A video shared on Facebook purportedly shows the Moskva, a Russian warship, sinking in the Black Sea.

Verdict: False

The footage was filmed in 2000 and shows the sinking of the USS Buchanan during a training exercise.

Fact Check:

The Moskva, a Russian guided-missile cruiser, sunk after being hit by two Ukrainian Neptune anti-ship missiles, on April 14, according to NBC News. Russian officials claim the ship sank due to a fire that ensued following the strike, the outlet reported.

A video shared on Facebook, which has been viewed over 750 times, appears to show a ship the post identifies as the Moskva smoking and slowly sinking into the ocean. “The Russian flag ship in the Black Sea Moskva sinking,” the video’s caption claims. (RELATED: Does This Image Show The Moskva On Fire?)

However, the video predates the sinking of the Moskva. A reverse image search revealed the video was shared on YouTube in September 2021, with the title, “USS Buchanan (DDG-14) Sinking (SINKEX), RIMPAC 2000.” The video’s caption explains the USS Buchanan, a guided-missile destroyer, was sunk as part of the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2000 multinational exercise near the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The website Military Factory explains the ship was used for target practice after serving for more than 40 years.

Images of the USS Buchanan’s sinking can be found on Seaforces.org and the USS Buchanan’s official website. The accounts these websites give of the ships sinking as well as images from the event match the footage shared on Facebook.

Genuine photos of the Moskva sinking can be found on NBC News.