Social media users have been sharing video of wreckage left by Beirut’s port explosion in 2020, and wrongly saying it shows Ukraine in 2022.
The footage has been viewed 230,000 times in one Facebook post alone with the caption: “Omg pray for Ukraine”. It shows a landscape of levelled buildings, debris, people running and smashed windows. Sirens and alarms can also be heard (here).
More than 1 million people have fled since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 in the biggest attack on a European state since World War Two (here).
More information about the conflict can be found here.
However, the video shared on Facebook is not related to the ongoing war in Ukraine. It was captured in the immediate aftermath of the August 2020 explosion at Beirut port in Lebanon.
At timestamp 0.12, a damaged grain silo can be seen in the footage. This can also be seen on Google Maps here: bit.ly/3tmGTUA. The clip was captured overlooking Charles Helou Road in Beirut, seen on Google Maps here: bit.ly/3hC9wYj.
The 2020 blast (here), killed more than 215 people (here , here).
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The video was filmed in the immediate aftermath of the Beirut port explosion in 2020.
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