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ADVERTISEMENTSocial media users are sharing a video which they claim shows Moscow gearing up for a massive attack on Ukraine, following Kyiv’s strikes on Russian military airfields in early June.
The posts say that the US has warned European countries about a «disproportionate response» to the air base attack, and the video shows vehicles flying the Russian flag apparently transporting missiles. It also shows people inspecting vehicles.
But the video has been miscaptioned — it doesn’t show Russia preparing for another attack because the clips actually date back to 2024.
We put some stills from the video through a reverse image search, which revealed that it came from a Telegram post published by the Russian Ministry of Defence on 27 February 2024.
The post says that the video shows Yars intercontinental ballistic missile mobile launchers being moved through Moscow in preparation for Russia’s annual Victory Day parade in the Red Square on 9 May.
In fact, a reverse image search shows us that the video was also the subject of misleading claims when it was first published.
Various other fact-checking websites debunked misleading claims at the time that the video showed Russia transporting nuclear weapons to use against Ukraine.
Russia regularly publishes similar videos of its military arsenal or training exercises without them necessarily being in preparation for an imminent attack.
Russia has increased its strikes on Ukraine following the attack on its airbases, known as Operation Spiderweb, including some of the most extensive bombardments of Kyiv since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Russia has intensified its air attacks against Ukrainian cities in recent weeks, with drones and missiles often hitting residential areas and killing civilians, in addition to military targets.
Various international organisations, including the OSCE and the Council of Europe, have condemned the intensified strikes as violations of international humanitarian law.
Peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv have so far failed to make progress on ending Russia’s war.
