FAKE: The DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) militants repulsed attack by Ukrainian saboteurs near Horlivka – video

There is a piece of information being spread in the network that the Ukrainian military allegedly made a sabotage near Horlivka, not far away from the locality Zalizna Balka on February 18. The People’s Milicja (Police) of the DPR has published a video that allegedly shows the militants repelling an attack by the Ukrainian military.

However, this is a fake. Reports of a sabotage near Horlivka are a provocation spread by the DPR and Russia.

Via verifying the video metadata, we found out that it had been taken beforehand.

A process of verifying on the Metadata2go resource showed that the video had been created on February 8, 2022. And the militants published it as an evidence of the sabotage on February 18. That is to say, that the provocation has been prepared earlier.

In addition to it, the metadata show that this file was located in the folder “Projects” – first in the archive in 2021, and then – in the working folder as of 08.02.2022.

Furthermore, there are several logical errors in the message of the militants and in the publication of the video.

The video was shot in such a way that it is impossible to separate the fragments to check the area. However, at 01:21 the phrase “guys, take a break” was heard in Ukrainian, which was allegedly passed to the saboteurs by walkie-talkie. However, earlier in the message, the militants said: “Shortly before the clash, we intercepted the negotiations of the saboteurs in Polish. We have previously reported the participation of Polish mercenaries on the side of Ukrainian militants. “ That is to say, that the militants noted that they intercepted conversations in Polish and the sabotage by Ukraine was planned by Poles, but the command has been already broadcasted in Ukrainian on the militants’ video.

The militants say, that they killed two Ukrainian servicemen and wounded three others. However, there were no casualties among the Ukrainian military on 18 February.

According to the Carbon resource, the website of the People’s Milicja of the DPR published a report on the alleged extermination of the saboteurs at approximately 1:09 p.m.

The Telegram Channel of the People’s Milicja of the DPR published reports of saboteurs and published videos at 2:01 p.m. Kyiv time. However, the video was shot at dawn or dusk. That is, the militants did not report immediately how they allegedly repulsed the attack on the morning of February 18, but there was a delay between the time of publication and the “event”. In addition, the DPR reports do not specify the time of the “extermination of the saboteurs”, although at least an approximate time is usually indicated in the reports of the DPR’s fighting or shelling.