that had Zelensky's video. In this video Putin was reacting to someone else's performance and not Zelensky's.

Hence it is clear that the videos being shared with the claim that Putin was enjoying an onstage performance by Zelensky are doctored and the claims are false.