Old and unrelated war visuals are passed off as Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 25, 2022
Amidst the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict, multiple social media posts accompanying war visuals are being widely circulated across the social media platforms with a claim that they show the ongoing  Russian – Ukrainian 2022 conflict. Through this article, let’s fact-check the veracity of these videos.
UPDATE (25 March 2022):
Post 16:
Claim: Recent Video of Russian missiles demolishing the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense building in Ukraine.
Fact: This video shows an old incident of Israel Forces demolishing the al-Jalaa tower in Gaza, Palestine.  This incident took place during the Israel-Palestine conflict in May 2021. This video has nothing to do with the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, it is found out that the video shows an old incident of Israel Forces demolishing the al-Jalaa tower in Gaza, Palestine. Israel Forces destroyed this 14-storey building housing several international media channels including the ‘Al-Jazeera’ and the ‘Associated Press’ news channels. This incident took place in May 2021 during the Israel-Palestine conflict. Several news websites have published articles reporting this information in May 2021. They can be seen here and here. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the video shared in the post is old and not related to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
UPDATE (15 March 2022):
Post 15:
Claim: Visuals showing American soldiers in Ukraine.
Fact: These are old visuals and are available on internet at least since 2016. Since 2016, these visuals are being shared as ‘US Paratroopers Static Line Jump From C-17’.  Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These visuals have nothing to do with the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict, as these visuals are available on the internet at least since 2016. The same visuals are shared on YouTube with the description ‘Paratroopers Static Line Jump From C-17’.  Although we could not independently verify the location and the context of these visuals, their presence on the internet confirms that they have nothing to do with the ongoing Russia -Ukraine conflict.
UPDATE (14 March 2022):
Post 13:
Claim: Ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict visuals.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows the old explosion visuals from Lebanon’s Beirut and Russia’s Tomsk. This proves that these visuals are not related to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search, it is found out that a few visuals in the video show the visuals of a massive explosion that took place in Lebanon’s capital Beirut on 04 August 2020. Also, a few other visuals in the video shows an old incident of fire breaking out in the Lenta hypermarket in Tomsk, Russia. So, it can be confirmed that the video shared in the post does not show the visuals of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Post 12:
Claim: Ongoing Ukraine-Russia conflict visuals.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows old visuals of different military exercises conducted by the US and Russian military forces. These visuals do not show the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, it is found out that most of the video clips shared in the post show old military exercises conducted by the US (here, here) and Russian (here, here, and here) military forces. The video clips shared in the post are old and have nothing to do with the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
UPDATE (01 March 2022):
Post 11
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are old visuals and are actually related to a fuel tanker explosion in Upper Iweka Onitsha, Nigeria, a month ago in January 2022. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These visuals actually show a fuel tanker explosion that happened in Upper Iweka Onitsha, Nigeria, a month ago in January 2022. Multiple news agencies have reported the incident back then (here & here).
Post 10:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are old visuals and are available at least since 2014. This proves that these visuals have nothing to do with the ongoing conflict. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These visuals are not related to ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict, as these visuals are available on the internet at least since 2014 (here & here). Although we could not independently verify the location and the context of these visuals, their presence on the internet since 2014 confirms that they have nothing to do with the current situation.
@newsburko Это не ваш братуха? Каратели ВСУ из батальона "Айдар": pic.twitter.com/d99dOMqJDS
Post 9:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are unrelated to the current conflict and show clashes between IS and Kurdish forces in the city of Halaska, following the attempt by ISIS fighters to break the Ghwayran prison in January 2022. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These visuals actually show clashes between IS and Kurdish forces in the city of Halaska, following the attempt by ISIS fighters to break the Ghwayran prison. The incident happened earlier this year in the month of January 2022. Multiple news agencies reported the incident, which can be viewed here and here.
Post 8:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are old visuals and are actually related to a joint operation carried by US and Afghan forces in the city of Kandahar, back in 2011. These visuals are available on the internet since 2012. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These are old visuals and have nothing to do with either Russia or Ukraine. These visuals actually show a joint operation carried out by US and Afghan forces in the city of Kandahar. These visuals are available on the internet at least since 2012, which can be viewed here, here, and here.
There are multiple news reports of the Russian military taking on Ukrainian cities. Visuals reported by the news agencies as related to the current conflict can be viewed here and here. However, the viral visuals shared through the posts have no relation to the current Russian attack on Ukraine.
UPDATE (28 FEBRUARY 2022):
Post 7:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are old visuals and are actually related to an explosion in a military depot in Ukraine, back in 2017. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These visuals actually show an explosion at a military base in Ukraine, which happened back in 2017. Multiple news agencies have reported the incident back then. 2017 The Guardian report carried the same visuals attributing them to the military depot explosion.
Post 6:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are old visuals and are available on internet at least since July 2021, much before the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING
These visuals are available on the internet much before the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine escalated. These visuals are shared attributing them to Serbia. However, we could not verify the location in these visuals. Their availability on the internet establishes the fact that they are not related to the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict.
Post 5:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are old visuals and are available on the internet at least since 2010. This proves that these visuals are not related to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These are old visuals and have nothing to do with the ongoing Russia – Ukraine crisis. A YouTube video uploaded in 2010 carried similar but mirrored visuals of the viral video. This YouTube video was uploaded with the title ‘Afghanistan Legion’. Although we could not independently verify the location shown in the video, the availability of the visuals on the internet proves that these visuals are not related to the current conflict.
Post 4:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are not real videos but are of a video game called ‘ARMA-3’. These visuals have nothing to do with the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING
These are not real visuals but are from a video game called ‘ARMA-3’. Multiple similar videos are available on YouTube. Usually, users live stream their game on YouTube, and the visuals are user-specific, i.e. the visuals are generated based on one’s game. Even earlier, many such game visuals attributing them to Afghanistan, Palestine, etc. went viral on social media. Factly debunked those back then, which be viewed here and here.
UPDATE (25 February 2022):
Post 3:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These are old visuals. They are available on internet at least since October 2021 and have nothing to do with the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These visuals are available on internet at least since October 2021 (here & here). Though we could not independently verify the context and location of these visuals, the presence of these visuals on internet establishes the fact that these visuals have nothing to do with the ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict.
Post 2:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: The video shows an incident of blast that took place in Tianjin, China back in 2015. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The video actually shows visuals of a blast that took place in an industrial area in the Chinese port city of Tianjin back in 2015. Multiple news agencies have reported the same visuals back then.
Post 1:
Claim: Ongoing Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.
Fact: These visuals actually show US troops attacking the Golden Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, back in 2004. These visuals have nothing to do with Russia – Ukraine conflict. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
These visuals show US troops taking on the Golden Mosque in Samarra, Iraq, back in 2004 (here & here). News article related to the attack can be viewed here. These visuals have nothing to do with Russia – Ukraine conflict.
To sum it up, old and unrelated war visuals are passed off as Russia – Ukraine conflict visuals.