MTV Did Not Report Hezbollah Is Training to Take Part in Ukraine’s Invasion
The Claim
These photos show a group of Hezbollah fighters training prior to heading to Moscow to aid Russia in its invasion of Ukraine.
News posted on
Emerging story
Facebook and Twitter users have recently shared purported news that the Lebanese MTV channel had published information about a Hezbollah group training in extreme cold weather conditions in preparation for flying to Moscow to support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Users circulating the alleged news shared a number of photos along with their posts.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s team investigated the circulated claim and found it fake. Lebanese MTV channel did not say that a Hezbollah force is conducting training to aid Russia’s possible invasion of Ukraine. Misbar’s team reviewed the channel’s publications and social media accounts but did not find the alleged news.
The photos shared with the claim, Misbar’s team found, were taken from a video clip published by Hezbollah’s media center on Feb. 16. The video showed a part of a military training in a mountainous area.
The claim started to circulate against the backdrop of the Russian-Ukrainian standoff and the increasingly tense relations between Russia and Western countries in the midst of new sanctions against Russia following its recognition of the two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as independent republics.
Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri
