Correction appended
A video shared online made it seem as if Vladimir Putin got some unwelcome love from a feathered friend Sunday during a speech unveiling a monument to Russians who served in World War I.
Putin was speaking about the sacrifice made by Russian soldiers in World War I, linking the Great War to his own current political troubles. “This tragedy reminds us what happens when aggression, selfishness and the unbridled ambitions of national leaders and political establishments push common sense aside, so that instead of preserving the world’s most prosperous continent, Europe, they lead it towards danger,” he said. “It is worth remembering this today.”
Correction: Reporting by The Independent reveals this video to have been falsely doctored to show a bird defecating on Putin.
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Write to Charlotte Alter at charlotte.alter@time.com