Lighthouse Journalism found an image being shared on social media platforms, which claimed to show that the S-400 air defence system being used by India was destroyed during the recent India-Pakistan clashes.
During the investigation, we found that the image is old and from Russia.
Claim:
X user DG ISPR shared the viral image on his handle with a false claim.
Other users are also sharing the same image with a similar claim.
Investigation:
We started the investigation by running a reverse image search on the image and found the photo posted on charter97.org uploaded in 2024.
The report said: On the night of June 12, the Ukrainian Defense Forces launched a group missile strike on the air defense of the occupiers in the occupied Ukrainian Crimea. The attack was carried out on an S-300 anti-aircraft missile division, as well as two S-400 anti-aircraft missile divisions near Belbek and Sevastopol. Hits in the target areas were confirmed, in particular the destruction of two S-300 and S-400 radars. This was reported by the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
We found the image on globaldefensecorp.com.
The article uploaded in 2024 was titled: Ukraine Destroys Three S-400 Launchers nd 96L6 Radar Using ATACMS Cluster Munitions In Donetsk
We also found the image posted on Instagram.
Conclusion: Old image of Russia’s S-400 destroyed by Ukraine is being shared as that of India S-400. The viral claim is false.
