No, video does not show Kyiv being bombed by Russia

By: Christian Haag
March 25 2024

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Screenshot of video falsely claiming to show bombing of Kyiv. (Source: TikTok/Screenshot/Edited by Logically Facts)

Context

Following the attack on Crocus City Hall in Moscow, videos claiming to show bombing in Ukraine are circulating online. A video on TikTok claims that "Ukraine is getting bombed to hell right now. Russia has now sent at least 14 Russian TU-95MS bombers capable of carrying NUCLEAR WEAPONS in the air…)."

A video posted on X claimed that "Kyiv on Saturday 22 March has been bombed into absolute oblivion, all Water, Electricity, Gas, critical infrastructure, such as roads, railways, bridges have been all but destroyed." 

However, the video does not show Kyiv or any other city in Ukraine, but the Iraqi capital of Baghdad in 2003. 

In fact

The video shows the bombing of Baghdad on March 21, 2003, at the onset of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Searching for the bombing on YouTube shows several archived examples of footage from CNN, ITN, and independent video creators. Upon comparison, it is evident that the footage shows the same event as in the two viral videos. 

Comparison between the viral footage and archive footage of the 2003 bombing of Baghdad. (Source: YouTube/Screenshots/Annotated by Logically Facts)

Why now? 

Following the Crocus Hall terrorist attack, pro-Russian media and social media accounts have alleged that Ukraine is responsible. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied all allegations of involvement in the attack, and Meduza reported Saturday that the Kremlin had instructed state-funded and pro-government media "to emphasize possible 'traces' of Ukrainian involvement in their reporting on Friday’s Crocus City Hall terrorist attack."

Verdict

The viral video shows the 2003 bombing of Baghdad and not Kyiv. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.