Unrelated Video From Russia Falsely Shared as Riyadh Airport After Houthi Strike

We found out that the video dates back to July and shows a shopping complex in Russia.

A video is making the rounds on social media, falsely claiming to show Riyadh Airport in Saudi Arabia ablaze after Houthi strikes. 

(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)

A video is making the rounds on social media, claiming to show Riyadh airport in Saudi Arabia ablaze after Houthi strikes.

What does the video show?: The video shows a building on fire, with smoke rising out of it.

• The video goes viral amid the growing conflict between the Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

• News organisation National Herald also shared the video with a similar claim.

An archived version of this claim can be found here.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

(An archived version of a similar claim can be found here.)

Is it true?: No, the claim is false. The video is old and shows Russia's Sadovod market on fire.

How did we find out?: We noticed an inscription on the building that is visible in the video.

• After running a translation check, we found that it translates to 'Sadovod Market', which is a shopping complex located in Moscow, Russia.

Screengrab from the video.

(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)

• We ran a reverse image search on the video using Google Lens and found a video with visuals similar to the viral video.

• However, the video shows a different angle of the fire from the viral video.

• The video is captioned, "Sadovod Market, Moscow"

• Following this, we ran a keyword search and found a few reports on the incident.

• Online news portal MSK1.RU published a report stating that the Sadovod shopping mall was engulfed in flames on the night of 17 June.

Here's a preview of the report by MSK1.RU. 

(Source: MSK1.RU/Screenshot)

• After geolocating Sadovod Market on Google Maps, we were able to confirm that it matches the visuals in the video.

What happened recently:

• The Iran-backed Houthis stated that they have targeted 'sensitive sites' in Riyadh on 19 September 2026.

• They made the statement hours after a blaze at a fuel depot near Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport.

Here's the preview of a report by DW News. 

(Source: DW News/ Screenshot)

Conclusion: The video is old and shows Russia's Sadovod market on fire.

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