FACT CHECK: Is There ‘Absolutely Zero Footage’ Of The Russian-Ukrainian Conflict?
A post shared on Facebook claims that there is “absolutely zero” footage of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
Verdict: False
Footage of the war regularly appears on social media and other platforms. Multiple videos have been published by news outlets.
Fact Check:
Some Russian prisoners were freed on the condition to fight in a mercenary group in its campaign against Ukraine, according to The New York Times. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested the military should stop shelling regions annexed from Ukrainian territory, Reuters reported.
Social media users have been sharing a claim that “zero footage” has been shared from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The claim went viral on Twitter, with one iteration receiving over 2,000 retweets and 25,000 likes.
This claim, however, is false. Footage of the war is regularly released on social media by open-source intelligence accounts (OSINT), government agencies and media outlets. For example, Ukraine Weapons Tracker published drone footage of Ukrainian artillery strikes hitting Russian vehicles.
#Ukraine: The Ukrainian 72nd Brigade destroyed and damaged a IMR-2 combat engineering vehicle, two BMP-2 IFV and two BMP-3 IFV of the Russian army during an attempted attack in the vicinity of Vuhledar, #Donetsk Oblast. pic.twitter.com/ESFVX3fxIJ
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) January 29, 2023
Rob Lee, a senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, also regularly shares videos of the conflict, such as videos of Russian paratroopers fighting near Kreminna.
Videos of paratroopers from the VDV’s 76th Air Assault Division on the Kreminna front with T-72B3, BMD-2, and BTR-ZD. https://t.co/6UOoA3By66https://t.co/2vJTATtVMWhttps://t.co/iu9xCaIwjyhttps://t.co/y3MvohJH3I pic.twitter.com/trHWl8PCVH
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) January 26, 2023
“Videos of paratroopers from the VDV’s 76th Air Assault Division on the Kreminna front with T-72B3, BMD-2, and BTR-ZD,” Lee tweeted. (RELATED: Does This Picture Show A Pigeon Sitting With A Man In A Jerusalem Hospital?)
Footage has also been published by media outlets, such as Radio Free Liberty/Radio Europe, CNN, Fox News and Reuters. Footage is also released by government agencies like the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.
Check Your Fact debunked a video in October 2022 claiming that the Russian-Ukrainian War was staged. Check Your Fact reported then how footage from the Russian-Ukrainian war is often released by either Ukrainian government agencies, open-source intelligence accounts or supporters of the Russian government.