Fact Check: Vladimir Putin reads Bhagavad Gita gifted by Modi on aircraft? No, image is AI-generated

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday presented a Russian translation of the Bhagavad Gita to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was in India for a two-day state visit.

Sharing the moment on X, the Prime Minister wrote: “Presented a copy of the Gita in Russian to President Putin. The teachings of the Gita give inspiration to millions across the world.”

Amid this, a photograph is circulating widely on social media claiming to show Putin seated inside an aircraft while reading the Russian edition gifted to him.

An X user shared the photo with the caption, “Russian President Putin has started reading the Bhagavad Gita.”

A similar post can be seen here.

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false. Although Prime Minister Modi did gift Russian President Putin a Bhagavad Gita, the viral photo of Putin reading it mid-flight is not genuine. It is AI-generated.

What actually happened?

During Russian President Putin’s official visit to India on December 4-5, PM Modi presented him with a Russian translation of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita. The Prime Minister shared an official image of the gift exchange from his X handle.

Подарил Президенту Путину экземпляр Бхагавад-гиты на русском языке. Учения Гиты вдохновляют миллионы людей по всему миру.@KremlinRussia_E pic.twitter.com/vQWG75l5IE

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2025

Major media outlets, including NDTV, India Today and Hindustan Times, reported the event. However, none of these platforms, nor any official communication from the Indian government or the Kremlin, shared a photograph of Putin reading the book on his flight back.

There is no evidence from official Russian or Indian sources that such a photo was taken, shared or released.

This hints that the image has been artificially created.

Analysis of the viral image

A closer look at the viral photo shows several signs typically associated with AI-generated images: unnatural lighting, inconsistent shadows, distortions around Putin’s fingers and mismatched detailing on the book’s cover.

Here are the visual inconsistencies in the viral image in comparison with the authentic photograph of the book being presented as a gift.

To verify further, NewsMeter analysed the image using Hive Moderation, which returned a 100 per cent probability of the image being AI-generated. Google’s SynthID tool also flagged the image with a high-confidence AI detection score.

The viral photo claiming to show Russian President Vladimir Putin reading the Bhagavad Gita aboard an aircraft is not real. It is an AI-generated image. Hence, the claim is false.