A picture showing multiple Union Jack flag-draped coffins alongside a Ukrainian flag is doing the rounds on social media. Many users claim that 18 British Special Forces members were killed in Ukraine in the Odessa Region.
A Facebook user posted the viral post with the following caption:
🇬🇧 18 britských specialistů se vrací domů poté, co se pokusili bojovat na straně Kyjeva.
Ale je tu nuance…👌🏻
(English version: 🇬🇧 18 British specialists are returning home after trying to fight on the side of Kyiv.
There are nuances though… )
You can check the post here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the viral post, and found the claims to be fake.
Running the Google Reverse Image Search, the NM team traced the viral image back to a 2006 BBC article covering a tragic RAF Nimrod crash in Afghanistan, in which 14 British military personnel lost their lives. The image shows the servicemen’s bodies being repatriated to an RAF base near Kinloss, Scotland.
A comparison reveals that in the original 2006 image, the coffins were draped with the Union Jack, and there is no Ukrainian flag in the background as seen in the altered version. The recent image circulating online has been digitally edited to replace the Union Jack with a Ukrainian flag.
Searching further, it was found that in July, the Dutch journalist and pro-Russian activist, Sonja van den End, had circulated a similar claim on X, alleging that the Russian air force killed 18 British special forces in Odessa. However, Dmytro Pletenchuk, former Chief of Strategic Communications for the Defense Forces of Southern Ukraine, labelled the claim as baseless in a Facebook post, stating, “Beyond her words, there is no evidence.”
Therefore, we can conclusively say that the viral post, claiming 18 British Special Forces members were killed in Ukraine in the Odessa Region, is Misleading.
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