Fact check: Footage shows Ukrainian protesters in 2014, not recently amid Russian invasion

McKenzie Sadeghi, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: A video shows Ukrainians destroying Russian tanks with Molotov cocktails

As Russian troops advance on Kyiv, Ukraine’s defense ministry has encouraged residents to defend their capital by preparing Molotov cocktails, leading to a spike in Google searches for instructions on how to make the homemade weapon.

The Molotov cocktail dates back to 1939 when the Soviet Union invaded Finland. The device is sometimes used in riots and demonstrations around the world. Now, one widely shared video on social media purports to show Ukrainians using the weapon to destroy Russian tanks.

“Ukrainian citizens obliterating a Russian armored vehicle with molotov cocktails,” reads the caption of a Feb. 26 Facebook video that accumulated more than 9,000 views in less than a week.

The footage, which was recently shared by a number of Facebook and Twitter users, shows a large crowd in the streets at night shouting behind a barricade as they hurl objects at a vehicle engulfed in flames and smoke.

“People throwing Molotov at Russian tanks at night in Kiev, Ukraine #BreakingNews,” one user wrote in a Feb. 25 tweet along with the video, which generated more than 79,000 views.

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But the video is unrelated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The footage shows Ukrainian demonstrators clashing with police during protests in 2014, as independent fact-check organizations reported.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook pages that shared the video for comment.

Video is from 2014

The video in the posts was first uploaded online in February 2014 during the Maidan protest movement, in which demonstrators gathered in Kyiv’s central square demanding the resignation of then-President Victor Yanukovych.

"Maidan residents throw Molotov cocktails at armored personnel carriers!” reads the caption of the video on YouTube, according to a Google translation. Similar images from the 2014 protests in Kyiv was published by news sites and Getty Images.

At the time, protesters clashed with riot police in Kyiv’s Independence Square, and there were reports of Molotov cocktails, tear gas and flash grenades, according to The Guardian. Protesters attempted to block off police by throwing makeshift bombs and lighting fires. Government snipers shot into large crowds, and at least 100 people were killed.

Fact check: Video of Ukrainian police dropping riot gear from 2014, not recently

Fact-checking organizations have recently debunked similar claims in which users falsely linked footage from the 2014 demonstrations in Kyiv to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Members of civil defense prepare Molotov cocktails in a yard in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022.
Members of civil defense prepare Molotov cocktails in a yard in Kyiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022.

While the video in the posts is from eight years ago, local businesses and residents in Ukraine have joined the war effort by making Molotov cocktails. Some said they used the weapons during the 2014 demonstrations in Kyiv, according to news reports.

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a video shows Ukrainians destroying Russian tanks with Molotov cocktails. The video shows Ukrainians clashing with police in 2014 during anti-government demonstrations in Kyiv's central square. Volunteers in Ukraine have been producing Molotov cocktails, but the footage is unrelated to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Video doesn't show Ukrainians destroying Russian tanks