WebQoof Recap: Of Misinformation Surrounding Op Sindoor & the Russia Earthquake
Read our recap to find out our top five fact-check stories from this week.
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From claims surrounding the Indian Army's Chief of Staff's statement on Operation Sindoor to the recent earthquake which hit Kamchatka, Russia on 30 July, here are the top five pieces of misinformation we debunked this week.
1. Video of Armed Man Accused of Stalking in Maharashtra Shared With Communal Spin
A video of a man, armed with a knife, holding a schoolgirl hostage went viral on social media, where users claimed that it showed a Muslim man attempting to kill a girl after "failing in his attempt to trap her in love jihad."
However, the communal angle given to this incident is false.
Satara Police's Assistant Police Inspector at Shahupuri police station, PC Babar, confirmed to The Quint that both parties involved belong to the Hindu community and that there was no communal angle to the incident.
Read our fact-check here.
2. Fact-Check: Did a Bihar Teen Build This Plane From Scraps With ₹7,000? No!
A video of an ultra-lightweight aircraft taking off from an open field went viral on the internet, where people claimed that it showed a plane built at a cost of ₹7,000, using scrap material, by a teenager named Avinesh Kumar from Bihar's Muzzaffarpur.
Times Now stated that they had not confirmed the authenticity of the video.
(Source: Times Now/Screenshot)
However, we were able to trace the visuals back to one Julhas Mollah from Bangladesh's Manikganj, who reportedly built this ultra-lightweight aircraft himself.
Read our fact-check here.
3. Did Indian Army Chief Admit to Losing 250 Soldiers in War Against Pakistan? No!
A video showing India’s Chief of Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi giving a speech about India's conflict with Pakistan was widely shared on social media.
In the clip, General Dwivedi can be heard saying that India lost over 250 soldiers during Operation Sindoor and that our movements were being monitored by Pakistani and Chinese satellites.
We found that the video had been altered. In the original video of his speech on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas, General Dwivedi made no mention of Indian losses or satellites.
Read our fact-check here.
4. Old Video From Myanmar Falsely Linked to Recent Earthquake in Russia’s Kamchatka
A video showing CCTV footage from a shop, with shelves falling on a worker during an earthquake, has gone viral on social media, where users have linked it to the 8.8 magnitude earthquake which hit Russia's Kamchatka on 30 July.
News organisations ET Now and JagBani also shared this claim on their social media accounts.
Is it true?: No, the video dates back to 28 March 2025 and shows an earthquake which hit Mandalay, Myanmar.
Read our fact-check here.
5. Video Showing Beluga Whales Washed Ashore Predates the Earthquake in Russia
However, the claim is misleading.
While the video is indeed from Russia, the video is from August 2023 and is not connected to the recent earthquake.
Read our fact-check here.
(Not convinced of a post or information you came across online and want it verified? Send us the details on WhatsApp at 9540511818 , or e-mail it to us at webqoof@thequint.com and we'll fact-check it for you. You can also read all our fact-checked stories here.)