Claim: Social media users are sharing videos online to back claims of Russian jets in Ukraine
The viral video being shared dates back to 2020.
Full Text
A video of aircraft flying in unison has gone viral online with social media users affirming that they are Russian jets that have taken over Ukrainian airspace.
These claims can be found on Twitter and YouTube (here, here, here, and here)
The claim comes as tension escalates between Russia and Ukraine with threats of military attacks.
Verification
To authenticate the claim, DUBAWA used an InVID verification tool to fragment the video into keyframes.
A Yandex reverse image search was then conducted to identify matching images.
Among the search results was a link to the YouTube video that had been uploaded on May 4, 2020.
The caption of the video was in Russian but when translated into English may read as: “Parade rehearsal for May 9th. The flight of aircraft over Tushino.”
The content of the video was the same as what was shared online with claims suggesting that Russian jets had taken over the Ukrainian airspace after threats of military invasion from President Vladimir Putin.
Russia Victory Parade
Every year, Russia holds a show of its military might in its capital Moscow to commemorate their defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II.
The date for the celebration is usually May 9 every year but in 2020, the event was held on June 24 due to COVID-19.
On June 15, 2020, a Russian-based television station, Moscow 24 uploaded a video on its YouTube channel. The video’s title, when translated to English reads as “Airports in the capital have put a stop to work due to the rehearsal for the Victory Parade.”
Conclusion
DUBAWA rates the claim as false because the video has existed, at least two years before the recent escalation of tension between Russia and Ukraine.
