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Comment by alexkearns | Hacker News Reader

I think a bit skepticism is due here. Their "proof" that Chepiga and Boshirov are the same person rests almost solely on a supposed strong resemblance between a photo of Chepiga taken in 2003 and photos of Boshirov from 2009 and 2018. I have stared at the photos for a long time and I am not sure they are the same person. Chepiga's eyebrows and bottoms of ears look different. I am not saying that they are not the same person but neither am I convinced they are.

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I hear you. Healthy skepticism here is important. I want to also suggest that the longer you stare at faces, the worse you'll be at drawing any conclusions. It's really hard to say yes or no...it's just not solid enough evidence to be conclusive. Maybe it's plenty to take this hypothesis and drill really deep for more.

There is an independent confirmation now: Russian journos from a mostly-Kremlin-independent publication spoke to people from the village where Chepiga was born [1]. They say it's him.

https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3753339 (in Russian, use Google Translate)

i would like to note, that the conclusion was drawn not only based on visual resemblance, but on the facts of bio of Chepiga - dob, places of birth, education, passport issuance

Now when you say it. I was skeptical too. They seem to be indeed not the same person. The distance of their eyes seems different. Should not be to difficult to measure this with software, maybe my mind plays a trick on me.

Without commenting on the likenesses of the two photos, I do note that a person's ears do change shape, becoming longer throughout their lifetime.

That's certainly true. Boshirov's photos also show a mole above his right eye. This is missing in the Chepiga photo. But that does not prove they are not the same person as a mole or mark could potentially have appeared later in life. What's your opinion on the likeness, btw?

What specific skills/training do you have that make you more qualified than a trained government analyst to make such a determination?

I don't see any reference in the article to a trained government analyst having confirmed the resemblance. And where do I claim to be more qualified than anyone in this?

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