Fact Check: President Putin has not ordered destruction of all COVID-19 vaccines

Russia and Ukraine have been at war since the past one year. The world media has covered the war closely on a daily basis.

A post has gone viral with the claim that Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the destruction of all COVID-19 vaccines in Russia.

"Putin orders destruction of all COVID-19 vaccines in Russia," read the headline in the viral post.

Those sharing the post also added the link to the story which was published on March 4 on a website called Real Raw News.

OneIndia opened the website and checked the disclaimer page.

It read, 'information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. This website contains humour, parody and satire. We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice of the legal counsel.'

On March 4, TASS, a Russian news agency published a report which mentioned a press release from the Russian Ministry of Health.

It said that batches of Sputnik V vaccines had been sent to Moscow and other regions. The other regions were however not specified.

The release also noted that the vaccine protects against COVID-19. It said, " vaccination and timely revaccination are especially relevant for people over 60 and people with chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, diabetes and others."

This makes is clear that the Russian President has not ordered the destruction of vaccines.

We also checked for information on Google, but came across no such news. The website of the Kremlin too did not contain any such information. Any major decision such as this would have been available on the official website of the Kremlin.

Russia has been in the headlines for the past one year owing to the war in Ukraine. Had there been any such decision, which is so big in nature, it would have been covered widely by the international media.

In conclusion, we could say that the article is a fabricated one from a website that publishes satire, parody and humour. This article has been shared with the misleading claim that President Putin has ordered the destruction of all COVID-19 vaccines.