Old video of an Israeli airstrike on a high-rise viral as Russian offensive in Ukraine

by Nilofar Absar

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continues, a video is viral on social media, depicting missile attacks that ultimately leads to a high-rise building being razed to the ground. It is being claimed that these are Russian missiles allegedly destroying the Ukrainian Ministry Of Defence building. It is also claimed that prior to the missiles being launched, Russia notified foreign reporters to record the offensive and asked all people to evacuate the building.

The video has been shared widely on Facebook as well.

Fact-Check

We performed a keyword search and came across reports where visuals of smoke arising from the Ukrainian Defence Ministry Intelligence Headquarters can be seen. The building, however, appeared to be intact. These reports are from February 24, 2022.

Using stills from the viral video, we performed a reverse image search on Yandex and found this video to be from May 2021 when an Israeli airstrike destroyed the Al-Shorouq Tower in Gaza. The building was destroyed during a live report by BBC Arabic reporter, Adnan El-Bursh and his team.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kJFIKER1k8]

In conclusion, an old video of an Israeli missile strike destroying a high-rise in Gaza is viral on social media with the false claim that Russian missiles have destroyed the Ukrainian Defence Ministry’s building in Kyiv.

About the Author

Nilofar Absar is a lawyer by training and a storyteller by nature who takes a keen interest in the lives of people belonging to South Asian diasporic communities.