Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show Russian ‘Retaliation Strike’ On Secret NATO Bunker
Does a social media photo show the aftermath of Russian bombing of a NATO “secret underground bunker,” possibly in Ukraine? No, that’s not true: The image is a screenshot from a March 2021 video showing the aftermath of explosions at an oil depot that was being used by Turkey-backed opposition forces in northern Syria.
The claim appeared in a post on Twitter (archived here) published on March 30, 2023. It said:
🇷🇺 A blow to NATO;40 corpses, dozens more bodies remain under the rubble – details of the #Russian “retaliation strike” on the NATO command center have appeared
‼️A group of NATO officers and advisers was housed in a secret underground bunker built at a depth of 120 meters🩸
This is what the post looked like on Twitter at the time of writing:
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Wed Apr 5 15:06:51 2023 UTC)
Another post on Twitter (archived here), using the same photo but published a few days earlier, claims a missile strike hit a NATO communications center in Ukraine. The tweet appears below:
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Wed Apr 5 16:56:12 2023 UTC)
The images in both social media posts come from a video showing the aftereffects of a March 5, 2021, strike on a Syrian oil facility. In a March 7, 2021, story with photos, The Associated Press reported:
A suspected missile strike on an oil-loading facility used by Turkey-backed opposition forces in northern Syria sparked a massive blaze across a large area where oil tankers are normally parked, aerial and satellite images show.
A video included in a social media post (archived here) on the day following the attack opens with the same image. You can see it below:
(Source: Twitter screenshot taken on Wed Apr 5 17:03:00 2023 UTC)
To watch the video, click on the play button in the following post:
OTR-21 #Tochka– and #Iskander tactical ballistic missiles and BM-30 Smerch heavy rockets were used in the strike on Tarhin and al-Himran
Last week on February27th a similar missile strike targeted makeshift refineries and storage tanks in the town Mazaalahpic.twitter.com/Udtw9GLMOo— Leander (@LeanderWoltinge) March 6, 2021
Other Lead Stories fact checks about the war in Ukraine can be found here.
This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Lead Stories can be found here.
