FALSE: Video of air missile and fighter jet attacks in Russia-Ukraine conflict

At a glance

• Claim: A video shows air missile strikes and fighter jet attacks in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
• Rating: FALSE 
• Facts: The video is a screen recording of a live broadcast on Facebook, in which the user was playing the military tactical shooter video game called ARMA 3, not from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 
• Why we fact checked this: The TikTok video containing this claim posted on February 24 has over eight million views, 690,700 likes, and 14,000 comments, as of writing.  

Complete details

On February 24, a video claiming to be of air missile strikes and fighter jets related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict went viral on TikTok.  

It contained the text: “Russia Fighter Jets on Ukraine F22 Raptor Vs Anti Aircraft Missiles.” 

Additionally, it was edited to appear like it was part of a news program. It included the following text: “Breaking News: Russia vs. Ukraine war start.” 

The video was posted by a TikTok user @jikofuerzo with over 18,700 followers. As of writing, the video containing this claim has over eight million views, 690,700 likes, and 14,000 comments. 

This claim is false. 

According to a Google reverse image search, the video contained scenes from the military tactical shooter game ARMA 3. The graphics in the video containing this claim match those in a YouTube video posted on January 2, 2021, entitled “ArmA 3 – A-10 Warthog vs Anti-Air Tank – Missiles and Tracers firing – GAU-8 Avenger – Simulation.” 

The video was a screen recording of a live broadcast on Facebook, in which the user was playing a video game called ARMA 3.

On February 24, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine by carrying out missile strikes across the country, hitting infrastructure and their border guards while explosions had been heard in many cities. 

While fighter jets had been reportedly shot down, these were not named Ukraine F22 Raptor, as the video suggests. In early morning of February 25, the Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-27 fighter jet was shot down over the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, according to Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Evgeny Yenin. 

As of February 26, Russian forces had continued to attack Ukrainian cities with artillery and cruise missiles. At least 198 Ukrainians had been killed and 1,115 people wounded so far, according to Ukraine’s Health Ministry. (READ: Ukraine and Russia: What you need to know right now)

Multiple posts have been circulating, claiming that footage from the game ARMA 3 are from the Russia-Ukraine conflict. These posts have also been fact-checked by international media organizations, like Reuters and BBC. 

For more live updates on the conflict, read Rappler’s live updates here. – Sofia Guanzon/Rappler.com

Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. You may also report dubious claims to #FactsFirstPH tipline by messaging Rappler on Facebook or Newsbreak via Twitter direct message. You may also report through our Viber fact check chatbot. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.