Such a message was circulated on social networks, in particular on telegram channels broadcasting pro-Kremlin rhetoric. Reports say that US President Joe Biden suffered a bruise as a result of a fall on the airstairs during a visit to Warsaw on February 20, 2023. As proof, the authors of the messages add a photo with a “bruise” on his forehead. It is not true.

Specialists of the VoxCheck project drew attention to the case, who determined that in the photos shown it was indeed not a “bruise”, but follows from the remains of the ashes applied by the priest during Ash Wednesday. At the same time, Joe Biden did not fall down the stairs of the plane, as Detector Media analysts have already mentioned.

As the fact checkers explain, on February 22, 2023, Poland celebrated Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, so Biden joined the celebration. On this day, Joe Biden stayed at the Marriott Hotel, where the Polish priest Wiesław Davydowski held mass in the morning. The priest himself noted on his Facebook page that he had the honor to sprinkle ashes on the head of the US President. On the president's forehead, one can see a Catholic cross made of ashes, which some believers leave on their faces for the rest of the day. On this day, a summit was also held, in the photo of which you can see that the trace at the head of the cross still remains.