Fact-Check: Has NATO Reached Ukraine To Fight Against Russia? Nope!

This video dates back to 2021 and predates Russia's invasion of a few parts of Ukraine.

Fact-check: This is an old and the claim about NATO reaching Ukraine to fight against Russia is false.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A video is going viral on the internet showing a massive crowd gathered at an airport runway while several helicopters and planes can be seen taking off.

What does the claim say?: The claim shared with the video states that the military alliance called North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) soldiers are in Ukraine to fight the Russian forces amid the ongoing invasion attempt by the latter.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: Facebook/ Screenshot)

(Archives of similar claims can be seen here and here.)

What's the truth?: The video predates the Ukraine-Russia war.

• This video can be traced back to at least 2021, much before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began.

How did we find out the truth?: We divided the video into multiple keyframes and conducted a reverse image search on some of them using Google, leading us to a YouTube video from 18 August 2021.

• This video was the extended version of the viral video and the title of the video read, "US Soldier Films Chaos From MRAP Gunner Turret In Kabul'.

• The video refers to the militant organisation Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan, following the withdrawal of the United States' troops.

• The description of the video stated that efforts are being made to evacuate US and partner nation personnel from the Hamid Karzai International Airport (HKIA).

• It adds, "The footage is filmed by a turret gunner in a mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicle, and it shows the use of AH-64 Apache gunships to clear the runway for C-17 aircraft."

What happened in Afghanistan in 2021?: In August 2021, twenty years after it invaded Afghanistan, the US withdrew its forces from the country, leaving the war-torn nation in the clutches of militant organisation Taliban.

What about NATO in Ukraine?: We did not find any credible news reports about NATO reaching in Ukraine to fight against Russia.

• On 4 April, NATO has officially put out a statement condemning Russia's invasion of some parts of Ukraine.

• Moreover, Ukraine has not officially joined NATO, the statement also mentions Ukraine to be a 'close NATO partner' only.

• On it's official website NATO also mentions, "NATO is not at war with Russia, and we do not seek confrontation with Russia."

Conclusion: We were not able to independently verify the exact location of the video, however, it is evident that this is old, and the claim about NATO reaching Ukraine is false.

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