Fact Check: Videos, photos from 2014 anti-government protest in Ukraine falsely linked to ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict

Hyderabad: A video and a set of photos claiming to show Ukrainians destroying two Russian tanks with Molotov cocktails in Kyiv is going viral on Twitter.

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Fact Check:

NewsMeter performed a reverse image search of the video and found that the same video (click here to watch another video) had been shared by multiple YouTube channels in February 2014. It must be noted that the titles of the video were in Russian.

Upon close observation, we noticed several similarities between this video and the viral video like the Ukrainian flag, texts, and armoured vehicles catching fire. This proves that the viral video is unrelated to the ongoing Ukraine-Russia crisis.

We performed a reverse image search on the viral photos and found that all of them were from 2014. They were taken during an anti-government protest in Kyiv in 2014.

Image 1

This photo was published by Getty Images with the caption, "Ukrainian anti-government protesters throw Molotov cocktails during clashes with riot police in central Kiev early on January 25, 2014."

Image 2

This photo was shared by Daily Mail in a January 2014 report about the protests raging in the Ukrainian capital following the government's decision not to sign a deal for closer integration with the European Union.

Image 3

We found this photo on the website of American photographer Brendan Hoffman. The caption read, "An anti-government protester throws a Molotov cocktail during clashes with police on Hrushevskoho Street near Dynamo stadium on January 25, 2014 in Kiev, Ukraine. After two months of primarily peaceful anti-government protests in the city center, new laws meant to end the protest movement have sparked violent clashes in recent days."

Image 4

We found the fourth photo on the website livejournal.com in a post about the "Revolution in Kiev, Ukraine". It was credited to journalist Ilya Varlamov.

Clearly, videos and images from a 2014 anti-government protest in Ukraine are being falsely linked to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.