The Ukraine conflict between Russia and the West continues to escalate.
Numerous videos purporting to show Russian troop movements are causing concern and unrest on social media. Western governments fear an attack on Ukraine. Russia denies these fears.
But are the videos actually made in the context of the current conflict and do they really come from Russia?
Verification Experts star examine clips closely.
This video shows tanks in Belarus, near the border with Ukraine.
Other shots also show tanks near the border. A check reveals that both clips were apparently made in the context of current events. Twitter users post posts that help verify the clips.
This video of military vehicles and tanks is also from Belarus and is shot near Ukraine.
Another video showing tanks on a train comes from a suburb of Slatoust. Everything indicates that the video was taken last week.
These recordings are made in the Russian capital Moscow. The clip is also from January 2021.
Russia is jointly conducting maneuvers with Belarus near Belarus’ borders with Ukraine. In the first phase, until February 9, troops will be deployed to the area. In the following ten days, the second phase, the actual maneuver is then held.
It cannot be determined from the videos whether the videos are exclusively about the preparations for this military exercise. But the clips make it clear that troops were deployed in Russia and Belarus in January 2021.
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.