A drone crash years ago falsely linked to recent events in Ratanakiri province

After Prime Minister Hun Sen issued an order to shoot down drones flying into the territory of Cambodian land in the northeast bordering Vietnam, photos of drones were posted on social media with the claim that it was a drone found in Ratanakiri province. This claim has been widely publicized by many Facebook users. However, Fact Crescendo Cambodia's verification found this claim to be misleading.

This is about our investigation of this claim.

Social Media Claim

A claim on social media claims that the Cambodian army shot down a drone in Ratanakiri province after receiving orders from Prime Minister Hun Sen to order troops to shoot down drones launched into Cambodian airspace in the northeastern province bordering Vietnam.

The claim also includes photos of drones found to have crashed on the ground in a remote forest area. The above statement was shared many times by social media users, along with mixed expressions and reactions as well.

The following is a video posted on social media stating that “Special Forces have reached the border of Ratanakiri province and have been ordered to shoot drones flying into Cambodia”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Attached photos with such claims have been posted and found on Facebook in recent days. See the full content via the link here (archived link), another link here (archived link), and another link here (archived link).

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia started to review and verify the above claim through the Google Reverse Image Search process, which led to the following facts:

We have found many photos showing the crash of this drone and posted them on websites and the press 3 years ago. A photo showing the drone published by the Phnom Penh Post in January 2020 comes with confirmation that the silver drone is about 5 meters long and 9 wingspan wide and fell on January 16, 2020, in Koh Kong province.

The following is a view of a drone that crashed in Koh Kong province, unrelated to the recent event in Ratanakiri province.

The Phnom Penh Post Link | Archived Link

The above case was also reported by the Cambodia Express News (CEN) website in January 2020. The same website confirmed that the drone crashed in Kirisakor district, Koh Kong province, on the evening of January 16, 2020.

Cambodia Express News Link | Archived Link

The following is a video report from Fresh News on January 18, 2020, which confirmed that the drone that crashed in Koh Kong province was cut into pieces and sent to the Ministry of National Defence for inspection and continuing research.

YouTube Link | Archived Link

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You may find the details of this fact-check in Khmer language here as well.

Conclusion

Fact Crescendo Cambodia has found that the above-mentioned claims are misleading. The drone shown in the photo is a drone that crashed into Cambodian territory in Koh Kong province in 2020. The drone had nothing to do with the drone being targeted in Cambodian territory in Ratanakiri province recently.