Video of Russian missile destroying A Ukrainian arms depot? Find out the truth…

As the Russia-Ukraine war approaches 4 months, since Russia’s invasion into Ukraine in late February, a lot of updates and events related to the ongoing situation continue to be shared on international news as well as on social media streams.

We noticed a video claiming to be Russian Kinzhal missile attack on a Ukrainian arms depot getting viral among Sri Lankan social media users. However, our investigation proved this to be misleading, as the video was not a real one but the work of a VFX artist.

Social Media Posts

A Facebook user shared a video depicting an explosion with the explanation below.

“The Russian Kinzhal missile, with a speed of 12,000 km per hour, which is 10 times faster than sound, was used today to destroy a Ukrainian arms depot 136 meters underground. (Watch the American reporter's astonishment when he suddenly saw it.)”

Facebook

This 16 second video, viewed over 37,000 times, shows a object similar to a missile falling from the sky. Upon impact on the ground a flashlight is seen followed by a giant mushroom cloud.

Same video and explanation getting viral among WhatsApp users as well.

Many Facebook users from Sri Lanka as well as other parts had shared this content as seen below.

Due to the viral nature of these claims, we decided to do a fact check.

Fact Check

We did a Reverse Image Search using Invid-We Verify tool and were able to find the original source of this video. It was initially published in a YouTube channel, named as InsanePatient2 on 28^th February 2022. The title of the video is “What if Russia Started Nuclear War?“

The description of the YouTube channel says “VFX... that's it”. VFX (visual effects) is the process of combining computer-generated imagery (CGI) with live-action video footage to create scenes. Almost every type of film and TV production uses VFX.

Owners of InsanePatient2 YouTube channel had published the above video on the same day to their TikTok account. It can be reached here | Archived.

In the comment section of the TikTok video, the publisher commented the below statement.

“To all of the smooth brained individuals thinking I'm trying to fool people, literally the words "what if" are in the title. get help.” in response to the comments, he had received for this particular content, at a time when the fighting was fierce between Russia and Ukraine troops with frequent air strikes as well.

We also saw that InsanePatient2 TikTok & YouTube channels were filled with many similar VFX artwork.

Furthermore, we noticed that some of the audio and video elements seen in the viral video, being reused in other VFX animations of InsanePatient2 as well.

Many other VFX videos of InsanePatient2 titled “Moon Crashes into Earth!” & “Moon Replaced by Planets” were having the same background as used in the viral video. A screen comparison is seen below.

Also, the voice which can be heard at the end of the video, was found from a VFX video published by InsanePatient2 in late January 2022, before Russia had started invasion on Ukraine. The voice element can be heard here

The same video clip was viral among social media users during March 2022 as well, during the early phases of the Russia-Ukraine war, and here is a fact check done by AFP during that time.

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Conclusion

According to our investigation, we were able to find out that the viral video which claiming to be a Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian underground arms depot is not a real one, but a computer-generated artwork (VFX)

Also Read:

Video showing gigantic moon eclipsing the sun in the Arctic is Fake!

Video Game Clip Shared As Real Missile Attack in Russia-Ukraine War