In recent hours, a photo showing several coffins in the colors of the United Kingdom has been circulating on social networks. Internet users who share it claim, wrongly, that it shows British soldiers killed in Ukraine. In reality, this cliché is taken out of context.
Were eighteen members of the British special forces recently killed by the Russian army in Ukraine? This is what several influential accounts on social networks wrongly claim, with supporting photos. This document shows around ten coffins covered with the United Kingdom flag, perfectly aligned in the hold of a transport plane.
« These soldiers returned home after a “successful” attempt to fight on the side of kyiv. It is true that they are hidden with them in wooden boxes », Comments one of these accounts. “ As usual, there is nothing about this in the Western media. Share and reshare! », Adds another, to make this false information viral.
If the Western media does not talk about it, it is because this photo has nothing to do with Ukraine. A reverse image search (see how to do it here) shows that this photo has been shared online since 2006, well before the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
This photo was taken upon their return to the UK, in the hold of a McDonnell Douglas C-17. We find other photos of this repatriation and the ceremony that followed.
Read more on RFI
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