In the context of the Ukraine war, fake videos are spreading on social media again and again.
This is also the case in this case: A video is said to show how a Russian warship is hit by a missile.
The video is being circulated on social media platforms along with related claims. Users like and share the posts with the fake news.
But what is the clip really all about?
The warship in the video is not a Russian ship that was hit during the Ukraine war.
Instead, the clip shows the USS Thach – a US frigate that was sunk as a target training ship after ending its service life in 2016 as part of the multinational military exercise RIMPAC.
The supposedly current video was published on YouTube in 2016 – and thus years before the current acts of war. The video shows the event from several perspectives.
The case shows how easily old videos can be taken out of context in the context of current events. A discarded American frigate becomes a Russian warship that is hit during the Ukraine war.
How do we check videos for manipulation in the editorial office? It is important to look at the details. The individual frames of a video often reveal whether a video has been edited. We take a close look at each image and enlarge individual sections. Indications of a fake are, for example: lack of motion blur, unnatural shadows or editing errors. The general rule at stern is: Seriousness before speed. We always double-check facts and material thoroughly before publishing them. For this we work with the cross-editorial “Team Verification” together with RTL, NTV, RTL2, Radio NRW.