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.
Claim
Iran launches a missile attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv.
Fact
Over a-week-old video reportedly showing Ukrainian attack on Crimea’s Sevastopol.
A video of an explosion is being widely shared on social media platforms with multiple users claiming that it shows a missile attack on Israel’s Tel Aviv by Iranian forces. Newschecker found the claim to be untrue. The video is over a-week-old, and reportedly shows Ukraine’s attack on Crimea’s Sevastopol.
The 10-second-long-footage is doing the rounds on X with users alleging that Iran has launched an attack on Israel.
Such posts can be seen here, here, here and here.
Iran has vowed retaliation after an airstrike destroyed the Iranian consulate in Syria, killing multiple officials earlier this week. Iran’s foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian,reportedly said: “We consider this aggression to have violated all diplomatic norms and international treaties. Benjamin Netanyahu has completely lost his mental balance due to the successive failures in Gaza and his failure to achieve his Zionist goals.” Notably, Israel has not acknowledged its involvement in the airstrike.
Fact Check/Verification
We did not find any credible news reports stating that Iran has launched an attack on Tel Aviv, by the time of publishing this article. Though reports stated that Israel is on high alert.
We skimmed through the comment sections of the post carrying the viral footage, and found multiple users pointing out that the clip actually shows an attack on Sevastopol, a city in Crimea.
Taking a clue, we looked up keywords “Sevastopol,” “missile attack,” “Russia” and “Ukraine” on Google which yielded a report published in RFE/RL website, dated March 24, 2024. Carrying a screengrab from the viral video, the report elaborated, “Mikhail Razvozhayev, the Moscow-installed governor of the Russian-occupied Crimean port of Sevastopol, said one person was killed and four were wounded in a “massive” Ukrainian missile attack on the city on March 24.”
We found that a longer version of the video was uploaded by The Sun on their official YouTube channel on March 25, 2024, stating “This is the moment Russian battleships are being blown to pieces in a massive missile strike by Ukraine on the annexed port city of Sevastopol.”
The video also featured in a report by The Telegraph, dated March 24, 2024, stating, “The Ukrainian military said it has hit two large Russian warships as well as other facilities used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea. “The Defence Forces have successfully hit the Yamal and Azov landing ships, a communications centre and several infrastructure facilities belonging to the Russian Black Sea Fleet,” a Ukrainian military spokesman said. “
Adding, “The extent of the damage could not be immediately verified, but a Russian official in the region reported a major Ukrainian air attack and said more than 10 missiles had been shot down over the Black Sea port of Sevastopol.”
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Notably, the Telegraph credited the video to X user @Osinttechnical, a journalist. We scanned the account, and found that the video was shared on March 24, 2024 with the caption, “Sevastopol, multiple Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missile slam into a Russian target.”
We found an X post by @EjShahid, identifying as a volunteer at geo-locating platform Geo Confirmed, sharing the coordinates of the location in Sevastopol seen in the video.
Daily Mail also shared the video on YouTube on March 25, 2024.
Conclusion
Hence, we could conclude that over a-week-old video reportedly from Crimea’s Sevastopol has been falsely shared to show Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
Result: False
Sources
Report By RFE/RL, Dated March 24, 2024
YouTube Video By The Sun, Dated March 25, 2024
YouTube Video By The Telegraph, Dated March 24, 2024
X Post By @Osinttechnical, Dated March 24, 2024
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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.
