Are these selfies proof that Putin IS operating in the Ukraine? Photographs posted by Russian soldier on Instagram 'were taken across the border'

Alexander Sotkin, a Russian soldier, has been posting selfies on social media

Several appear to show that they were uploaded from inside Ukraine

He has been swamped with abuse from Russians for embarrassing them

Alexander Sotkin may have thought he was harmlessly posting selfies to his friends back home, but last night the 24-year-old Russian soldier was at the centre of international intrigue.

For the photographs he has posted on the web appear to offer evidence that Vladimir Putin’s forces have been operating inside Ukraine.

Geotagging – the process of adding a location to a photograph taken by a mobile phone camera – creates a trail that leads Sotkin, a sergeant in the signals corps, from a military base in southern Russia across the troublesome border to villages inside rebel-held parts of Ukraine.

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Alexander Sotkin, who says on social media he is a communications expert, has been posting selfies online

This picture was uploaded by Sotkin on July 3, which appears to show him inside an armoured personnel carrier

The revelation led to acute embarrassment for Moscow last night as it continued to face international condemnation following the still unexplained shooting down on July 17 of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 that killed all 298 people on board.

The geotag trail starts on June 23, with Sotkin pulling a face and raising two fingers while still on home soil, as Russia began building up its forces.

One week later, he appeared from his Instagram postings to be at Krasna Talychka, a village in eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian separatists.

On July 5, Sotkin was seen rubbing his eye in a selfie on Instagram that came with a caption saying ‘time to sleep’. The geotag – which is made by satellite based on a global positioning system – suggested the young Russian had moved to the Ukrainian village of Krasnyi Derkul.

The photo map, from Sotkin's Instagram account, which appears to show two pictures, which were uploaded in Ukraine

According to the Sotkin's Instagram photo map, this picture was posted inside the Ukrainian border

The village, where this picture appears to have been uploaded is in rebel-held territory in the east of Ukraine



On July 21 Sotkin, whose signals skills may have made him useful in training rebels, is seen tucking into a melon, apparently back in Russia.

Five days ago, on July 27, Sotkin posted another photo and wrote: ‘Sitting around, working on a buk, listening to music, basically a good sunday.’

Western governments believe that a Russian-made Buk weapons system was supplied to rebel forces and that it mistakenly targeted the passenger plane while intending to shoot down a Ukrainian military aircraft.

Another explanation may be that he used the word ‘buk’ as shorthand to mean a notebook computer.

In this post, Sotkin says he is 'sitting around, working on a buk, listening to music. He signs off saying 'basically a good Sunday'

The 24-year-old who claims to be a Russian soldier describes himself as a communications specialist on social media

INTERNATIONAL EXPERTS FINALLY REACH MH17 CRASH SITE

International experts finally reached the MH17 crash site yesterday – as up to 80 bodies still lay uncollected.

After the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian rebels agreed to stop fighting for a ‘day of quiet’, a small team of Dutch and Australian specialists carried out a ‘reconnaissance’.

‘They can start searching as soon as possible during a later visit,’ said a Dutch spokesman.

Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop said: ‘It’s heartbreaking. We have the experts ready to work and we can’t get to the site.’

There is no evidence that Sotkin – usually seen in armoured personnel carriers – is trained in Buk missiles nor that he had any role in downing MH17.

Why Sotkin posted pictures on the web may be due to the boredom he had complained about in another post.

‘I still don’t understand what we’re doing here, so we’re continuing to go slightly crazy, listen to Swedish House Mafia and wait for new news from Ukraine!’

Even though a geotag is normally a clear indication of a person’s whereabouts, some experts were advising an element of caution last night.

Sometimes a mobile phone cannot link to the GPS and instead uses roaming to identify the location.



It is possible that Sotkin could have been in Russia but his phone, failing to link to the GPS, at that moment had roamed on to a Ukrainian network based across the border.

It could also be that the data from the satellite became corrupted and wrongly identified the location.

Initially there was some speculation that the pictures might even be Ukrainian propaganda.

Earlier this week, a senior communist in Moscow, Vadim Soloviyov, called for a crackdown on soldiers using social media sites, even though servicemen are already banned from using mobiles while serving in Russian army units.