Clip does not show Russian strikes on Ukrainian railway in May 2022
Clip does not show Russian strikes on Ukrainian railway in May 2022
(Reuters) - A nighttime clip of a fire at a railway station was not taken in Lviv in May 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, despite the miscaptioned clip shared online. A reverse image search of key frames in the clip shows that it dates to 2013. Reports featuring photographs of the scene in May 2013 detailed that more than 50 railcars derailed at the Belaya Kalitva train station, Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
One account shared the clip via Twitter on May 17, 2022, with a caption that reads: “Consequences of night strikes on the railway in the #Lviv region” (here).
Other examples of the miscaptioned clip shared on social media can be seen (here), (here), (here), (here).
A reverse image search via Yandex reveals websites that feature a screengrab of the video that was published in 2013 (here), (here).
Photographs taken during the daytime that match the clip were published by numerous Russian outlets and external media reports at the time (www.kommersant.ru/doc/2186584), (here), (ria.ru/20130509/936643654.html), (here).
The exact clip is viewable on YouTube in a video that was uploaded in 2017 [2:46-2:51] (bit.ly/3wDzstB). A translation of the title of the YouTube clip reads: “Consequences of the accident at the Belaya Kalitva station (Archived May 9, 2013)” (bit.ly/3wDzstB).
Per the media reports featuring the images, on May 9, 2013, more than 50 railcars derailed and seven caught on fire at the Belaya Kalitva train station.
Reuters also reported on this incident on May 9, 2013, and that the federal Investigative Committee said 69 railcars carrying sodium chloride, gasoline, fuel oil, propane and other goods derailed following an onboard fire near Belaya Kalitva station in the Rostov-on-Don region, around 1,000 km (625 miles) south of Moscow (here).
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. A nighttime video of a fire at a railway station was not filmed in May 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A reverse image search reveals that the clip dates to May 2013.
