A photographic comparison between a portrait of an American admiral and a shot of some Russian soldiers who appear to be escorting prisoners of war is circulating on Facebook.
Users claim that the first of the prisoners is US Admiral Eric T. Olson, who was captured in Azovstal.
For those in a hurry:
- No, the one in the picture is not Eric T. Olson
- The photo is from April 14 and therefore does not show the evacuation of the soldiers defending the Azovstal Steelworks
Analyses
Here is an example of the post shared on social media: “American Admiral Eric Olson (distinguished Special Operations Commander), born in Tacoma, USA, captured in Azovstal, Mariupol!” writes user Oksana.
The photo from March 2022
However, the images can be found at the original source Sputnik Images, the photo section of the press agency of the same name, which belongs to the state-controlled Russian media.
Here you can read that the photo is from April 14, 2022, a date well before the evacuation of the military defending the Azov Valley, which began on May 16.
Below is a screenshot showing the date between image specifications.
Olson, 70, retired in 2011
Also note that Olson was born in 1952 making him 70 years old. Pretty advanced age for a serving soldier.
The man retired in 2011. Also, the soldiers evacuated from the Azovstal Steel Plant are currently in the hands of the Russian army while Kyiv is trying to organize a prisoner exchange.
If the news of Olson’s imprisonment were true, it likely would have received a lot of attention in Russia as he is a key figure in the US military.
However, there is currently no evidence of his arrest or release reported by the Sputnik news agency.
Conclusions
A photo comparison circulating on Facebook indicates that a Russian army prisoner of war is US Admiral Eric T. Olson.
Various elements prove that the comparison tries to prove incorrect information.
Olson is 70 years old and retired since 2011, but more importantly, the photo is from April 2022, before the military evacuation from Azovstal, as evidenced by the date given in the original source.
Open fact checking thanks Alessandro Martorana for the reporting.
This article contributes to a Internet project to fight fake news and disinformation on its social platforms.