Destroyed Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Photo Falsely Linked to Nur Khan Airbase

An old image from Chernobyl nuclear plant is being falsely shared as Pakistan's Nur Khan Airbase after India's attack.

(Photo: The Quint)

A photo of a destroyed control room is going viral on social media to claim that it shows Pakistan's Nur Khan Airbase after India's attack.

An archive can be seen here.

(Source: X/Screenshot)

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

What's the truth?: This photo is from the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant in present-day Ukraine.

• It is unrelated to Pakistan or India.

How did we find out the truth?: We performed a reverse image search on the image using Google lens and this led us to a CNN report from 29 May 2020.

• The report carried the original image and stated that it shows, "the abandoned Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in present-day Ukraine" and this was clicked by Bernhard Ludewig.

This image is from Chernobyl.

(Source: CNN/Screenshot)

• Stock images website Alamy also had a very similar image which was clicked in 2019 after the control room was opened for tourists.

• A similar image was shared by The Telegraph and it stated that it was clicked on 10 November 2000.

• It added that the image depicts a completely damaged control room inside reactor No. 4 in the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

This image is from 2000.

(Source: The Telegraph/Screenshot)

Conclusion: An old image from Chernobyl nuclear plant is being falsely shared as Pakistan's Nur Khan Airbase after India's attack.

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