A photo of a hit rocket stuck upside down in the sand on a playground is being shared on Twitter. Since the author of the tweet also criticizes Germany in his text, some people suspect that it is a fake. But this is not the case!

The widely circulated photo of the rocket

In the photo you can see the rocket hitting the sand in the foreground, and in the background there is a playground with bridges and slides:

The text accompanying the picture criticizes Germans who are upset about higher heating costs: " It would be a real shame if Germans' monthly heating bills increased by 50% " - as a biting comparison that a higher heating bill is actually worse than a rocket is in a playground. But it's this comparison, combined with the image, that apparently makes some people believe the photo isn't real.

The fact check

Unfortunately, the tweet does not specify when and where this photo was taken (assuming its authenticity), but there are other, even official sources of the photo, for example the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook or the Operational Command “North” .

The Facebook post also mentions a verifiable location: a children's playground in Chernihiv (Чернігів) on the “Desna” river at the “Gold Bank” (City Beach).

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The location specified in the Facebook post, source: Google Maps

Even better: there is also a photo of the playground on Google Maps (see HERE ). Now let's compare the photos:

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The photo comparison, source image on the right: Google Maps

The slides, bridges and characteristic blue and yellow buildings can also be seen in the photo of the playground on Google Maps. So it is actually the correct location.

There are also at least two newspaper articles on Ukrainian sites reporting on the rocket strike. The TCH writes that there were no deaths or injuries as a result of the impact, but that the attack with this rocket contradicts previous promises:

“Earlier, an adviser to Ukrainian President Oleksiy Arestovych said that the Russian army was not strong enough to take Chernihiv, let alone turn it into Mariupol, which is currently blocked by the occupiers.

We would like to remind you that after the talks in Istanbul, the Russian side declared that the occupiers will reduce their military activities in the direction of Kiev and Chernihiv.”

Source: TCH

The Cheline also criticizes the fact that there is no military facility near the playground, so the rocket fire was absolutely unnecessary.

The missile itself is most likely a Russian 9M55 or 9M27Kell cluster munition missile. The independent, international research collective “ Bellingcat ” collects photos of these rockets in Ukraine. The model is very similar to the photos :

Conclusion

The photo being circulated is most likely not a fake. There are several photos of rockets of this type hitting Ukrainian cities, and the Ukrainian press and military forces of Ukraine also report a rocket hitting a playground.

Research: André Reinsdorf

Also interesting:

The images of the Ukrainian SU-27 jet are not in the context of the current Ukrainian war, but show an SU-27 jet from July 27, 2020.
The jet collided with a road sign during a military exercise. Fact check: Ukrainian jet with road sign


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Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )