Bellingcat investigative journalists managed to geolocate video footage of Russia’s foreign minister denying he was hospitalized after arriving in Indonesia for the G20 summit, proving the opposite of Moscow’s claims.

Proof that Sergey Lavrov was hospitalized in IndonesiaPhoto: Twitter / Timmi Allen / Bellingcat

He shared the corresponding image on his page Twitter Timmy Allen, a member of the investigative team Bellingcat, showing how independent journalists were able to pinpoint Lavrov’s location using satellite images based on recordings and photos released by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

Allen also published the coordinates of the location where the recording and photos were taken, showing that Lavrov’s staff took them in the annex of the hospital in the Nusa Dua resort, which has a physiotherapy clinic and a dialysis center.

We will remind, the Associated Press agency reported on Monday that Lavrov was taken to the hospital due to health problems after arriving at the G-20 summit in Bali, citing 3 local sources familiar with the situation.

The governor of Bali confirmed the information, but said that the Russian foreign minister underwent a health “examination” and left the medical facility.

Serhii Lavrov, having been fooled by the images published by the Russian Foreign Ministry

Later, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova released a video of Lavrov, dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, standing on a terrace flipping through documents.

Sergey Lavrov also rejected the Associated Press report, claiming that Western journalists should write only the truth.

“Well, they have been writing for ten years that our president is sick. This is a kind of game that is not new in politics,” said the head of Russian diplomacy.

Lavrov is attending the G20 summit in place of President Vladimir Putin, and Russia confirmed his absence from last week’s meeting with world leaders.

“I can confirm that (Foreign Minister) Sergey Lavrov will lead the Russian delegation to the G20. President Putin’s program is still being developed, he could participate virtually,” Yulia Tomska, head of protocol at the Russian Embassy in Indonesia, said on Thursday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is not going to Bali for the G20 summit because “circumstances dictate that the president’s stay in the Russian Federation is a priority.”

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