Does this video show damage from Iran’s strike against Israel?

Claim: A compilation of images and videos shows the destruction wreaked by Iran’s April 2024 attack on Israel.

Fact: None of the images or videos show Iran’s attack against Israel. Almost all are from the Russia-Ukraine war.

On 15 April 2024, Soch Fact Check received a video on WhatsApp, the thumbnail of which depicts damage to military vehicles and equipment, along with the following text:

“Highly Unusual. Footage Leaked Revealing Extent of Damage at Military Airport After Iraniian Strikes Yesterday 🚨😱🚨 14 April 2024”

The video was accompanied with a text message saying, “Down with Jews and Beduines”.

Iran’s airstrike on Israel

The Israeli military said Iran launched over “300 drones and missiles towards Israel” in the middle of the night on Saturday, 13 April, the BBC reported (archive). The publication added that it “the first time ever” the Islamic Republic has carried out strikes against the Middle Eastern country.

However, Israel and its allies — including the US and the UK — shot down most of the drones and missiles before they entered its territory, the publication added.

This attack came two weeks after a suspected airstrike on 1 April 2024 by Israel on Iran’s consulate in Damascus, Syria, that killed seven Iranian officers, including two generals, The Associated Press reported (archive).

Fact or Fiction?

Soch Fact Check initially identified the user who published the video on TikTok as @mr09934 and found the link to the original post, which has now been removed but is archived here.

We checked the pictures and footage separately and found all of them to be old and unrelated to Iran’s strike against Israel. Many of these were flipped before being included in the viral clip, perhaps to throw off viewers from identifying them.

First picture

This picture shows destruction of the “world’s largest plane destroyed by Russian troops in Ukraine”, as seen in the eighth image in the gallery of this article (archive). Confirming this further, the photograph can also be seen on Reuters Pictures here (archive), where it is captioned as follows:

“An Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane, the world’s biggest aircraft, destroyed by Russian troops as Russia’s attack on Ukraine continues, is seen at an airfield in the settlement of Hostomel, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 3, 2022. REUTERS/Gieb Garanich”

Second picture

This picture appeared in this Chinese language article (archive) on 3 April 2022, titled “烏軍收復安托諾夫機場 全球最大運輸機「慘不忍睹」模樣曝 [The Ukrainian army recovered the world’s largest transport plane at Antonov Airport, and its ‘horrible’ appearance was revealed].” It is the fifth image in the body of the article and captioned as follows: “No part of the fuselage is intact. Picture/reproduced from AP Direct”

In a 27 February 2024 article (archive) by The Kyiv Independent, titled “The Counteroffensive: Russia’s failure to take Kyiv was luck and timing,” part of the caption of the photograph taken by Serhii Mykhalchuk for Getty Images is as follows:

“HOSTOMEL, UKRAINE – MARCH 03: A partial view of the destroyed Ukrainian Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo aircraft, which was the largest plane in the world, among the wreckage of Russian military vehicles at the Hostomel Airport on March 03, 2022 in Hostomel, Ukraine.”

The charred aircraft engine and upturned blue chair in the photograph in question can be matched with other pictures of the wreckage on Getty Images here, here, here, and here. A video of the destroyed aircraft, credited to Ukrainian journalist Illia Ponomarenko, can be seen here (archive).

Third picture

This image appears at the 0:01 mark of a YouTube video, posted as early as 3 April 2022 and embedded in an article on the website of Taiwanese broadcasting company TVBS. It is described as the Ukrainian aircraft called “Dream”, the English translation of its nickname “Mriya.” The full clip is archived here.

Fourth picture

This image appears as the thumbnail of a CBS News video here (archive) and a clip of the outlet’s “Face the Nation” programme (archive), dating back to 3 April 2022.

Fifth picture

We found this image — but from a slightly different angle — on British stock photography agency Alamy here (archive), with the following caption:

“Gostomel, Kyiv, Ukraine. 8th Apr, 2022. A burned tank seen at the airport. Antonov Airport, also known as Gostomel or Hostomel Airport (GML), in the northwestern suburb of Kyiv, had been heavily damaged during the Russian attacks in February 2022. Remains of an Antonov AN-124 and the An-225 (Mriya/Dream), the world’s largest aircraft, can be seen in the hangars. (Credit Image: © Valeria Ferraro/ZUMA Press Wire) Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc./Alamy Live News”

On the Zuma Press website, we found it here (archive).

