Fact Check: Mid-air collision from 1993 shared as Russian jet shot down by Ukraine
India Today
The photo in question has been in circulation on the internet for many years and is unrelated to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Ukraine on Thursday claimed to have shot down five Russian warplanes and a helicopter in reaction to the invasion. Soon, a photo of an airborne aircraft on fire went viral on social media with claims it was one of the ill-fated Russian birds.
"Aircraft from 6th Russia Air Force, downed by Ukraine," read one such tweet sharing the image.
The India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) found this claim to be misleading. This photo in question has been in circulation on the internet for many years and is unrelated to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
Similar claims have been archived here and here.
A reverse search of the image proved that this photo was an old one. On May 21, 2017, the flipped version of the image was used by French website Pars Daily along with a news report of a Saudi F-15 fighter jet shot down in Yemen.
