A Hezbollah drone attack reportedly caused a major fire at the Tomer missile factory in Beit Shemesh, Israel, on May 17, according to Iranian outlet Mehr News.
Videos circulating online showed flames engulfing the facility. The incident came amid continuing cross-border tensions, with Israel carrying out strikes in southern Lebanon despite an existing ceasefire, while Hezbollah has intensified retaliatory drone and missile attacks.
In the above context, a video is being widely shared on social media in which a plume of smoke is seen rising due to a massive fire and people are seen running for cover.
A social media user shared the video with a caption that reads, “Good news: According to reports, a missile fired by Hezbollah struck an Israeli missile factory, resulting in its complete destruction.”
SouthCheck found that the claim is false. The viral video is from 2025 and shows the aftermath of a Ukrainian drone hitting the Russian Ryazan oil refinery.
On a Google reverse image search, we found that the viral video was shared by a Russian website on June 24, 2025. According to the report associated with the video, Russia intercepted several Ukrainian drones heading toward Moscow and other nearby regions. Air defence systems successfully neutralised the devices, as reported by Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and other local officials.
Despite the attacks, no significant damage or casualties were reported.
The screenshot of the video was also shared by The Guardian on November 16, 2025, with a caption that reads, “Explosions and fire during a previous attack on the Ryazan oil refinery in January 2025.”
The video was also shared by Al Jazeera’s YouTube channel on January 24, 2025, with a caption that reads, “People were filmed fleeing a fire at a Russian oil refinery in Ryazan, about 200 kilometres southeast of Moscow, after a Ukrainian drone attack. The facility accounted for almost 5% of the country’s oil refining output last year.”
Hence, we can ascertain that the viral video is old and unrelated to the recent attack by Hezbollah on Israel.