A video clip of a warship exploding at sea has gone viral out of context following the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Let’s take a look at the facts.

NewsLit takeaway

Sensational footage of fires, artillery and other military combat scenes has repeatedly gone viral out of context during the war between Ukraine and Russia — often to chase clicks and engagement online. As is the case during many significant news events, purveyors of misinformation seized on the sinking of Russia’s flagship missile cruiser for attention — and the stunning video of the decommissioned Norwegian naval ship exploding was easy to pass off out of context. Though these kinds of false context rumors are often recirculated without being altered, in this instance the original video was flipped, likely to make it more difficult for fact-checkers to locate the actual source.

Here is a full copy of the video:

• “This video does not show the Moskva warship exploding -- it's a 2013 Norwegian military exercise” (AFP Fact Check).
• “Video shows Norwegian military practice shot, not Russian warship exploding” (Bill McCarthy, PolitiFact).