Amid the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a picture of a burning fighter plane in mid-air is being widely shared on social media platforms with a caption suggesting that it shows a Russian fighter jet being shot down by Ukrainian forces.
A Facebook user shared the image with a caption which reads, “Rare Russian MiG-31BM fighter jet shot down in Ukraine destroyed along with crew – media.”
The same image is also doing rounds on Twitter with the same claim.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral image and found that it has been shared with a false claim.
On putting the picture through Reverse Image Search, we found the same image in a news report that was published back in June 2016. Another news report dating back to November 2015 also carried the same image.
The report talks about Turkey’s justice minister confirming the arrest of pilots who shot down the Russian Su-24 in Syria.
The articles do not credit the image to a specific source or identify the plane.
NewsMobile couldn’t independently verify the origin of the picture, however, as it predates the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it can be safely concluded that the viral claim attached to the picture is false.
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