No, this footage does not show Wagner Troops entering Moscow Oblast

By: Christian Haag
June 27 2023

Share Article:

Author: Christian Haag.

Research: Sam Doak. 

Context

Claims have been made that footage of the Wagner troops march on Moscow showed them entering the Moscow Oblast after penetrating a roadblock made up of trucks, claiming Wagner to be one to two hours away from Moscow.  

In Fact

However, the claim is false, and open source intelligence analysis shows that the footage was recorded about 600 km/373 miles, or 7 hours, south of Moscow, not two hours. 

It was widely reported that the Wagner convoy was moving up the M4 highway from Rostov-On-Dov towards Moscow. Knowing this, Logically Facts used the following landmarks in the footage: the distinctive bridge running across a river, woodland on both sides of the M4 Highway, the open landscape past the river, and the blue sign. Using these elements to find suitable terrain on Google Maps, Logically Facts was able to verify that the footage was taken south for Voronezh at coordinates 51.096735,39.770222. 

This claim went viral, spreading across many Twitter accounts. Most notable was one user who gained 14.6 million views. The user later claimed that the video was unverified but stated that it was likely true based on the reports he was getting. The user later updated their claim, saying the footage was likely from Voronezh, but was still confident that Wagner troops had entered Moscow Oblast. The footage was also discussed in a Twitter space that at the most has 16.9 million listeners. 

It is notoriously difficult to verify and confirms footage and claims from conflicts. You can read about How to spot misinformation online here. 

The Verdict

Open source intelligence analysis shows that the footage is taken south of Voronez, not Moscow. Thus, we have marked this claim as false.