beware of false images circulating on social networks

Vladimir Putin announced, this Thursday, February 24 in the morning, a “military operation” in Ukraine. Since then, Russian military forces have continued to advance on Ukrainian territory and Russian air operations are underway.

In this war of images, many videos are circulating on social networks. And many have nothing to do with the current conflict.

A hijacked Russian military parade

A video widely shared on social networks, in particular by some foreign mediais supposed to show Russian bombers flying very low over the city of Kiev.

Except that… these are actually rehearsals for a military parade in Russia that dates back to 2020.

A hijacked Russian military exercise

Another video, still widely shared on social media, purports to show the deployment of hundreds of Russian paratroopers near Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkov.

Except that… It is in fact a military exercise. This video had already been published in 2018 and even in 2016 on Twitter.

Десантирование под #Ростов #ВоздушноДесантныеВойска pic.twitter.com/rfjchqFO5g

— Василий Белов (@BeloFFRus) September 4, 2016

A Russian flag with strong symbolism dating from 2014

A photo shared on social media purports to show a man in military uniform planting a Russian flag on a building in Kharkov, Ukraine’s second-largest city. This photo is symbolic on social networks and is presented as the lightning invasion of Russia.

Except that… These images date from March 1, 2014, in full annexation of Crimea by the Russians. We see pro-Russian demonstrators attacking the governorate of Kharkov, the second largest city in Ukraine.

Diverted video game images

Several videos show images of clashes and missiles that would have been filmed today in Ukraine.

First is this video purporting to show Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles launched last night.

Except that… These are images from a war video game, warthunder and more precisely of the promotional video of a new version of the game published last December.

Another video purports to show a Russian plane trying to evade Ukrainian fire.

Except that… This video is also taken from a video game, Weapon. This is a tactical shooter released in 2013 and this is not the first time that the images of this game have been hijacked during an armed conflict. In 2020, already, images of the game had been used to illustrate the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Video of an explosion in China from 2015

A video, spectacular and very shared, is supposed to show the bombardment of a power station in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

Except that… These are amateur images showing a series of gigantic explosions, in 2015, in an industrial zone of Tianjin in China. These images had already been diverted in 2019 at the time of the fire at the Lubrizol factory in Rouen.

The two explosions at the port of Beirut, in 2020, diverted

This video is supposed to show a Russian attack on Ukraine, without specifying the exact location. The explosion seen there is devastating and impressive.

Except that… This is an amateur video showing the two powerful explosions that shook Beirut (Lebanon) in August 2020 and which caused a blast felt for tens of kilometers around, as well as the collapse of many buildings. The explosion was attributed to the presence of a stockpile of several thousand tons of ammonium nitrate in a building at the port of the Lebanese capital.