This Image is From Gaza Strip; Doesn't Show Russia's Attack on Ukraine

The image is from May 2021 when the Israeli military had conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

A photo of a massive explosion, in what seems like a residential area, is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows Ukrainian capital Kyiv under attack from Russia and that "war has begun".

The claim comes in the backdrop of reports suggesting that Russia has invaded Ukraine from the north of Kyiv region and also launched an invasion through Crimea in the south after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" in the country.

Explosions were reported from across Ukraine and as per the adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, more than 40 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.

However, we found that this image is from May 2021 when the Israeli military had conducted airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, that is controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

Catch all the live updates on the Russia-Ukraine tensions here.

CLAIM

The photo is being shared with the claim that reads, "BREAKING: As Russia's Putin announces a 'military operation' in Ukraine, Ukrainian Interior Ministry confirms that its capital Kyiv is under attack from Russian cruise and ballistic missiles. War has begun.(sic)"

Several social media users have shared the photo along with the same claim in Facebook and Twitter and the archived links can be seen here, here and here.

WHAT WE FOUND OUT

We conducted a Google reverse image search on the photo and found it in an article published on BBC on 10 May 2021.

The photo caption read, "The Israeli military has conducted air strikes in the Gaza Strip." The image courtesy was given to Mahmud Hams/Getty Images.

We then looked for the image on Getty Images and found the photo there .

The caption read, "A picture shows Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, on 10 May 2021. Israel launched deadly air strikes on Gaza in response to a barrage of rockets fired by the Islamist movement Hamas amid spiralling violence sparked by unrest at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound."

We also found the image on Al Jazeera published on 11 May 2021.

Clearly, an old photo showing Israeli air strikes in the Gaza strip is being shared falsely linking it to the Ukraine crisis.

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