The claim

The Russian state media agency (TASS) has reported that the body of Alexander Lapin was recently recovered from Moscow's Moskva River. The police and employees of the Ministry of Defense are currently investigating the site.

Our conclusion

The claim that Lapin's body was "recovered from the Moskva River" is baseless. There is no evidence to support the report of his death. Both TASS and any other media never reported General Lapin's death.

Background information: General Alexander Lapin and his dismissal

Alexander Lapin had been commander of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces since 2017 and was reportedly recently dismissed. The main reason was the weeks of criticism of his handling of the Ukraine war. Additionally, news of his suspension emerged after the general was criticized by the increasingly influential coalition of Ramzan Kadyrov , the leader of the Chechen Republic, and Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner Group, a Russian paramilitary mercenary force.

Both men mentioned are close allies of Russian President Putin, but have increasingly fallen out with the Russian Defense Ministry and military chiefs. There are also reports of internal disputes within Putin's inner circle.

The rumors of Lapin's dismissal emerged in late October and were initially cited by a local news outlet in the Chechen capital Grozny as well as several pro-Kremlin Telegram channels, including Gray Zone.

The Moscow Times and the RBC newspaper later confirmed this theory, on which the Kremlin has not yet commented. Other sources initially assumed that Lapin was on a three-week vacation.

General's body found in river?

The reports of his dismissal were shortly followed by other “gloomy news”: “The body of General Lapin, who commanded the occupiers in the east, was recovered from the Moscow River,” was the first claim made by the Ukrainian news channel Channel 24 remove. It continues: “According to reports, paramedics and rescue workers were on site.” Contacts with the Ukrainian “secret service apparatus” were named as the source for the thesis. Several Ukrainian and English-language media outlets picked up the unconfirmed claim and spread it, mostly attributing it to Channel 24.

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The facts

As newsweek.com reports, the main source of the claim is a Twitter account already known for publishing unverified information. On October 29, that account tweeted : “TASS [Russian state media agency]. The body of former general Alexander Lapin was found in the Moskva River. Police officers and Defense Ministry employees are investigating the site.” From there, the theory made its way to Channel 24 and subsequently spread rapidly around the world.

TASS. The body of former general Alexander Lapin was found in the Moscow River. Representatives of the Ministry of Defense and the police are on site.

@SergejTalk on Twitter, translation: deepl.com

However, the media never reported Lapin's death

, August 29, 2022 is the day Lapin is mentioned for the last time on the TASS website. This is about an official ceremony at which he presented medals to Russian soldiers who fought in Ukraine. Accordingly, there is no evidence that the Russian government news agency (TASS) published a report on the death or discovery of Alexander Lapin's body.

Likewise, no other state-affiliated or independent media have recently mentioned that Lapin's body was discovered in a river or elsewhere.

Furthermore, it is not clear whether the post on Twitter was just a joke or truly intentional misinformation. A possible joke could also refer to the trend of “mysterious deaths of Russian oligarchs and former government officials” since the start of the Ukraine war .

Regardless of this lack of clarity, the widespread claim is quite unfounded and was - not least because of this - withdrawn and deleted within a few days by both Channel 24 and the other media that referred to Channel 24's report.

Conclusion

The claim is false. The original reports were based on a misleading tweet and were later archived. It remains to be seen whether the Kremlin will officially comment on the dismissal and departure of Alexander Lapin from the Russian military leadership, thus substantiating the claims about Lapin's suspension. However, the rumors of his death are not based on facts and there is no evidence of his body being found.

Sources: Newsweek [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ], ura.ru , Channel 24 ( archived ), TASS
Another fact check: Did Boris Johnson really intervene to prevent the end of the Ukraine war?
Author: Nick L.


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )