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It does not depict the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia. See the sources for this fact-check A viral image of two young children watching Ukrainian troops drive by on tanks has ricocheted across the internet as the country’s forces work to resist an invasion from Russia. The children are holding hands as the tanks roll by. One, wearing a pink jacket, is seen holding a stuffed animal. The other, a toy gun slung across his shoulder, is saluting the soldiers. The photo is a real image and no doubt elicits real emotions. But it also does not depict the conflict currently playing out in Ukraine. It’s been miscaptioned online. Reverse image searches show that the original image dates back to 2016. Posts sharing the photo as though it were current have spread across Twitter, Facebook, Reddit and image sharing services like Imgur. One post came from U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a Republican lawmaker who serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard. ![](\\" Various social media posts shared the same 2016 image as though it depicted a scene in Ukraine in 2022. #### Featured Fact-check ![](\\" logo-black-01/b6cedac93f6e57c68ecc025e5ec29d57.jpg\\") ![](\\" logo-black-01/438dbf066033f99de07598cbcc77ddcb.jpg\\") Threads posts stated on July 23, 2024 in a Threads post As of July 23, 2024, “Trump has announced he won’t debate Kamala Harris.” ![\\"true\\"](\\" false/33efdb6633e5e2fdc2d4e2f63383a1e0.jpg.\\") ![\\"false\\"](\\" false.jpg\\") By Mia Penner • July 24, 2024 \"This photo brought tears to my eyes,\" another post shared on Facebook said. \"Two young Ukrainian children sending off soldiers to fight the Russians.\" The posts were flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) The photo is watermarked to Ukrainian photographer Dmitry Muravsky. Muravsky shared the photo on Facebook in 2016, and so did Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense. Later that year, the Ministry of Defense announced that Muravsky, a volunteer photographer, had been dismissed from his position amidst accusations that he had staged photos. The photo gaining attention now has also been blown up into a memorial in the Luhansk region of Ukraine. The memorial was captured in several recent Associated Press photographs. Our ruling Social media posts claim that a viral image, which shows two young children holding hands and saluting troops, was captured in Ukraine in 2022. But the photo traces back to 2016. We rate these posts False. #### Read About Our Process The Principles of the Truth-O-Meter ### Our Sources Tweets, Feb. 25, 2022 Facebook posts, Feb. 26, 2022 Reverse image searches on TinEye, Yandex and Google Images, Feb. 28, 2022 Reuters, \"Fact Check-Photo of children saluting Ukrainian tanks dates back to 2016,\" Feb. 26, 2022 Dylan Scott on Twitter, Feb. 26, 2022 The Washington Post, \"Photographer of controversial Ukrainian combat photo ‘dismissed’ from duties,\" Aug. 29, 2016 Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, \"Volunteer photographer Dmytro Muravskiy dismissed from the position of the Volunteer Adviser to the Minister of Defence of Ukraine,\" Aug. 28, 2016 Dmitry Muravsky on Facebook, March 22, 2016 ## Browse the Truth-O-Meter ### More by Bill McCarthy slide 4 to 6 of 15 ![](\\" ![](\\" Greg Gutfeld stated on June 23, 2022 in a TV segment: No one “with a concealed carry permit ever committed a mass shooting.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 28, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: “Gas in Canada is $9.00 a gallon.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 22, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: A compilation of images shows what Joe Biden has “done to our country.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 21, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 19, 2022 in a TikTok post: An image shows Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in front of a cross with a figurine of former President Donald Trump on it. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 21, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2022 in an Instagram post: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was “faking being arrested” during an abortion- rights protest outside the Supreme Court. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 20, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 15, 2022 in a Facebook post: \"Antifa was already inside the Capitol with floor plans dressed as Trump supporters\" on Jan. 6, 2021, proving the attack “was 100% a setup.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 19, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on July 12, 2022 in a viral image: An image shows an “all aboard the Trump train” truck crashed into a bridge. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 15, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 12, 2022 in Instagram posts: Actor Tom Holland is “confirmed to have died.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 14, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 11, 2022 in Facebook posts: Images from Hunter Biden’s laptop show Joe Biden naked with a young girl. ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Bill McCarthy • July 13, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 10, 2022 in an Instagram post: Shinzo Abe was assassinated because he “didn’t mandate vaccines, sent 1.6 million doses back and gave citizens ivermectin.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 11, 2022 ![](\\" black/4590875651af69b2c789ceab409664dd.jpg\\") ![](\\" black/72988380e8c8bd188dc360d11552e4a0.jpg\\") X posts stated on July 7, 2022 in in tweets: An image shows that “following his resignation, Boris Johnson has escaped to the sea.