What was claimed
A video shows a fire started by a Russian airstrike.
Our verdict
The video shows an explosion at a warehouse in China in 2015.
Video of 2015 explosion in China being mislabelled as Ukraine
24 February 2022
A post on Facebook claims to show a “Fire starting by russian airstrike” with hashtags mentioning Ukraine alongside a video of large explosions, where a man can be heard swearing in the background
That’s not what this video shows.
It was taken in 2015 in the Chinese city of Tianjin during an explosion at a warehouse that handled dangerous substances, not during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
One clue that this wasn’t taken in Ukraine is that the person recording has an American accent and is speaking in English. It was recorded by an American man living in Tianjin.
We have written about this video previously, alongside other videos people are claiming show Ukraine, here.
We’re seeing lots of videos and images circulating on social media which claim to show Russia attacking Ukraine, but which aren’t genuine.
For general help on what to look out for if you see footage shared, see our 2018 guide on how to spot misleading videos online.