By: Rahul Adhikari
April 10 2024
No, this video does not show Iran attacking Israel with 'heavy missiles'
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Social media posts claim to show Iran attacking Israel with ‘heavy missiles’. (Source: X/Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)
Fact-Check
The Verdict False
The viral video actually shows a Ukrainian airstrike on occupied Sevastopol. There have been no reports of Iran attacking Israel.
Claim ID e8d9f7c8
What is the claim?
A viral clip showing a huge explosion at night has been circulating on social media, with the claim that it is footage of Iran attacking Israel with heavy missiles. Several users shared the video on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook in the first week of April, with one such post gaining over 184,000 views and 3,000 likes. Archived versions of such viral posts can be seen here and here.
A screenshot of a similar X post from an account named 'Huma Zehra', was shared on Facebook (archived here) by a user in the United Kingdom. While the X post seen in the Facebook post has been deleted, we compared the screenshot and the viral video to confirm that they show the same visuals. The original post was captioned, "Iran started attack Tel Aviv with heavy missiles Tel Aviv is now under intense bombardment, and fires are burning." (sic)
Screenshots of the viral posts. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)
However, the claim is false. The video shows a Ukrainian aerial strike causing a huge explosion in Sevastopol. Further, at the time of publishing this story, while Iran has threatened to attack Israel, no credible reports exist about an actual attack.
How did we find the truth?
We conducted a reverse image search on the keyframes of the viral video and found that the video reportedly shows a missile attack carried out by Ukraine.
The Telegraph published a longer version of the video on YouTube on March 24, 2024, with the title "Huge explosions rock Sevastopol after Ukrainian missile attack." The description of the video said that the Ukrainian military stated that the missiles had hit two large Russian warships as well as other facilities used by the Russian navy in the Black Sea.
The video was credited to one X account called "OSINTtechnical."
We checked this account, run by a journalist at Hunterbrook and found that it had posted a slightly longer version of the footage on March 24, 2024. The caption of the post stated, "Sevastopol, multiple Ukrainian Storm Shadow cruise missiles slam into a Russian target."
A report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty dated March 24, 2024, also featured a screenshot from the viral video. The report stated that one person was killed and four were injured in a massive Ukrainian missile attack on Sevastopol on March 24. Russian officials said that 10 missiles were shot down during the attack, which they called the most massive in recent times.
Ukrainska Pravda, a Ukrainian media outlet, reported that on the evening of March 23, ten explosions were heard in occupied Sevastopol. The report includes the viral video, shared in a Telegram channel named Crimean Wind. Suspilne, a Ukrainian public broadcaster, reported that one local resident confirmed that 10 explosions were heard in occupied Sevastopol.
Why did the claim arise?
According to a BBC report, 13 top officers were killed in an attack on the Iranian consulate building in Syria's capital, Damascus. While Iran's Revolutionary Guards has accused Israel of the air strikes, the nation has not yet taken responsibility for the attack.
After the attack, Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said that it would "not remain without answer", a promise for revenge later reiterated by Iran’s Joint Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri and the nation’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The United States is on high alert and actively preparing for a "significant" attack by Iran in retaliation, reported CNN. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that they are prepared to handle that may arise with Iran. However, at the time of publishing this story, there have been no reports of any Iranian attacks on Israel.
The verdict
A video of a missile attack reportedly carried out by Ukraine on occupied Sevastopol is being shared to claim that it shows an attack by Iran on Israel. This video has no relation to the Israeli-Gaza conflict, and there have been no reports of an Iranian attack on Israel. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.