Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Russia made international headlines. The demonstrative display of closeness between him and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, and the signed new pact between their two nations are considered to be a sign of a strategic consolidation of relations between the two powers. This comes at a time when the West has been calling upon China to clearly distance itself from Russia, especially now that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Putin.
Given these circumstances, an image that has gone viral on social media has been the topic of much debate. It purports to show Vladimir Putin kneeling before Xi Jinping. It would a gesture of submission with much symbolism — if the image were not fake.
Claim: "Putin down on his knees, swearing obedience and loyalty to his master and commander," one Twitter user wrote after posting the image in question. Another user joked that Putin's knees must be hurting. A correspondent for the English-language Kyiv Post also shared the picture that has also been circulating on the instant messaging service Telegram and the online image sharing service imgur.