This is not a genuine listing for 'a Russian tank on eBay'

This article is more than one year old.
Published on March 11, 2022 at 07:12
2 min read
By AFP New Zealand and Pacific Islands

An image that appears to show an eBay listing for a Russian tank has been shared tens of thousands of times on social media alongside a claim Ukrainians are selling armoured combat vehicles after seizing them. The posts are false; the purported listing has been created using a stock photo that has circulated online since at least 2010. A spokesperson for eBay told AFP the listing was not genuine. According to its website, the e-commerce company does not allow military equipment to be sold on its platform.

The image was shared by a Tonga-based Facebook page here.

The post features an image that appears to show an eBay listing for a "used Russian T-72 tank" alongside a caption claiming "Ukrainians are selling used Russian Tanks on eBay".

The image circulated online after reports of Ukrainians capturing Russian weapons in the wake of a Putin-led invasion of the former Soviet country.

Armaments captured by Ukrainian civilians and soldiers will not have to be declared as income, Ukrainian news agency InterFax reported, citing the country's anti-corruption body the NAPC.

The conflict has so far caused over 1,400 civilian casualties and a growing humanitarian crisis in neighbouring countries that have accepted millions of refugees, according to the United Nations.

Similar claims have been circulated by Facebook users here, here and here. The image has also been shared alongside a similar claim on Twitter, Reddit and Tik Tok.

However, the image has been doctored.

An eBay spokesperson told AFP in a March 10 email the image does not show a genuine ad found on eBay. "These posts do not represent images of actual, recent eBay listings," the spokesperson said.

The eBay website states here the sale of military items on the platform is "restricted" to surplus items like body armour, but "explosives and military ordnance aren't allowed on eBay".

"Military vehicles, including aircraft and ships, and their parts and accessories" are not allowed to be sold on the e-commerce platform, according to the website.

Keyword searches on eBay and Google revealed no results for the purported advert shared in the Facebook post.

Multiple reverse searches reveal the tank featured in the photo is a Russian T-72, but the image has been circulating since 2010 including here on a US-based military news website called DefenceTalk.

Below is a comparison of the image in the misleading Facebook post (left) and a screenshot of the DefenceTalk article (right):

An image comparison of the image in the misleading Facebook post (left) and a screenshot of the DefenceTalk article (right).

AFP Fact Check has debunked other misinformation circulating after Russia's invasion of Ukraine here.

Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.

E-mail

This is not a genuine listing for 'a Russian tank on eBay'

Related stories

Musk amplifies fake report claiming USAID paid celebrities to support Zelensky

Pro-Kremlin accounts falsely claim LA fires destroyed homes of Ukrainian generals

Clip shows cargo loaded at Shenyang airport, not 'repatriation of North Koreans killed in Ukraine'

ABC News segment altered to inflate Ukrainian soldier deaths