This video shows a Libyan military jet shot down by rebels in 2011
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on March 3, 2022 at 08:50
- 2 min read
- By Anuradha PRASAD, AFP India
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"This video of Ukraine shooting down a Russian jet is an example of their bravery," reads a Hindi-language Facebook post shared on February 24.
"Ukraine is fighting with all its strength and has shot down Russian fighter jets but but for how long will it be able to resist'?"
The video, viewed more than 1.5 million times, shows a plane hurtling towards the Earth before it bursts into flames and crashes to the ground.
Russian forces took the Ukrainian city of Kherson, local officials said on March 2, the first major urban centre to fall since Moscow invaded on February 24.
After days of intense fighting, hundreds of civilians have been killed, while around one million people have fled Ukraine since the invasion began, triggering punishing Western sanctions intended to cripple Russia's economy.
The video was shared with a similar claim on Facebook here, here and here; and on Twitter here and here.
However, the video has been shared in a false context.
Reverse image searches and keyword searches found the footage published by the Associated Press news agency on March 19, 2011.
The clip was uploaded in a YouTube video titled: "Plane Shot Down by Libyan Rebels".
The video's description reads: "Libyan rebels shot down a warplane that was bombing their eastern stronghold Benghazi on Saturday, as the opposition accused Moammar Gadhafi's government of defying calls for an immediate cease-fire."
Below is a screenshot comparison of the video in the false posts (left) and the AP video (right).
The video was also broadcast by British broadcaster Channel 4 News in a report on the jet crash on March 19, 2011.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has sparked a wave of misinformation. AFP has debunked false or misleading claims about the conflict here.
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