By A Correspondent| A picture circulated online alleging that Zimbabwe has just purchased Russian military jets “using minerals” as payment.

The image was also circulated with a caption suggesting this has just happened in recent months.

Fact checking performed however revealed the said jet is an old 1980s one and the specific picture currently circulating, has an earlier citing online dating to 2013. It appears on the following website back in February 2013, a factor that further invalidates the claim that this is a recent incident.

Consequently, the claim that the government has just transacted with the Russian regime, had no evidence apart from the ‘smuggled’ picture.