Amid the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, a picture – purportedly of Ukrainian firefighters – is being shared on social media.
Facebook users are sharing the image with the caption, “Ukrainian firefighters. They are heroes, without a doubt.”
Here’s the link to the above post.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the post and found that the image is old.
A simple Reverse Image Search on the picture took us to multiple articles from 2019 where the same image was featured.
A website, nzherald.co.nz shared the image on February 4, 2019, with the headline, “Photo of exhausted Tasmanian firefighters goes viral.”
The same image was also shared by a media outlet SBS News in 2019. The article mentioned that ‘The photo, taken by firefighter John Lyons and shared by The Wolfe Brothers, shows Jason Luck, John Kroczewski, Paul Catteral covered in ash’. The article mentioned that picture was taken in Australia.
The 2019 Facebook post, where the picture was originally shared read: “Is it the Diesel, or the barb wire, or breaking your back to fight a Bush Fire” If you are unaware currently in Tasmania there is some seriously bad Bush Fires. Nearly 3 percent of the state has been destroyed. A friend sent us this photo.. LOOK at these incredible men, they look like they have been in a war zone! To all the Firefighters, Emergency Services, Police, Paramedics and Volunteers know there is a LOT of people around this country that really appreciate you and can’t thank you enough for what you do! #Respect Thank you to these men pictured, Jason Luck, John Kroczewski, Paul Catteral. Photo Captured by another brave Fire Fighter John Lyons
Hence, from the above information, it is clear that the viral image is an old one from Australia and is not related to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
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