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Fact check: Fake Time magazine cover compares Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler

The claim: A photo shows a Time magazine cover comparing Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler

In the early morning of Feb. 24, before Russia launched a large-scale military invasion of neighboring Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin claimed one of his aims was to “denazify” the country.

A few days later, a number of well-known figures shared a photo that seemed to show a Time magazine cover comparing Putin to the former leader of the Nazi Party.

“The Return of History: How Putin Shattered Europe's Dreams,” reads a title on the purported cover, shared in a Feb. 28 Facebook post from French actor Jean-Michel Tinivelli.

Several other prominent social media accounts also shared the image.

A Feb. 28 Instagram post from Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs received over 57,000 likes in less than 24 hours. The image was shared in dozens of other Facebook, Instagram and Twitter posts, including one from Argentinian journalist Luis Novaresio.

The only problem: It's not a real Time magazine cover. The image is altered.

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In an Instagram message to USA TODAY, Novaresio said he shared the image after a colleague posted it and that he didn't know it was fake.

USA TODAY reached out to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Tinivelli for comment. The agency later edited its Instagram post to note the photo was a "fun illustration."

Recent Time cover shows Russian tank, not Putin

While the viral photo resembles a Time cover and uses the title from the magazine's most recent issue, it wasn’t created by anyone affiliated with the magazine.

Welsh graphic designer Patrick Mulder first posted the photo in a Feb. 26 tweet. The original image bears his name in the bottom-right corner, but the signature isn't visible in other posts of the image shared online.

Fact check roundup: What's true and what's false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine

In a statement tweeted Feb. 28, Mulder said he created the composite photo of Putin and Hitler the day Russia invaded Ukraine. He said he later made it into a Time cover lookalike because “the finished image was so powerful, I felt that it deserved to be framed in an equally powerful way."

The real cover photo for the most recent Time issue shows a group of soldiers riding in a Russian tank, not Putin. According to Time's website, documentary photographer Nanna Heitmann took the image in eastern Ukraine on the day of Russia's invasion.

USA TODAY has previously debunked numerous fake Time covers.

Our rating: Altered

Based on our research, we rate ALTERED a photo that claims to show a Time magazine cover comparing Putin to Hitler. A graphic designer created the photo of Putin and Hitler and edited it to appear as if it were a real Time cover. The magazine's most recent cover shows a Russian tank, not Putin.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Vladimir Putin, Adolf Hitler not featured on Time cover