A video is being widely shared on social media in which a fighter jet on fire crashes in a field. The video is shared with a caption claiming that it shows a US fighter jet being shot down by Russia.
A social media user shared the video with the caption, “Breaking: Russia shot down American fighter jet F-16 on the Ukraine border.”
SouthCheck found that the claim was false. The video was old and the jet featured is Russian.
On doing a Google reverse image search, we found the same video published by Hindustan Times on July 20, 2022. The title of the report read: ‘On Cam: Russian SU-35 jet nosedives while raining fire on Ukraine air force.’ According to the report, the video shows Ukrainian forces shooting down a Russian fighter jet Su-35 near the city of Nova Kakhovka, during heavy fighting in the southern part of the country.
The video was also shared on the YouTube channel of The Sun on June 20, 2022. The description suggested that the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that the Russian jet, likely an SU-35, tried to attack the Ukrainian Air Force aircraft before it was destroyed. The incident happened near Kherson, Ukraine.
A screenshot of the video was also shared by NDTV stating that ‘Ukrainian Air Force said in a Facebook post that the fighter jet was shot down by its anti-aircraft missile units.’
