Fact Check: Viral video of ‘Russian missile attack’ on Ukraine port actually shows 2020 Beirut explosion

By Vikas Bhadauria: A video circulating on social media claims to show a Russian missile attack on the port infrastructure in Odesa, Ukraine, that allegedly resulted in the death of one person on June 27, 2023.

The 30-second video is a collage of three clips that show massive explosions. A person sharing the viral video wrote on Facebook, “The port of Odesa, Ukraine, was hit by four Russian missiles that hit two British cargo ships delivering weapons to the Ukrainian army, triggering a massive explosion. The British Government needs to wake up. Clearly, Russia Has More intelligence Than the West. The Wagner Boys' episode, Which the West couldn't anticipate, Is One Example Of How Far Ahead Putin Is Dictating The Momentum.” The archived version of one such post can be seen here.

India Today found that these clips show explosions at Beirut's port in 2020.

The first clip

Reverse-searching keyframes of the video led us to a 37-second-long video shared on YouTube by Al Arabiya English on August 9, 2020. The video’s title read, “Beirut explosion seen from the top of a building.”

A massive explosion rocked Beirut, Lebanon, on August 4, 2020. It was triggered by the detonation of approximately 2,750 tonnes of unsafely-stored ammonium nitrate in a warehouse. The explosion killed 218 people, injured 7,000 and displaced over 300,000. We found another Beirut blast video on YouTube that featured the tallest building visible in the viral video.

The second clip

In the second clip, we observed a signboard reading “Maverick's Cafe Bar” and “Dog Palace”, suggesting the video was shot near a pet cafe. Again, reverse-searching keyframes from the second clip led us to a tweet from August 5, 2020, made three days after the Beirut blast. The tweet said that it is a view of the explosion of the blast from Dog Palace Lebanon and Maverick’s Cafe. The person, Jack G Issa, further wrote, “We are all fine and also our dogs are ok.”

India Today reached out to Issa, who said that he runs both cafes seen in the clip. He confirmed that the viral video was indeed of the Beirut blast captured from his cafe, which was located around nine kilometres from the epicentre of the blast. We also located the cafe on Google Maps.

The third clip

The third clip appeared to have been shot from the ground. Reverse-searching’s keyframes led us to a report by Mirror dated August 5, 2020. The report about the Beirut explosion contained a snippet of the visual and stated that this clip ended with the person filming being thrown to the ground. Further searches led us to a tweet from the same time that contained a longer version of the same video. This tweet also claimed to show the Beirut blast.

In conclusion, all the clips in the viral video show footage of the explosion in Beirut in 2020 from different angles and places.