Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show Russian ‘Retaliation Strike’ On Secret NATO Bunker

Syria≠Ukraine

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.