2021 Firefighters Image Shared as the Alleged Ukrainian Airstrike on a Russian Fuel Depot

Khadija Boufous

News

2nd April 2022

2021 Firefighters Image Shared as the Alleged Ukrainian Airstrike on a Russian Fuel Depot

The image is old (Twitter).

The Claim

The image of firefighters was taken after the first Ukrainian airstrike on a fuel depot in Belgorod, Russia.

News posted on

Emerging story

News websites and social media users have circulated an image claiming that it was taken after “the first Ukrainian attack inside Russia.”

Users claimed that the picture was captured after the first Ukrainian airstrike that targeted a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod.

A supporting image within the article body

Misbar’s Analysis

Misbar has investigated the claim and found it to be misleading. The image is old and unrelated to the Ukrainian attack on a Russian fuel depot in Belgorod.

Using Google Image Reverse Search, our team found that Sputnik News Agency has uploaded the picture on Feb. 11, 2021, as firefighters were extinguishing a fire that broke in a commercial building in the city of Omsk, Russia.

Description: The image depicts firefighters extinguishing a fire that broke in a commercial building in 2021.

The image was also posted to Associated Press images from Sputnik, with a caption reading: “Firefighters extinguish fire in a commercial building, in Omsk, Russia. Alexey Malgavko.”

Description: The image is old.

The claim began to circulate after Russia has accused Ukraine of airstrikes targeting a fuel depot inside the Russian territory. According to news reports, Russia blamed Ukraine for carrying out a helicopter attack against a fuel depot in Belgorod as the first Ukrainian airstrike on Russian soil. Meanwhile, Ukraine denied responsibility for the fuel depot attack.