Video of Russian rocket crash falsely shared as failure of Indian missile test

 

Screenshot of the Facebook post.

(*Click to view larger image)

 

The Claim and Our Verdict

• Fact-checking:
  • The video shows a Russian Proton-M carrier rocket crashing and exploding after takeoff in Kazakhstan on July 2, 2013, not an Indian missile.
• Our verdict: This video shows a Russian rocket crash, not a failed test of an Indian missile.

News Brief

A video published May 14, 2022, on Facebook, claims to show a failed test of an Indian missile. In the video, a rocket crashed and exploded after its launch. The subtitles of the video claim that it was a new intercontinental ballistic missile of India.

As of the publication of this report, the post had been shared 128 times, and had received 39 comments and 277 likes or reaction.

Fact-checking

A reverse image search found a video published May 19, 2014, on YouTube, titled “Proton M rocket explosion July 2, 2013, slow motion full HD.” The logo of the Russian Terrestrial Space Infrastructure Operation Center (TsENKI) appears in the top right corner of the video. After comparing the two videos, it is found that the Facebook video has been edited and flipped horizontally from the YouTube video.
 

Screenshot of the YouTube video.

(*Click to view larger image)

 

Logo of the Russian Terrestrial Space Infrastructure Operation Center.

(*Click to view larger image)

 

Screenshot comparison between the Facebook video (left) and the YouTube video (right)

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Screenshot comparison between the Facebook video (left) and the YouTube video (right).

(*Click to view larger image)

 
A keyword search also found an article published July 2, 2013 by BBC, titled “Russian rocket explodes in Kazakhstan.” A video showing the explosion can be found in the article. The scenes in the BBC report video are identical to that in the Facebook video. The BBC report reads, “An unmanned Russian Proton-M rocket has crashed just seconds after its launch from the Russian Baikonur facility in Kazakhstan. Dramatic video footage broadcast by Russian TV shows the rocket breaking up before exploding into a fireball over the Baikonur cosmodrome.”

Another relevant article was published July 2, 2013 by the Russian news agency Sputnik. The article includes images of the rocket crash taken from different angles. The article said, “A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying three Glonass satellites veered off course seconds after its launch from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur space center early Tuesday (July 2), crashing in a large fireball.”

A press release published Aug. 5, 2013 by the Russian government also mentioned the Russian rocket crash.

Therefore, the scene shown in the Facebook video is the accident of the Russian “Proton-M” rocket in 2013, not an Indian missile.