Fact check: A wide array of raw footage shows Russian invasion of Ukraine

The claim: ‘Not one raw footage video’ has come out of Ukraine despite widespread internet connectivity

As media reports pour in from Ukraine, a deluge of misinformation about the Russian invasion is flooding social media, from conspiracy theories about biolabs to out-of-context photos and videos falsely claiming to show the conflict.

A March 12 Facebook post adds to the noise by questioning the veracity of war footage.

“26,000,000 cell phones in Ukraine,” reads the post, which shows a screenshot of a tweet from March 9. “100% internet coverage. Not one raw footage video. Think about it.”

The post, published by The Urban Conservative, garnered over 400 shares within two days. The tweet it features, posted by user @MrBlue1776, has reached an even larger audience: more than 30,000 likes and 10,000 retweets.  Similar posts questioning the reality of the conflict have circulated online. 

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But raw footage is coming out of Ukraine. Though many videos circulating online have been debunked, media outlets have also verified a lot of footage from the conflict. 

USA TODAY reached out to The Urban Conservative for comment. The Twitter user couldn’t be reached for comment.

Media verify footage from Ukraine

Scores of people have shared videos of the war in Ukraine, from journalists based in the region to TikTokers documenting the destruction. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also shared many videos on his Telegram account, and the comment section of the tweet was also flooded with videos that users asserted to be raw footage. 

Misinformation certainly accounts for a portion of the videos circulating online. For example, a recent viral video claimed to show a Russian convoy on its way to Ukraine, but actually depicted a train in California. Other videos claiming to show the war actually stem from video games.

Still, media outlets have verified an array of raw footage coming out of Ukraine. Here are a few examples:

According to Bellingcat, an investigative journalism outlet based in the Netherlands, many Ukrainians have shared videos via Telegram. 

Fact check roundup:What’s true and what’s false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine

“The messaging service Telegram is highly popular on the Russian speaking internet,” Bellingcat reported March 8. “In recent days, it has been a vitally important tool for documenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine – ordinary Ukrainians regularly post videos and photos attesting to the scale of destruction caused by the war.”

The Facebook post also claims Ukraine has “100% internet coverage.” According to Media Landscapes, a site from the European Journalism Centre and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, Ukraine has 93% internet penetration.

But since the invasion began, some Ukrainians have lost access.

NBC News reported March 9 that, while it depends on the region, connectivity across Ukraine has been at about 80% of normal levels. Some besieged cities, such as Mariupol, have had no internet access. 

Outages have pushed Ukraine’s internet companies to find solutions. Forbes reported several companies have collectively launched a “national roaming” program, which allows people to switch providers if their primary internet source no longer works. 

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that “not one raw footage video” has come out of Ukraine despite widespread internet connectivity. Misleading and edited videos are indeed spreading online, but news outlets and journalists have been able to verify a wide array of raw footage from the conflict.

Our fact-check sources:

• USA TODAY, March 11, Fact check roundup: What’s true and what’s false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine  
• USA TODAY, Feb. 27, Fact check: False claim of US biolabs in Ukraine tied to Russian disinformation campaign 
• USA TODAY, Feb. 24, Fact check: Video shows Russian military’s Moscow flyover in 2020, not Ukraine in 2022
• BBC, March 7, Ukraine invasion: False claims the war is a hoax go viral
• NPR, Feb. 28, TikTok sees a surge of misleading videos that claim to show the invasion of Ukraine 
• USA TODAY, March 2, Fact check: Video shows American train carrying tanks, not Russian military convoy
• The New York Times, March 14, Live Updates: Russia and Ukraine Hold Talks After Bloody Weekend
• The Wall Street Journal, March 13, U.S. Journalist Brent Renaud Killed in Ukraine
• The Washington Post, March 12, Russian attacks hit at least 9 Ukrainian medical facilities, visual evidence shows
• Bellingcat, March 8, How to Archive Telegram Content to Document Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
• Media Landscapes, accessed March 14, Ukraine
• NBC News, March 9, Ukraine facing major regional internet outages as Russian invasion continues
• Forbes, March 15, Bombs And Hackers Are Battering Ukraine’s Internet Providers. ‘Hidden Heroes’ Risk Their Lives To Keep Their Country Online

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