‘Hezbollah drone video’ actually shows Ukrainian drone targeting Russian oil refinery

A video shared on social media with claims it shows Israel’s Iron Dome missile defence system failing to intercept a Hezbollah drone actually shows a Ukrainian drone targeting an oil refinery in Tuapse, Russia, earlier this year. 

One post on X, formerly Twitter, is captioned: “Video shows Israel’s Iron Dome failing to intercept Hezbollah’s drone as it makes its way to pound a regime’s power plant in northern occupied territories.” 

The video has also been shared on Facebook, sometimes with the caption “a Hezbollah drone reaches oil refineries in northern occupied Palestine”.

But the video shared with these claims is not recent, and does not show a Hezbollah drone attack. The video actually shows a Ukrainian drone striking a Russian oil refinery in Tuapse, which Reuters reported on 22 July this year. 

Cross-border fighting between Israel and the armed group Hezbollah has intensified in the past week after at least 39 people were killed and thousands injured in Lebanon when communication devices exploded. Hezbollah blamed Israel for the attacks, and cross-border fighting between Israel and Hezbollah has since escalated, with more than 550 people killed in Israeli strikes since Monday after a reported 200 missiles were fired by Hezbollah into northern Israel over the weekend. 

False claims often circulate online during significant breaking news events. It’s important to consider whether a post shows what it claims before sharing it online. You can read more about this in our guide to fact checking misleading videos relating to the Israel-Gaza conflict.