Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
With the first round of deliberations between Russian and Ukrainian delegations since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, yielding no immediate agreement, Russian forces continued their ‘military operations’ in Ukraine for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday. Several visuals claiming to depict the Russian invasion in Ukraine found their way to the social media platforms. One such video claiming to show a “massive explosion” in Ukraine amid the #RussiaUkraineConflict is being widely shared on social media platforms. Newschecker has found the viral video to be old and unrelated to the events of this past week.
The video is doing the rounds on Twitter.
Facebook users also shared the clip claiming to show a massive explosion in Ukraine amid the ongoing clashes.
While the first talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, which took place near the Belarus-Ukraine border on Monday, weren’t conclusive, Vladimir Medinsky, who headed the Russian delegation, said the two sides “found certain points on which common positions could be foreseen”. He added that another round of talks was agreed upon. Meanwhile, Ukraine President Zelensky on Monday signed an application seeking Ukraine’s membership in the European Union.
Also Read: Images Of Ex-Miss Ukraine Falsely Shared Claiming She Has Joined Ukraine’s Army
Fact Check/Verification
We noticed The Guardian’s watermark in some of the videos and conducted a Google reverse image search by using keyframes of the clip with the keyword ‘Guardian.’ We found a video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of Guardian News on September 28, 2017 with the title ‘Massive explosion at Ukrainian military ammunitions depot.’
The description of the video read, “Massive explosions at a military ammunitions depot in Ukraine forced authorities to close airspace and evacuate the surrounding area. Emergency services said one person was injured in the powerful blast, which could be seen more than 150 miles away.”
We conducted keyword search for “Massive explosions at a military munitions depot in Ukraine” on Google and set the time frame for the search results from September 2017 to December 2017 and found a video report uploaded on WION’s YouTube channel on September 27, 2017 with the title ‘Explosion at Ukraine ammunition depot.’
11 seconds into the video, we found visuals matching our keyframes taken from the viral clip claiming to show a massive explosion in Ukraine amid Russian invasion. According to the report, an explosion took place at a military ammunition depot in Central Ukraine and the military evacuated people from nearby villages.
On September 27, 2017, The New York Times reported ‘In Ukraine, a Huge Ammunition Depot Catches Fire’ and carried the same video of the explosion. According to the report, the explosion took place at one of the Ukrainian Army’s largest ammunition depots in the town of Vinnytsya, forcing the evacuation of about 30,000 people. The report added that the incident was “probably an act of sabotage using a drone, an official said.”
According to a report by the Independent, the then Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman had attributed the explosion to “external factors”.
Other news reports on the incident can be accessed here and here.
Conclusion
The viral video allegedly showing a “massive explosion” amid the #RussiaUkraineConflict is actually from September 2017 and is unrelated to the ongoing crisis.
Result: False Context/False
Sources
YouTube Channels Of Guardian News & WION
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
