The claim
An image shared from 13 September 2026, including by the X account of the Russian Embassy in South Africa, shows world leaders taking a selfie at the 18th BRICS Summit in New Delhi.
How this check was done
Researched on 23 September 2026, ten days after the image began circulating. We compared the people shown against the published participant record and contemporary reporting of who attended. We did not obtain the original file and did not run our own detection tools. We have not reproduced the fake image, to avoid amplifying a fabricated scene. The photograph shown is the official group photo of the heads of delegation who actually attended.
Why the answer does not depend on an AI detector
The strongest evidence is simple: one person in the picture died in May 2024, and two others were not in New Delhi. Brazil was represented by its foreign minister and the UAE by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince. That settles whether the image shows the summit, whatever tool made it.
What this check does not establish
Other fact-checkers report detection and provenance results pointing to AI generation. We have not reproduced them, so our verdict is FAKE, meaning the scene it claims to show did not happen, rather than a finding about the exact tool used. We also could not confirm whether Turkey’s President Erdoğan, who appears in the image, took part in any session of the summit.
Before sharing a summit or group photo
Look for the official photographs released by the host or the leaders’ own offices, and compare the faces against published attendance. A post from an official or verified account is not proof that an image is authentic.
The evidence record
The published participant record for the 12 September heads-of-delegation meeting.
The Kremlin release lists Brazil as represented by Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, the UAE by Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and Iran by President Masoud Pezeshkian. [kremlin]
Limits: Read through GlobalSecurity.org’s reproduction because the Kremlin website was not accessible to our tools. The list covers the 12 September meeting of heads of delegation.
Sources: kremlin
Contemporary reporting on Brazil’s representation.
ANI reported on 11 September 2026 that Mauro Vieira represented President Lula, who remained in Brazil for his election campaign. [vieira]
Limits: An advance report, consistent with the published participant record.
Sources: vieira
Ebrahim Raisi’s death in 2024.
ABC News reported on 20 May 2024 that Iranian state media announced President Ebrahim Raisi’s death after a helicopter crash on 19 May 2024. [raisi]
Limits: Widely reported at the time; we did not consult Iranian state media directly.
Sources: raisi
Who appears in the image.
The Quint identifies the eight people shown as Vladimir Putin, Lula da Silva, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Cyril Ramaphosa and Ebrahim Raisi. [quint]
Limits: We rely on this published identification; we did not obtain the original file.
Sources: quint
What the records mean for the claim.
A photograph taken at the 12–13 September 2026 summit cannot include a person who died in May 2024, or two presidents who were not there. The image therefore does not document the summit. [kremlin] [vieira] [raisi] [quint]
Limits: This settles the event claim. It does not by itself establish how the image was made.
Where the image circulated.
Lead Stories reports that the X account of the Russian Embassy in South Africa posted the image on 13 September 2026 with the text “#BRICS is a #SUPERPOWER”, and that it confirmed the account is authentic. [leadstories] The Quint reports wider sharing, including by Asianet Hindi. [quint]
Limits: We could not view the embassy post directly and make no claim about whether it is still online.
Sources: leadstories quint
Third-party AI-detection and provenance results.
Lead Stories and The Quint report Hive Moderation at 99.9% and Sightengine at 99% likely AI-generated; The Quint reports that OpenAI’s verification tool indicated generation with OpenAI tools. [leadstories] [quint]
Limits: Results reported by others, not reproduced by us. Detector scores are signals, not proof, and do not contribute to our verdict.
Sources: leadstories quint
Our conclusion
FAKE: the image does not show a moment from the 18th BRICS Summit. It includes a person who died in 2024 and two presidents who did not attend. How it was made is reported by others but not independently established here.
Confidence and limitations
High confidence that the image does not document the summit. Moderate confidence, resting on others’ tool results, that it was AI-generated.
We did not obtain the original file, view the embassy post directly or identify the image’s maker. The participant record was read through a third-party reproduction. Erdoğan’s attendance at any session remains unconfirmed. The finding applies to this image and claim, not to genuine summit photographs.
Methods, technical checks and limitations
Source and provenance
The image circulated from 13 September 2026. Lead Stories documented a post by the Russian Embassy in South Africa’s X account; The Quint documented wider sharing. We have not identified the image’s original maker.
Media analysis
No pixel-level forensic examination was performed. The finding does not depend on visual oddities.
Metadata and technical findings
No original file was obtained. Embedded metadata and provenance data were not independently examined.
Reverse-image and source matching
We did not run a reverse image search ourselves. Lead Stories reports that a Google reverse image search found no credible news organisation using the image in its summit coverage.
Detector and tool signals
No AI detector was run by us. Third-party results are recorded in the evidence record as context only; no detector score contributes to the verdict.
Independent evidence
The verdict rests on the published participant record of the heads-of-delegation meeting, contemporary reporting on Brazil’s representation, and reporting of Raisi’s death in May 2024.
Sources and further reading
- BRICS Summit
President of Russia (Kremlin press release), reproduced by GlobalSecurity.org · official record of participants, read via a third-party reproduction · Accessed 2026-09-23
Source published: 2026-09-12
- Brazilian FM Mauro Vieira arrives in New Delhi to attend 18th BRICS Summit
The Tribune (ANI) · contemporary news agency reporting · Accessed 2026-09-23
Source published: 2026-09-11
- Iran’s President Raisi dead in helicopter crash, former foreign minister blames US sanctions
ABC News · contemporary news reporting of Iranian state media announcement · Accessed 2026-09-23
Source published: 2024-05-20
- Fact-Check: AI-Generated Image Viral as Real Photo of World Leaders at 2026 BRICS Summit
The Quint (WebQoof) · independent fact-check (secondary) · Accessed 2026-09-23
Source published: 2026-09-13
- Fact Check: FAKE AI-Generated Image Shows Putin BRICS Selfie -- Posted By Russian Embassy In South Africa
Lead Stories · independent fact-check (secondary) · Accessed 2026-09-23
Source published: 2026-09-14
- File:18th BRICS Summit family picture.jpg
Wikimedia Commons (photograph by the Prime Minister’s Office, Government of India; GODL-India) · licensed image of the real event, shown for comparison · Accessed 2026-09-23
Updates and corrections
- 23 September 2026 — Added a licensed image of the real event for comparison. The verdict and evidence are unchanged.
Previous verdict: FAKE.
- 23 September 2026 — First publication following human review.