A different angle appears on the Ukrainian news portal Antikor as the eighth picture in the body of its article (archive). Shutters seen in the background of the photo in question can be seen in the picture here.

Sixth video

This video can be found in an article (archive) published 27 February 2022 by the aviation news network AIRLIVE, titled “Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29s have been destroyed at Ivano-Frankivsk airbase.” It has the same clip (archive) embedded via YouTube.

The incident was also reported on by Russian news website Репортёр (Reporter) on 27 February 2022 in an article (archive) titled “Showing the consequences of the strike “Caliber” in the parking lot of Ukrainian MiG-29,” as well as an article (archive) by Romanian website Digi24 titled, “Ucraina a fost atacată cu rachete rusești lansate din Belarus. Un convoi militar lung de 5 kilometri se îndreaptă spre Kiev [Ukraine was attacked with Russian missiles launched from Belarus. A 5 kilometer long military convoy is heading towards Kiev].”

Seventh picture

This image matches one that we found on the Ukrainian news website УНИАН (UNIAN) in a 5 May 2022 article (archive) titled “Перетворена на купи металобрухту російська військова техніка на території аеродрому Гостомель [Russian military equipment turned into piles of scrap metal on the territory of the Gostomel airfield].” It is credited to the photographer Синиця Олександр (Tinitsa Oleksandr).

The same truck can be seen in a picture from a different angle on Alamy here (archive), where it is credited to Ukrinform and captioned as follows:

“HOSTOMEL, UKRAINE – APRIL 27, 2022 – The Antonov An-225 Mriya, the world’s largest cargo plane, destroyed in the Battle of Antonov Airport during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine stays in a ruined hangar, Hostomel, Kyiv Region, northern Ukraine.”

A video of the same truck can be found on the stock photography website iStock here (archive), where it is dated 16 August 2022 and credited to Matvii Mosiahin.

Eighth video

We traced this video to a 3 March 2022 post on Facebook. A reverse-search of this clip’s keyframes led us to a report (archive) by Anadolu Agency that states, “Генштаб Украины поделился видео с аэродрома «Антонов» близ Гостомеля [The General Staff of Ukraine shared a video from the Antonov airfield near Gostomel].”

Screenshots from the video can be found on the websites of Italian newspapers Il Gazzettino (archive) and Il Messaggero (archive) here and here, respectively, in articles dating back to 7 March 2022. The clip also appears on Daily Mail’s website, MailOnline (archive).

Ninth picture

This image appears as the eighth photograph in the body of this article (archive) by the Iraqi news website Rudaw.

Similar pictures of the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane appear on Reuters, The Associated Press, Alamy, The National, Onedio, and UNIAN. A video of the destroyed Ukrainian aircraft can be seen here (archive).

Tenth picture

This image also appears in the 3 April 2022 TVBS video shared above but at the 0:04 mark.

Eleventh picture

This image is identical to the seventh picture.

Twelfth picture

The same aircraft — the Antonov An-225 Mriya cargo plane — is featured in this image. Soch Fact Check found a matching photo (archive) on Alamy, where it is captioned as follows:

“Hostomel, Ukraine. 09th Apr, 2022. World’s largest aircraft An-225 “Mriya” destroyed at the airport of Hostomel, Kyiv Region, north-central Ukraine, on April 08, 2022. Photo by Hennadii Minchenko/Ukrinform/ABACAPRESS.COM Credit: Abaca Press/Alamy Live News”

An almost similar picture — from a slightly different angle — can also be found on The Associated Press’ photo directory here (archive).

Thirteenth picture

This image is identical to the first picture.

Fourteenth picture

This image is identical to the fifth picture.

Fifteenth video

This brief clip is also from the 3 April 2022 TVBS video but can be seen at the 0:12 mark.

Sixteenth picture

This image also appears in the 3 April 2022 TVBS video but can be seen at the 0:17 mark and in its thumbnail as well.

Seventeenth picture

This image, too, appears in the 3 April 2022 TVBS video shared above but at the 0:07 mark.

Eighteenth video

This video is the same as the sixth one.

Virality

Soch Fact Check found the video posted here, here, and here on TikTok.

The clip was also shared with the false claim on Facebook here, here, and here.

Conclusion: None of the images or videos in question show Iran’s recent attack against Israel. Almost all the visuals date back to 2022 and are from the Russia-Ukraine war.

Background image in cover photo: Sergiu Vălenaș

To appeal against our fact-check, please send an email to appeals@sochfactcheck.com