A video of a Ukrainian drone attack on Russia was falsely shared as an Iranian attack on Israel

A video of a Ukrainian airstrike on the Russian capital Moscow in July 2023 has been recirculated on social media, falsely labeled as showing Israeli explosions after an Iranian missile attack on October 1, 2024. The post — viewed more than once. million times — circulated online after a series of Iranian missiles attacked Israel, most of which were intercepted, although several crashed into air force bases without causing damage or injury.

“Iranian missiles hit a tower in the heart of Tel Aviv,” reads an Indonesian caption posted on Facebook from October 2, 2024.

Overlaid text on the video reads: “October 1, 2024… Tel Aviv now,” suggesting the strike took place this month in Israel as well.

Israel’s arch-enemy Iran supports Hamas in Gaza, and this week applauded the Palestinian terrorist group’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which left 1,206 people dead, most of them civilians, according to AFP figures based on official figures. of Israel. Of the 251 people kidnapped in Gaza by the terrorists, 97 are still in custody, including 34 Israeli soldiers said to have died (archived here).

Israel’s retaliatory attacks on Palestinian territory have resulted in the deaths of 41,909 people, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. These figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has spread to many frontiers, targeting some of Iran’s allies in Lebanon, Syria and the Israeli-held West Bank.

On October 1, 2024, Iran launched a series of missiles at Israel, most of which were intercepted, although many crashed into air force bases without causing damage or injury. Israel has vowed to retaliate, raising fears of a regional war.

Some social media users appeared to believe the video showed Iran’s attack on Israel on October 1.

“Take that! Hopefully, Israel is devastated by the rocket fire,” one user said.

“Waking up to good news like this makes me excited to go to work and enjoy breakfast… thank you, IRAN,” wrote another.

Similar videos have also been shared on YouTube and X, garnering more than a million views.

However, the clip shows Ukraine’s invasion of Russia last year.

Drone attacks

A reverse Google image search found this clip previously published by English-language media outlets including NBC and CNN in July 2023.

The video shows a Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow, according to American broadcasters (archived here and here).

Below is a comparison of the fake post (left) and the video published by NBC (right):

The CNN video, titled, “Horrifying video captures drone blast in Russia”, was captioned: “A video shot by a bystander shows the moment a drone struck a building in Moscow, the latest in a series of attacks that have brought Ukraine’s war on Russia. bull.”

On July 30, 2023, Russia said it had canceled two separate airstrikes against Ukraine overnight, one targeting the capital and the other Crimea (archived here).

An earlier attack destroyed two office towers and briefly shut down the international airport, AFP reported at the time (archived here).

Several windows in the building were blown out, metal was exposed and documents were scattered on the ground, according to an AFP cameraman.

A search using Yandex Maps, a tool of the Russian search engine, provides visual evidence confirming that the video in the fake post was filmed in Moscow, specifically in the business district in the western part of the city.

Below is a comparison of a screenshot from the fake video (left) and Yandex Maps (right) showing the Moscow building and street seen in the video (archived link):

Below photo of a Moscow office building taken by an AFP photographer showing the damage after a Ukrainian drone attack.

AFP has previously debunked similar claims related to Iranian attacks on Israel here and here.