卡帕關於木里亞諾山的民兵的照片，最早發表於1936年9月23日出版的法國雜誌《視》上 ，照片的全稱是《效忠共和國民兵的死亡瞬間，木里亞諾山，1936年9月5日》（Loyalist Militiaman at the Moment of Death, Cerro Muriano, September 5, 1936）[3]。同期發表的照片中包括兩張中彈民兵的照片，在雜誌同一頁的下方登載了另一張在同一個地點拍攝的、顯示倒下進一步動作的照片，據稱為同一作者所拍攝。一天之後，同一個地區拍攝的其他照片也發表在雜誌《Regards》上。在美國，《倒下的士兵》在1937年7月12日刊載於當時已有一百萬份發行量的 《生活》雜誌。當時《生活》僅刊登了一張照片，照片配有粗體字標題“DEATH IN SPAIN : THE CIVIL WAR HAS TAKEN 500,000 LIVES IN ONE YEAR"（死亡在西班牙：內戰一年已奪去五十萬條生命）。照片底下附有小號字體的文字說明"ROBERT CAPA'S CAMERA CATCHES A SPANISH SOLDIER THE INSTANT HE IS DROPPED BY A BULLET THROUGH THE HEAD"（羅伯特·卡帕的鏡頭捕捉到一位西班牙士兵頭部中彈倒下的瞬間）。[3][注 2]。
2007年纪录片《冰山的阴影》（La sombra del iceberg（英语：La sombra del iceberg））声称该照片系摆拍，且照片上的主角並不是博雷利[8][9]。荷西·曼紐爾·蘇斯培里圭（José Manuel Susperregui）於 2009 所出版的書籍「相片的陰影」（ Sombras de la Fotografía，"Shadows of Photography"），認為相片並非在木里亚诺山拍攝。他分析了在該相片前後所拍攝的其他相片的背景，發現遠處有山。他將相片以電子郵件寄給Córdoba附近的幾個小鎮的圖書館員與歷史學家，詢問是否有人認出其中地景。結果在西班牙小鎮埃斯佩霍有人回應確認。但埃斯佩霍距離卡帕當時所在的戰線數十英里之遠，蘇斯培里圭據此認為本相片與其他同系列的相片，原先被認為是在前線所攝，都是擺拍的。[10]
蘇斯培里圭也提出了一般論點中的幾個不合之處，例如卡帕指出主角是被一波機槍子彈－－而非狙擊手的子彈－－射殺。卡帕對於視角與拍攝時的技術參數，也沒有一致的說法。[11] 西班牙的報紙（包括巴塞隆納的 El Periódico de Catalunya）[12]派出記者到埃斯佩霍，結果拍到的相片中，天際線與背景跟卡帕的作品很相近。
國際攝影中心（International Center of Phtography）的主席威利斯·E·哈次洪（Willis E. Hartshorn）則反對本照片是擺拍的說法。他認為相片中的士兵是在準備擺拍時被遠方狙擊者的子彈射殺。蘇斯培里圭並不認同，因為當時的戰線距離太遠，且在 Córdoba前線並未有使用狙擊手的紀錄。
理查德·惠藍在《這就是戰爭！工作中的羅伯特·卡帕》（This Is War! Robert Capa at Work）一書中說道：
英文原文
中文翻译
The image, known as Death of a Loyalist militiaman or simply The Falling Soldier, has become almost universally recognized as one of the greatest war photographs ever made. The photograph has also generated a great deal of controversy. In recent years, it has been alleged that Capa staged the scene, a charge that has forced me to undertake a fantastic amount of research over the course of two decades. (Nota 3) I have wrestled with the dilemma of how to deal with a photograph that one believes to be genuine but that one cannot know with absolute certainty to be a truthful documentation. It is neither a photograph of a man pretending to have been shot, nor an image made during what we would normally consider the heat of battle.
- Richard Whelan in "This Is War! Robert Capa at work".
^Jamieson, Alastair. Robert Capa 'faked' war photo new evidence produced. The Telegraph (London). September 21, 2008 [2009-07-26]. （原始内容存档于2009-06-05）. Looking at the photos it is clear that it is not the heat of battle. It is likely the soldiers were carrying out an exercise either for Capa or themselves.
^What Spain Sees in Robert Capa's Civil War Photo. Time magazine. July 25, 2009 [2009-07-26]. （原始内容存档于2020-08-06）. While the new findings clearly establish where the famous shot was taken, not everyone believes they suggest it was a fraud. "The evidence certainly changes the photograph's location from Cerro Muriano to Espejo — there's no longer any question about that," says Cynthia Young, a curator at the International Center of Photography in charge of the Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive and one of the exhibition's organizers.
^Phillip Knightley (1975). The First Casualty: From the Crimea to Vietnam; The War Correspondent as Hero, Propagandist, and Myth Maker. New York: Harcourt, Brace
^What Spain Sees in Robert Capa's Civil War Photo. Time magazine. July 25, 2009 [2009-07-26]. （原始内容存档于2021-03-17）. While the new findings clearly establish where the famous shot was taken, not everyone believes they suggest it was a fraud. "The evidence certainly changes the photograph's location from Cerro Muriano to Espejo — there's no longer any question about that," says Cynthia Young, a curator at the International Center of Photography in charge of the Robert Capa and Cornell Capa Archive and one of the exhibition's organizers, who goes on to add, "But I don't see how one goes from 'new location' to 'fake photo' — it's a lot more complicated than that. Capa never said the photo was taken at Cerra Muriano — not once, not anywhere."
^Susperregui, José Manuel. Sombras de la Fotografía: Los Enigmas Desvelados de Nicolasa Ugartemendia, Muerte de un Miliciano, la Aldea Española, el Lute. Universidad del Pais Vasco. 2008. ISBN 978-84-9860-230-2.
^Isabel Hilton. The camera never lies. But photographers can and do. The Guardian (London). September 27, 2008 [2009-07-26]. （原始内容存档于2012-11-14）. Capa was a great photographer but he was not averse to faking. In 1937 he fabricated footage for the March of Time newsreel series. He told the Life photographer, Hansel Mieth, that the Borrell picture had been taken when the militiamen were fooling around, not in the heat of battle as had been believed. She added that Capa seemed upset and said little more except that it "haunted him badly". ... As Borrell stood to pose for Capa, he was cut down by a rebel bullet.
