The Kremlin has been accused of faking Russian president Vladimir Putin's appearance at an Orthodox Easter service in a Moscow cathedral.
Pictures issued by the Kremlin bear a startling resemblance to images from last year, leading to question over whether they were real or not.
The Ukrainians have seized on video and pictures suggesting that his appearance was faked, possibly because of health problems.
He was pictured with Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, just as he was on 2 May 2021, and both men seemed to be dressed exactly the same as last year.
The midnight Easter ceremony this year at Moscow’s huge gold-encrusted Christ the Saviour Cathedral followed new health questions over Putin.
He appeared bloated and slouching at a meeting with the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, who also seemed far from hit, reading his statement to Putin across a small desk.
There are differences in lighting - prompting suggestions that the images have been manipulated.
“Putin is standing in the same suit and with the same candle as on May 2, 2021,” reported Russian outlet The Village.
“This is evidenced by a photo report from the temple on the Kremlin website.”
Opposition investigative media Agentstvo claimed footage of Putin attending the ceremony - an appearance he makes annually - seemed to have been distorted.
“In the broadcast of the Easter service from the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, Putin seemed to disappear for a moment,” said the outlet.
“This happened during the switching of shots, from a close-up with the president to a more general one….
“The place where Putin should be seems to be empty.”
It stated: “Like last year, there is only one person next to the president - Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.”
Telegram channel Mozhem Obyasnit posted: "Putin-2022 at the service in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is almost indistinguishable from Putin-2021.
“Social media users, having studied the photos, doubted that the President attended a public event.”
The channel urged followers to “spot the difference” between Putin this year and last.
Some comments believe his face has changed since last year despite similar expressions.
“Putin has the same hairstyle, almost the same facial expression, the same candle,” said Mozhem Obyasnit.
“Both are on the same background in the same aisle of the cathedral.
“True, in 2021 Putin was sometimes shown against the backdrop of parishioners and priests, but this year, for some reason, they did not do this.
“Social media users conclude that reports of Putin's participation in this public event at the height of the war are illustrated with pictures from a peaceful 2021.”
Ukrainian spokesman Anton Gerashchenko said: "Putin's directors were again caught using video editing and [manipulation].
“This time - at …the broadcast of the Easter service.”
On the video Putin was shown grimacing and biting his lip - interpreted by some as a sign of his state of mind during the war.
During the service, when Patriarch Kirill - head of the Russian Orthodox Church - declared "Christ has risen,” Putin joined the other members of the congregation with the reply "Truly he is risen."
In a separate Easter message, Putin had said: "The hearts of believers are filled with special joy, sincere love for their neighbours, the desire to do good deeds and help those in need.”
Yet his troops wrote ‘Christ is risen’ on missiles that slammed into Ukraine, where civilians were killed in Odessa, including a three month old baby, her mother and her grandmother.
