Ukraine depot explosion misrepresented as Middle East conflict
- Published on March 2, 2026 at 09:21
- 2 min read
- By AFP Middle East & North Africa
- Translation and adaptation AFP Malaysia
Iran fired missiles and drones across the Middle East in retaliation for a joint US and Israeli strike that killed the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. But a video circulating online purportedly showing strikes on an Israeli nuclear facility is unrelated; it shows an explosion at a Ukrainian ammunition depot in 2017.
"Israel's nuclear reactor and facilities were targeted by Fattah and Khyber missiles," reads sticker text over a Facebook reel on March 2, 2026, referring to Iranian ballistic missiles.
The footage shows a large column of smoke issuing from a building that subsequently explodes.
The caption goes on to say Iran claimed victory over a strike on the Dimona nuclear research centre in the Negev desert, though the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has not commented on the purported strike and implemented a media blackout.
Iran launched retaliatory strikes across the Middle East after the United States and Israel started bombing targets across the country on February 28 and announced the death of Khamenei the following day (archived link).
In Israel, an Iranian missile attack killed at least nine people, while Iran said its strikes hit a school and killed more than 100 people. At least three American soldiers were also killed, and Iran's strikes on its Gulf neighbours also caused casualties.
President Donald Trump has vowed to avenge the first US deaths in the war he launched to topple Tehran's ruling clerics and said the fighting could continue for weeks.
Similar claims about an Iranian strike on the Israeli nuclear installation circulated across social media in the Philippines, Australia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and Nigeria.
However, there have been no official reports the Dimona research centre was targeted.
The circulating video was filmed in Ukraine in 2017, before the latest exchange of fire began.
A Google reverse image search led to a video uploaded to YouTube on March 24, 2017 (archived link). Its description states it shows the Balakliya ammunition depot in Ukraine on fire.
AFP reported at the time Ukraine authorities said one person died after a fire broke out at the arms depot in the eastern town of Balakliya, sparking explosions and forcing a mass evacuation (archived link).
Similar images of the explosion were published by Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera and British broadcaster the BBC in their reporting about the depot explosion (archived here and here).
AFP also distributed videos from the explosion, as well as an image of smoke billowing from the facility released by Ukraine's Presidential Press Office.
The Ukrainian television channel One Plus One TV reported at the time that the weapons stored in the warehouse were mainly intended for Ukrainian forces fighting pro-Russian separatists in areas bordering Russia to the east (archived link).
AFP has debunked other misinformation surrounding the conflict in the Middle East here.
Copyright © AFP 2017-2026. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
