FACT CHECK: Photo Claims To Show Ethiopian Missile System

Elias Atienza | Senior Reporter

An image shared on Facebook claims to show an Ethiopian Missile system.

Verdict: False

The image shows a Russian missile system, not an Ethiopian missile system.

Fact Check:

Social media users are claiming to show an Ethiopian missile system. One user wrote, ā€œEthiopianā€™s Most Powerful Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in the World #Ethiopia.ā€ (RELATED: Claim That Pam Bondi Has Petitioned The Courts To Vacate Anthony Fauciā€™s Pardon Is Satire)

This claim is false. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the image was published by the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2021. The image description, ā€œā€˜A column of Yars mobile ground-based missile systems marches from Ivanovo Oblast to Moscow Region to prepare for a military parade on Red Square.'ā€

The Ethiopian armed forces do not have those types of missile systems. Wikipedia does not list any ā€œYarsā€ missile systems in Ethiopiaā€™s military arsenal. Oryx, when reporting on missile strikes during the Tigray War, lists one system, the ā€œChinese-made M20 short-range ballistic missile,ā€ but does not list any Yars systems.

The Arms Control Association does not list Ethiopia as a user of intercontinental ballistic missiles. AFP Fact Check also debunked this claim.

Elias Atienza

Senior Reporter
Follow Elias on Twitter Have a fact check suggestion? Send ideas to elias@checkyourfact.com.

Trending