Destruction in Iraq's City From 2017 Shared as Recent Scene in Ukraine

Russia has launched a major military offensive against Ukraine since February 24th which massively destroyed the infrastructure of this country. Meanwhile, a photo depicting the devastation scene and collapsed buildings were posted recently on Facebook. This photo was claimed and linked to the current Russia-Ukraine crisis which is happening lately. This post was reacted with many shares and comments by the Facebook users who are speaking Khmer. However, after running a Google Reverse Image search, it proves that the photo attached with the claim posted by the user is misleading.

This is about our investigation of these photos.

Social Media Claim

On March 2, 2022, one of the Facebook pages called Hok Kea posted four photos, one of them shows a scene of a devastated city with a lot of damages. The above post was linked to the recent crisis happening in Ukraine. It has been shared and reacted with comments many times by Facebook users who are speaking Khmer.

The following screenshot was captured from the Facebook page’s post which translates in English as “March 2, 2022, is the seventh day that dictator Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, designated by Putin as Victory Day of Kiev, of course, was devastated, but President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine did not surrender by this invasion from Russia at all”.

Facebook Post | Archived Link

Fact Check

Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started to check and verify this photo directly by running a Google Reverse Image search, which brought us to the sources containing the following photos.

An exact photo of the same shape and form was found on the Arab News website which was published on September 9, 2017. This website also reported and confirmed that the above photo showing the devastated city and collapsed buildings were exactly a view of Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city which was taken back in 2017.

The following is an image captured from the website above which was written in English as “Mosul: Iraq’s second city and cultural jewel. This photo taken on July 9, 2017, shows a general view of the destruction in Mosul’s Old City”.

Arab News Report | Archived Link

The above photo was also found on the Getty Images website, a large commercial website that clients use to search and browse for images, purchase usage rights, and download images This website has confirmed the location and detailed that it was the cultural city of Iraq, Mosul, which was taken after Iraqi forces took control on July 9, 2017. The following snapshot was captured from the website above which added the detail in English as “A general view shows Mosul's Old City, on January 8, 2018, six months after Iraqi forces seized the country's second city from Islamic State group jihadists”.

Getty Images Link | Archived Link

Similarly, according to the AFP news agency, it also published a video showing the devastation of Mosul, the second-largest city of Iraq in its news report as well which was posted on YouTube on July 9, 2017.

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 found that the photo attached with the claims posted by the above Facebook user is misleading. This photo is not the scene of a Ukrainian city damaged by the strikes from Russia. This photo factually shows scenes of damage and collapsed buildings in Mosul, Iraq after Iraqi forces seized the country's second city from Islamic State group jihadists in 2017.