Military veterans from around the world have volunteered to join the Ukrainian army in the battle against Russia, including a former Canadian Armed Forces sniper nicknamed “Wali.”
Online, rumors circulated claiming Wali was “the world’s deadliest sniper” and that he was killed within minutes of arriving in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which has been under siege from Russian forces for weeks.
“Canadian Sniper Wali dubbed the World’s Deadliest Sniper is dead,” reads a March 15 Instagram post that generated more than 2,000 likes in two weeks. “Killed by Russian Special Ops Forces just 20 minutes after going into action in Mariupol, Ukraine.”
The text is accompanied by photos of Wali in uniform. Since March 13, the same meme generated more than 76,000 interactions on Facebook, according to CrowdTangle, a social media insights tool. Similar versions of the claim made the rounds on Telegram, Twitter and other websites.
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But fact-checking organizations and Wali himself have debunked the rumor. He has appeared in video interviews since the claims first surfaced, and there are no confirmed reports of him being killed as of March 25.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the posts for comment.
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