Ukraine’s Military Forces Tweeted Misleading Bombing Comparison to Syria
The Claim
According to an infographic, only 100 missiles were dropped in Syria in five years, while 1100 were dropped in Ukraine in 22 days.
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Emerging story
An infographic depicting statistics about the Ukraine and Syrian wars is being widely circulated on Twitter and Facebook. According to the photo captioned "realize the scale of the disaster," 1100 missiles were dropped in Ukraine in just 22 days, and 100 missiles were dropped in Syria in five years. The Ukrainian National Guard first published the infographic but then deleted it.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the claim and found it to be false. The Syrian war began in early 2011, and in September 2015, Russia began its military intervention in Syria in support of the Assad regime, employing heavy airstrikes and artillery strikes. Initially, Moscow claimed to be targeting Islamic State, but it was later revealed that the target was rebel-held areas of Syria. According to Airwars, more than "45,000 airstrikes were declared in just the first three years of fighting – many of which targeted civilian areas and infrastructure." Some statistics are shown below.
According to The Guardian, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States fired over 100 missiles in a single operation, claiming they were targeting Syrian chemical weapons facilities. These figures do not include the Syrian regime's missiles and attacks, in which "approximately 1,472 victims were killed, and 9,989 were injured in 222 chemical attacks, 217 of which were carried out by the Syrian regime," according to the Syrian Network for Human Rights.
However, Russia's intervention in Syria alone has increased from 100 to 45,000 missiles, proving that the widely circulated claim is false.
