Fact check: Dead Ukrainian not shown in video of man smoking
The claim: A video shows a ‘dead’ Ukrainian smoking a cigarette
More than 1,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since Russia invaded the country. But some social media users claim deaths are being staged.
A video shared March 15 on Facebook shows black body bags in the back of an orange truck. A man near the back of the frame is seen smoking.
“A Ukrainians (sic) dead body caught on camera smoking cigarettes,” reads the caption of the video.
The clip generated close to 36,000 views in less than two weeks. But the claim is false.
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The video shows a man smoking behind the scenes while a music video was being filmed in March 2021. It is unrelated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as independent fact-checking organizations have reported.
The claim is the latest from conspiracy theorists who falsely claim the victims of tragedies such as mass shootings are actually crisis actors.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.
Video shows scene from music video
The video shows an actor smoking out of a body bag while Russian rapper Dmitry Nikolayevich Kuznetsov, who goes by “Husky,” filmed his song “Never Ever.”
Moscow-based production designer Vasya Ivanov shared the same clip on TikTok on March 28, 2021, with a caption that reads “Husky Video Shooting,” according to a Google translation. Ivanov’s TikTok handle, @vasyaivanovdesign, appears in the Facebook video.
The song’s official music video also shows scenes in which black body bags similar to those in the Facebook clip are transported in an orange truck. Ivanov’s Instagram page has story highlights that show scenes of the same man smoking out of the body bag.
USA TODAY has debunked a series of out-of-context images and videos related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Our rating: False
Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a video shows a “dead” Ukrainian smoking a cigarette. The video shows an actor smoking in a body bag while filming a music video for a Russian rap song.
Our fact-check sources:
- AFP Fact Check, March 23, Clip of man in body bag smoking is from the set of a music video, not ‘staged’ deaths in Ukraine
- Vasya Ivanov, March 28, 2021, TikTok
- Google Translate, accessed April 6
- USA TODAY, March 28, Fact check: False claim that the Russia-Ukraine conflict is ‘scripted and staged’
- Vimeo, accessed April 6, Husky – “Never-ever” l Music Video
- Vasya Ivanov, accessed April 6, Instagram
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Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Facebook.
