This is a video that the Associated Press published on its YouTube channel on March 19, 2011, and originates from Benghazi, Libya. The video is titled “Plane shot down by Libyan rebels”
We are reviewing a post published on the social network Facebook, through which a news item was shared with the title “EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: The most modern Russian planes crashed, they fall like pears”.
The news was published on February 24, 2022, the same day that Russia invaded Ukraine. The news says that the heroic Ukrainian army is fighting for its homeland, and that the most modern Russian planes are hit and fall like pears.
Then the video material is presented as a proof.
However, this is a video that the Associated Press published on its YouTube channel on March 19, 2011, and originates from Benghazi, Libya. The title of the video is “Plane shot down by Libyan rebels”.
The description of the video says that Libyan rebels shot down a military plane that bombed Benghazi.
An abbreviated version of that video is presented in the post we are reviewing as if a Russian plane was shot down by Ukrainian forces. To prove that this is exactly the same video, only in a short version, we look at the fact that in both videos in the background shouts from people can be heard, exactly in the same parts of the video, and the plane was shot down in front of two white pillars.
In recent days, old videos and photos unrelated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have been used on several occasions by the media to illustrate Russia’s attack on Ukraine. You can see such examples, among others, here and here.
Given that the video was published in the world media 10 years ago, we assess that it is not true that the “exclusive video” illustrates the downing of the most modern Russian planes in Ukraine, but is a downed plane by Libyan rebels in Benghazi.
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