Verification within Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program
Since May 3, 2022, a photo , which allegedly depicts missile strikes in Lviv, Odessa and the cities of Zacarpathia has been spread on the Internet.
Screenshot of the post
However, the photo shows explosions in Tianjin, China, in 2015.
A reverse search in Bing showed that the photo depicted explosions at a factory in Tianjin in August 2015. 173 people were killed, about 800 people were injured and 300 houses were destroyed in the result of the blast. The blast was caused by the illegal storage of approximately 11 tons of hazardous chemicals.
Pay attention! The text of the news is written in a combination of Cyrillic and Latin (compare: instead of Cyrillic “i” in the text used Latin “u” in the word “жахлuвий “. The text itself is emotional.
In addition, the posts provide a link to the telegram channel, where the video from the scene was allegedly published. However, the link does not lead to a specific post, but to a closed telegram channel. You must wait for administrator confirmation to access the channel. Such news with impressive photos or headlines is spread to increase the number of subscribers to the Telegram channel in a deceptive way.
The explosion occurred when the flammable substance nitrocellulose dried and ignited in a barrel, igniting other chemicals, including ammonium nitrate . This triggered a chain reaction that led to a fire and then to the destruction of the factory.
On May 3, 2022, russia launched a series of missile strikes, notably on Lviv, Odessa and Zacarpathia. Three power substations were damaged by rocket strikes in Lviv, as Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv Regional Military Administration, said. A russian missile targeted an infrastructure facility in Zacarpathia, and russians also launched a missile strike on the city of Artsyz in the Odessa region.
Reporting the shelling, the authors of the fake posts used photos of explosions in China in 2015.
Attention
The authors do not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have no relevant affiliations
