Old Footage of Turkish-Made TB2 Drone Goes Viral
The Claim
A video clip shows Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones used by the Ukrainian military to destroy a number of Russian tanks.
News posted on
Emerging story
Facebook and Twitter users have recently shared footage they claimed was of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones used by the Ukrainian military to destroy several Russian tanks following the Russian military operation in Ukraine.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s team investigated the circulated claim and found it misleading. The footage is older than claimed and appeared on Twitter in March 2020 via Clash Report, a page that tweets news and reports of “ongoing clashes” worldwide. The Twitter account then said that the footage showed the TB2 armed UAV destroying Syrian forces’ military vehicles in an area called Marat Al Numan. Misbar’s team could not verify the news, but the fact that it had already been published in 2020 means it could not have taken place as part of the more recent Russian-Ukrainian context.
The claim started to circulate following Vladimir Putin’s de facto declaration of war as his country’s forces invaded Ukraine on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022.
Translated by Ahmed N. A. Almassri
