Old video misattributed to recent events in Odesa following attack on Transfiguration Cathedral

By: Sam Doak
July 25 2023

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Context

On July 23, 2023, Russian airstrikes targeting Odesa struck the city's Transfiguration Cathedral. As images of the heavily damaged UNESCO world heritage site circulated online, some blamed the city’s Ukrainian defenders. While mainstream outlets have reported that the cathedral was hit by Russian missiles, pro-Kremlin commentators and social media users have argued that photographs of the site suggest a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile is responsible for its destruction.

In the context of this debate, a video showing a missile hitting an urban area has been widely shared by pro-Kremlin social media users. Multiple individuals have claimed it demonstrates deficiencies in the air-defense systems deployed in Odessa. One such user, posting on Twitter, captioned this footage, “Video evidence has been shared showing the church in Odesa was NOT bombed by Russia, but rather by Ukraine defenses. Don't believe everything your perfect leaders tell you. They lie to your face.” 

Despite claims that this video relates to the defense of Odesa in response to Russia’s recent targeting of the city, Logically Facts has determined that it was recorded in July 2022 in a different Ukrainian city.

In Fact

A reverse image search reveals that the video in question was posted to Twitter on July 16, 2022, by the European news outlet Nexta captioned, “As a result of a missile strike on the #Dnipro City, which was carried out at night by the #Russian occupiers, three people were killed and 15 more wounded, reports the head of the regional administration Valentin Reznichenko.” 

Logically Facts searched for coverage of this airstrike to verify whether this footage matched the incident described. An article published by the Ukrainian outlet Unian described an event that matched on July 15, 2022. 

In its reporting, Unian stated, “The mayor of Dnipro, Borys Filatov, said that the nighttime missile attack was aimed at the Pivdenmash plant.” Logically Facts examined this area using Google Maps and was able to match it to the currently circulating video by noting the placement of two white spires visible on buildings shown in both the video and satellite imagery.

The Verdict

This video was not recorded in Odessa, as claimed. Logically Facts has determined that it shows an airstrike that affected the city of Dnipro on July 15, 2022. This claim has therefore been marked as false.