By: Vivek J
March 14 2023
Misleading: About 90 Stryker armored vehicles en route to Ukraine from the U.S. have arrived in Germany.
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Fact-Check
The Verdict Misleading
A video of Stryker armored vehicles being unloaded at a South Korean port is being misattributed.
Claim ID ce560309
Context
Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, multiple requests have been made to NATO for financial and military assistance by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Several NATO nations, including the U.S., France, and Germany, have sent equipment and weapons to arm Ukrainian soldiers resisting Russian forces on the frontline.
On January 19, 2023, the United States Department of Defence (DOD) announced a new security package valued at nearly $2.5 billion. This package included several missile systems, air defense systems, armored vehicles, artillery rounds of various calibers, and mortar systems. This package also included 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs).
Some posts accompanied by a video on social media platforms claimed to show 90 Stryker vehicles meant for Ukraine being unloaded in Germany. The video was shared on multiple social media platforms in March 2023. However, the video has been misrepresented.
In Fact
A reverse image search of the video's keyframes led us to the stock photo website Alamy. We found the image of an armored Stryker vehicle with a partial signboard in the background that read "Max. Axle load." written on the unloading dock. The signboard in the viral video reads, "Max load:150 ton. Max. axle load: 55 ton/4w."
The photo's caption on Alamy says, "Stryker vehicles from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division are offloaded at the Port of Pyeongtaek, South Korea on Oct. 8, 2022." Searching these keywords, we came across multiple videos dated October 2022. These were the same as the viral video claiming to be the Stryker vehicles in Germany headed for Ukraine.
We found multiple videos of Strykers being unloaded on October 8, 2022, at the Pyeongtaek port in South Korea on YouTube. The YouTube channel credited these videos to Private First Class Ashley XIe and Sergeant Major Andrew Kosterman of the U.S. army.
The original video was posted on the Defence Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) website. It was noted that the video is from South Korea and was from October 8, 2022. Thus, it is evident that this video is not part of the security package announced by the DOD for Ukraine and has been misrepresented.
The Verdict
In one of the latest security packages announced for Ukraine on January 19, 2023, the U.S. DOD noted that 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) would be sent to Ukraine with several other equipment and weapon systems. Following this, an October 2022 video from South Korea has gone viral, claiming to be that of Stryker vehicles sent to Ukraine by the U.S. via Germany. Therefore, we have marked this claim as misleading.