Watch the video: Wrong war, wrong country, wrong context – what this fake Ukraine clip is all about.
Explosions, noise and a burning city.
This video, which has been circulating on social media, is said to show the aftermath of a Russian attack on Ukraine.
The clip was distributed on Twitter with the following accompanying text:
“Look what Putin is doing to Ukraine! Babarian!”
But the post is a fake.
The video of the burning city is not from Ukraine – but from Iraq.
The clip was posted by the military channel Task & Purpose to mark the 20th anniversary of the start of the Iraq War on March 20, 2003.
The video is then shared and provided with the misleading accompanying text – this creates the impression that the footage is from Ukraine.
A comparison with other videos showing the beginning of the Iraq war makes it clear that the footage is of the bombing of Baghdad.
The case shows how easily videos can be taken out of context.
A 20-year-old clip of the bombing of the Iraqi capital supposedly becomes a current video from Ukraine.
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.