Fact Check: The pictures of a man replacing the Ukrainian flag with the Soviet Union flag are not the latest
In the investigation of Vishvas News, this claim turned out to be misleading. These pictures are not recent.
- By Vishvas News
- Updated: April 25, 2022
New Delhi (Vishvas News). In the midst of the Russia-Ukraine war, a collage is going viral on social media, in which a man can be seen replacing the Ukrainian flag with the Soviet Union flag from a building. The post is being shared with the claim that these pictures are the latest. Vishvas News found in its investigation that these pictures are not recent.
What is Viral?
Sharing the viral images (archive link), social media page ‘Myrna J. Minkoff‘ wrote, “The red flag changed the Ukrainian flag over the Ilyich plant in Mariupol.”
Investigation
To check the viral post, we did a Google reverse image search of these pictures. We found a video uploaded on March 3, 2015, on a YouTube channel named ригада ризрак. Viral clips can be seen from 4 min 5 sec onwards in this 4 min 23 sec video.
We also found the same frames in a video uploaded on March 4, 2015, on a YouTube channel named VOXKOMM International. The video description read “Raising the Soviet flag on Donbass.”
We have contacted the fact-checkers of Ukraine regarding this matter. This news will be updated as they respond.
User Myrna J. Minkoff, who shared the viral post with a false claim, is a resident of Uruguay.
Conclusion: In the investigation of Vishvas News, this claim turned out to be misleading. These pictures are not recent.