Fact Check: Video Of Soldiers Firing Weapons Is NOT Related To Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Fact Check

  • by: Lead Stories Staff
Fact Check: Video Of Soldiers Firing Weapons Is NOT Related To Russia-Ukraine Conflict Fact Check: Video Of Soldiers Firing Weapons Is NOT Related To Russia-Ukraine Conflict Online in 2010

Does a video of soldiers firing weapons show the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine? No, that's not true: The video -- a version of which has circulated online since at least 2010 -- actually appears to show French soldiers in Afghanistan and has no connection with the Ukraine invasion.

The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on February 25, 2022. It included a video more than eight minutes long of soldiers firing weapons in what looks to be a desert. The caption of the post reads:

Ukraine vs Russia army fight live war updated

This is what the post looked like on Facebook on February 28, 2022:

Facebook screenshot

(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Mon Feb 28 19:31:24 2022 UTC)

Fact Crescendo, an independent fact-checking publication, found that footage used in the video posted to Facebook dates back to at least 2010, which predates the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict by more than a decade. A video published to YouTube on December 21, 2010, includes footage that is almost identical, except that the perspective is flipped horizontally. The YouTube video is titled "AFGHANISTAN LEGION." The opening slide has text that reads:

Accrochage
durant l'Opération Île bleue
Vallée d ' Uzbeen
29 Novembre 2009

Lead Stories used Google Translate to convert the text to English:

Snap
during Operation Blue Island
Uzbeen Valley
November 29, 2009

Although Google Translate used just one of its meanings, "accrochage" can also translate to "clash," "skirmish" or "encounter," among other words.

Beginning at the 3:33 mark, the video posted to Facebook shows a soldier working out of what looks to be a combat vehicle. The soldier has a patch on their sleeve that features the flag of France, although the perspective of the video appears flipped and shows the blue of the flag to the right instead of the left. For comparison, this is the flag of Ukraine and this is the flag of Russia.

Other Lead Stories fact checks about the Russia invasion of Ukraine can be found here.

Want to inform others about the accuracy of this story?

See who is sharing it (it might even be your friends...) and leave the link in the comments.:


  Lead Stories Staff

Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, deceptive or inaccurate stories (or media) making the rounds on the internet.

Read more about or contact Lead Stories Staff

About Us

International Fact-Checking Organization Meta Third-Party Fact Checker

Lead Stories is a fact checking website that is always looking for the latest false, misleading, deceptive or inaccurate stories, videos or images going viral on the internet.
Spotted something? Let us know!.

Lead Stories is a:


@leadstories

Subscribe to our newsletter

* indicates required

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from Lead Stories LLC:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Most Read

Most Recent

Share your opinion