On February 24, 2022, Russian troops launched military operations in Ukraine. Against this backdrop, an image showing a huge explosion is being widely shared on social media claiming that it shows Russia’s military operations underway in Ukraine.
The image is shared on Facebook with the caption, “BREAKING: As Russia’s Putin announces a ‘military operation’ in Ukraine, Ukrainian Interior Ministry confirms that its capital Kyiv is under attack from Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. War has begun.”
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above claim and found it to be MISLEADING.
A simple Reverse Image Search directed us to a news report published by Aljazeera dated May 11, 2021, that carried the same viral image. The image description read, “Israeli forces continued to bombard the Palestinian territory well into Tuesday morning, taking aim at sites in Khan Younis, al-Bureij refugee camp, and al-Zaitoun neighbourhood.”
Taking a cue from this, we searched further and found the same image uploaded on Getty Images with the caption, “TOPSHOT – A picture shows Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, on May 10, 2021. Israel launched deadly airstrikes on Gaza in response to a barrage of rockets fired by the Islamist movement Hamas amid spiralling violence sparked by unrest at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.”
The same image was also carried in a BBC news report dated May 10, 2021, with the headline, “Jerusalem violence: Deadly airstrikes hit Gaza after rocket attacks.” Thus, it is evident that the viral image is not related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict but is from 2021.
Ukraine-Russia Conflict
According to several media reports dated February 24, 2022, “Russian President Vladimir Putin authorised troops to carry out a special military operation in the Donbass region of Ukraine.”
Though Russia has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the viral image is old and not related to recent developments in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Therefore, the viral claim is misleading.
If you want to fact-check any story, WhatsApp it now on +91 11 7127 979l9
Error: Contact form not found.
Click here for Latest News updates and viral videos n our AI-powered smart news