FACT CHECK: Image Showing Shot Down Ukrainian Jet Is Old

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An image shared on Twitter claims to show a Ukrainian jet that was shot down in support of a Ukrainian attack in Kherson.

Verdict: False

The image has been shared since June 2022. Check Your Fact could not confirm whether or not the image actually shows a downed Ukrainian aircraft.

Fact Check:

Social media users have been sharing an image of a destroyed aircraft and claiming it shows a shot-down Ukrainian jet in Kherson. The tweet reads, “RuAF shot down a plane of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the direction of Kherson. Today, another attempted river landing of the AFU in the area of Kherson has failed. Ukrainian landing units were left without air support.”

This claim, however, is false. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the image has been circulating since June 2022. The image, shared by the Russian news outlet RIA, claims it shows a MiG-29 shot down over eastern Ukraine.

“The MiG-29 aircraft of the Ukrainian Air Force, shot down by Russian air defense systems in the area of ​​​​the settlement of Slavyansk, DPR. Screenshot of a video provided by the RF Ministry of Defense,” reads the image description. (RELATED: Image Of American Flags Draped Over Caskets Predates Russian-Ukrainian War)

Check Your Fact could not verify that it shows a downed Ukrainian MiG-29. Check Your Fact reviewed Oryx’s database of Ukrainian aircraft losses and did not find an entry matching the image’s claim. Check Your Fact also reviewed Wikipedia’s list of Ukrainian aircraft losses but did not find any MiG-29s being confirmed to have been shot down over the city of Sloviansk.

It is possible that one of the Ukrainian MiG-29 pilots who has been confirmed to have died in combat might have piloted the aircraft in the image.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
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