A video circulating on Facebook purportedly shows dozens of NATO missiles being blown up by Russia’s newest drone.

Verdict: False

The video is a gameplay video from the game ARMA 3 and not real footage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Fact Check:

The Facebook video claims to show footage of the Russia-Ukraine war with the caption “Juѕt аrr𝗂vеԁ! ԁоzеnѕ оf NАТО m𝗂ѕѕ𝗂ⅼеѕ 𝗂n 𝖴krа𝗂nе bⅼоⱳn uр by Ruѕѕ𝗂а’ѕ nеⱳеѕt ԁrоnе.Nice”.

This claim, however, is false. The video originates from an account named Cornelius Cane and is tagged as a “Gaming video creator.” The footage is taken from a videogame, ARMA 3, a military simulation game created by Bohemia Interactive.

Footage using ARMA 3 gameplay being falsely attributed to the Ukraine-Russian war has been a recurring problem in media due to the military game graphics being so realistic. This has led Bohemia Interactive’s PR manager, Pavel Křižka, to release a statement concerning the issue.

“While it’s flattering that ARMA 3 simulates modern war conflicts in such a realistic way, we are certainly not pleased that it can be mistaken for real-life combat footage and used as war propaganda,” the statement read in part. “It has happened in the past (ARMA 3 videos allegedly depicted conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine, and even between India and Pakistan), but nowadays this content has gained traction in regard to the current conflict in Ukraine. We’ve been trying to fight against such content by flagging these videos to platform providers (FB, YT, TW, IG, etc.), but it’s very ineffective.”

More recently, Check Your Fact debunked another ARMA 3 video being misused with the caption “NATO sent their jet fighters & Helicopters to help Ukraine.”