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 8, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on June 30, 2022 in Facebook posts: President Donald Trump was in a presidential limousine as he left his Jan. 6, 2021, rally at the White House Ellipse. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 8, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 2, 2022 in a Facebook post: \"Fox offers Chris Wallace\'s Sunday spot to Candace Owens.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 7, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Marjorie Taylor Greene stated on July 5, 2022 in a tweet: Says an image shows the Highland Park shooting suspect \"in jail or rehab or a psychiatric center\" before the shooting. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 5, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on June 28, 2022 in a Facebook post: An image shows a “UFO photographed on June 21, 2014 by the pilot from the cockpit of an F-16 military plane flying near Lackland Air Force Base of the United States located in San Antonio, Texas.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 30, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Greg Gutfeld stated on June 23, 2022 in a TV segment: No one “with a concealed carry permit ever committed a mass shooting.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 28, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: “Gas in Canada is $9.00 a gallon.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 22, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on June 20, 2022 in an Instagram post: A compilation of images shows what Joe Biden has “done to our country.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • June 21, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" TikTok posts stated on July 19, 2022 in a TikTok post: An image shows Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene in front of a cross with a figurine of former President Donald Trump on it. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 21, 2022 ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/322c808c00e73c217d17772ddd5a0eb5.jpg\\") ![](\\" Instagram_logo_2016.svg/8b142c91ebe468a84a192e6df2b7b994.jpg\\") Instagram posts stated on July 19, 2022 in an Instagram post: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was “faking being arrested” during an abortion- rights protest outside the Supreme Court. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 20, 2022 ![](\\" ![](\\" Facebook posts stated on July 15, 2022 in a Facebook post: \"Antifa was already inside the Capitol with floor plans dressed as Trump supporters\" on Jan. 6, 2021, proving the attack “was 100% a setup.\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Bill McCarthy • July 19, 2022 ### Photo of children sending off Ukrainian troops is from 2016, not 2022 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 17, 2024 in a Facebook post: Video shows former President Donald Trump thought he was in North Carolina while he spoke in Pennsylvania. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 22, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on August 19, 2024 in Threads posts: The Democratic National Convention was “nearly empty” during its first day. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • August 22, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" J.D. Vance stated on August 16, 2024 in a post on X: “Kamala Harris wants to give $25,000 to illegal aliens to buy American homes.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Madison Czopek • August 22, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 19, 2024 in a Threads post: “PA Gov Josh Shapiro isn’t attending the DNC at all.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 21, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Threads posts stated on August 17, 2024 in a photo: Trump said “you used to be able to get cereal for 20, 30 bucks a pound.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu • August 21, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on August 17, 2024 in In X post on Aug. 17: Photo shows “domestic Antifa are already gathering in Chicago, to create chaos during the Harris-Walz DNC.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sabine Martin • August 21, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Viral image stated on August 19, 2024 in a Facebook post: “Travis Kelce kneels during national anthem fined $10 million and thrown out of the game.” ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Ciara O\'Rourke • August 21, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on August 19, 2024 in X posts: The American flag is missing from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. ![\\"false\\"](\\" ![\\"false\\"](\\" By Sofia Ahmed • August 21, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" Tim Walz stated on August 14, 2024 in a speech in California: Former President Donald Trump “cut overtime benefits for millions of workers.” ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"barely-true\\"](\\" barely-true.jpg\\") By Amy Sherman • August 20, 2024 * ![](\\" ![](\\" X posts stated on August 19, 2024 in a post: “Women don\'t even get their own restroom at the DNC convention.” ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" th.jpg\\") ![\\"pants-fire\\"](\\" pants-fire.jpg\\") By Grace Abels • August 20, 2024 Load more ### Support independent fact-checking. 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A photo showing young children saluting troops was captured in Ukraine in 2022