A video that shows a woman posing near the Eiffel Tower before jets can be seen flying and bombing the area is going viral on the internet as a recent incident that took place in France.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Twitter/Screenshot)
(More archives of similar claims can be found here, here, and here.)
What is the truth?: The video can be traced back to March 2022 and has been generated using computer-generated imagery (CGI) tools.
It was released by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine's official Twitter handle.
The post requested other countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine in a bid to prevent Russian attacks.
What led us to the truth?: On performing a Google Lens search on several keyframes of the video, we came across a news report published on Forbes.
The report carried the same visual and was headlined, "Ukraine’s Promotion Of Fake Paris Bombing Video Highlights Risks Of Misinformation."
It mentioned that the viral video which showed Paris under attack was fake.
While it is not clear where the video originated from, it was being shared by the Ukrainian government and media outlets to request the closing of Ukraine's airspace.
It further said that according to experts, the dissemination of the fake video might be dangerous.
The report was published on 17 March 2022.
(Source: Forbes/Screenshot)
The report also linked to the tweet posted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
It was longer than the viral video and carried texts that said, "Just think if this were to happen in another European capital." It ended with a quote from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Other sources: Newsweek published a similar report on their website and added that Ukraine's Defense Ministry released the edited video in a bid to urge North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
However, NATO members have refused to comply with Ukraine's request fearing an escalation of the war.
Al Jazeera had too shared the video on their YouTube channel where they termed it as "simulated video."
Recent update on France: The riots in the country have reportedly calmed down after mayors called for rallies to protest against the violence and looting, BBC reported.
It said that the violence has reduced and fewer arrests were made.
Violence and riots gripped parts of France after a 17-year-old was shot dead by the police.
The victim's grandmother recently appealed for calm and asked protestors to end violence.
Conclusion: Neither the video is recent nor does it show any real incident of jets bombing the regions near the Eiffel Tower.
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