Fact Check

Did a Russian Dementia Care Facility Use Biden in an Ad?

Also pictured in the alleged ad: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Published March 13, 2023

Claim:
An advertising flyer for a Russian "dementia care facility" featured a photograph of Joe Biden.
Context

This is not an ad for an actual dementia care facility. The phone number listed, if dialed from within Russia, would connect you to the emergency line of the United States Embassy in Moscow.

Several Reddit threads and social media posts describe a photo of a flyer with U.S. President Joe Biden prominently displayed, allegedly taken in Russia, as an advertisement for a "dementia care facility." 

While Snopes is unable to verify the photograph is unaltered, and therefore unable to verify the actual presence of this flyer on Russian streets, the displayed poster is assuredly not a real ad for a clinic related to dementia care. Translated using Google Lens, the ad is supposedly for the "Help Center for People with Dementia" and reads: 

Elderly people need attention

Call right now!

8(495)-728-50-00

If such a clinic exists, the phone number displayed is incorrect. In reality, the Russian number 495-728-5000 belongs to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. To make a call to that embassy from within Russia, a caller — in some cases — would be required to dial an 8 before entering the rest of the number. 

Evidence of the purported flyer being motivated by anti-U.S. and anti-Ukrainian sentiment is further supported by the specific image of Biden in the poster. The original image is of Biden embracing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the former's surprise visit to Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2023. 

Because the viral image of this poster does not show a genuine ad for a dementia clinic, the claim is "False."

Sources

"Country Code 7 - Russia." HowToPhoneTo.Com, https://howtophoneto.com/russia/. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023.

"Emergency Contacts - All Locations." U.S. Embassy & Consulates in Russia, https://ru.usembassy.gov/u-s-citizen-services/emergency-contact/. Accessed 13 Mar. 2023.

"How Do You Sneak a US President into a Warzone without Anyone Noticing?" AP NEWS, 20 Feb. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-kyiv-politics-74c9de636c489393c86ad115e5cbcb48.

Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime.