FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Missile Strike On The Crimea Bridge?
A video shared on Twitter claims to show a missile strike on the Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea and Russia and serves as an important supply line.
BREAKING ‼️👇 The moment the #CrimeanBridge EXPLODED 💥💥💥#UkraineRussiaWar #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/nfECp2MSbA
— P.Style (@PStyle0ne1) October 8, 2022
Verdict: False
The video has been circulating since May. Preliminary evidence suggests a truck bomb damaged the bridge.
Fact Check:
Russia targeted Ukraine with several missiles Oct. 10, hitting civilian areas in Kyiv, such as playgrounds and a pedestrian bridge, according to Axios. Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed the missile strikes were in response to an explosion that hit the Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea to Russia, the outlet reported.
The video, which was shared on Facebook and Twitter, allegedly shows a car driving on what appears to be the Kerch Bridge before a sound of a missile is heard and the camera falls off. “The moment the #CrimeanBridge EXPLODED,” the Twitter post reads in part.
The video predates the explosion. A reverse image search found that the video first appeared in May 2022 on VK, a Russian social media platform. The post claims the depicted events in the video are a “cheap fake.”
“As we already know, the ‘destruction of the bridge’ did not take place, but this cheap fake still somehow appeared in the Ukrainian segment of social networks and even began to disperse,” the VK post reads in part.
The post further states, “Probably, it was created in order to sow panic among Russians and darken the celebration of Victory Day (or as ‘confirmation’ of extortion). But, frankly, to believe in this fake can only those who breathlessly wait for such a development of events.” (RELATED: Video Claims Finland Is Deploying F-35s To Face Russia)
Video from the explosion, which occurred on Oct. 8, shows the incident occurred when there was no daylight, according to a YouTube video from the Wall Street Journal. In addition, it appears the explosion in the Twitter video does not occur in the same area as the actual event occurred.
Military analysts told the Financial Times that a missile strike on the bridge was unlikely, according to the Financial Times. The Russian government claimed that the Kerch Bridge explosion was the result of a truck bomb, BBC News reported.
Misinformation regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict has been widespread since its start in February 2022. Check Your Fact recently debunked a claim suggesting Secretary of State Antony Blinken had accused President Joe Biden of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipeline.