Photograph shows July 2022 explosion in Russian ammunition depot, not recent airfield airstrike
The photograph dates from July 2022 and shows a strike on a Russian ammunition depot
(Reuters) - A picture of a large explosion has been miscaptioned online as if showing a recent Ukrainian strike on a Russian airfield. The image dates from July 2022 and shows an attack on a Russian ammunition depot in Kherson.
The image was shared (here), (tinyurl.com/ytnd58pk) in May 2023 with captions such as: “In occupied Berdyansk, the Armed Forces hit the airport, where many russian (sic) military personnel were stationed.”
Reuters could not definitively source the photo, but a reverse image search showed the photograph was used in a Daily Mail article from July 12, 2022 (here). Its headline reads: “Ukraine claims it has killed ANOTHER Russian general in strike with deadly US-donated HIMARS missile-system as another massive explosion rocks Kherson ammunition depot.”
The picture has the caption, “Dramatic footage shows a fireball eruption and mushroom cloud in Novaya Kakhovka in the occupied Kherson region.”
The picture was also used in a July 12 MoscowTimes article with the headline: “7 Killed in Ukrainian Shelling of Occupied Kherson, Pro-Russian Forces Say” (here).
Reuters found one recent report about a Ukrainian strike in Berdiansk, published on May 1 by Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform (here). It uses the same miscaptioned image as the posts online.
The latest Reuters coverage of the war is available (here), (here), (here).
VERDICT
Miscaptioned. The photograph dates from July 2022 and shows a strike on a Russian ammunition depot.
