A viral video on social media (here, here, here, and here) allegedly shows a missile returning to its source, destroying the launch pad and killing five Islamic terrorists. The same video is claimed to be from Israel and southern Lebanon. This post is shared in the context of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. Let’s verify the truth behind this video in this article.
Claim: The video shows a missile returning to its source, allegedly destroying the launch pad and killing five Islamic terrorists in the ongoing Israel-Lebanon conflict.
Fact: The incident dates back to 24 June 2022 that took place in Alchevsk, Ukraine, where Russian troops launched a missile to intercept a Ukrainian plane. However, the missile malfunctioned, turned mid-air, and exploded at the launch site, resulting in a massive explosion with bright flashes visible from the crash area. This video has no connection to Israel and Lebanon. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
A reverse image search of the keyframes from the viral video led us to the original video on ‘The Sun’ YouTube channel, published on 24 June 2022. The video’s caption reads, “Russian missile fails and ‘boomerangs’ back at Russian troops.”
Taking a cue from the caption of the video, a Google keyword search led us to multiple media reports (here, here and here). According to these reports, the footage shows a missile shooting into the sky, then turning mid-air and exploding where it was launched. This was filmed in Alchevsk, Luhansk, under pro-Russian separatists control. It was reportedly shot early on 24 June 2022 when Russian troops launched a missile to intercept a Ukrainian plane but the missile malfunctioned, leading to a massive explosion with bright flashes visible from the crash site.
Additionally, we found a tweet on X from Brady Africk, a senior media associate at American Enterprise Institute Foreign Policy, from 25 June 2022 showing alleged satellite imagery of the burned site in Alchevsk, Luhansk.
To sum up, an old video of a Russian missile failure is falsely shared as footage from the ongoing Israel-Lebanon conflict.
