A recent TikTok post purports to show Russia attacking Israel in mid-October with a video of a pilot flying.
“Today Russia attack on Israel,” reads the text in the video, which was posted mid-October on TikTok.
But this video has been online for more than a year.
TikTok identified this video as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact’s partnership with TikTok.)
We found the same video shared on the social media platform on Oct. 1, 2022, but this post didn’t suggest there was any connection to Israel or Russia. It used hashtags that included #airforce but didn’t include an explanation for what was happening in the video.
We don’t know precisely what’s happening in this video, but we can confirm that it doesn’t show Russia attacking Israel after Hamas’ Oct. 7 assault on Israel, which led to an ongoing war.
English — not Russian or Hebrew — can be heard in both versions of the video, including the word “altitude.”
And the pilot’s badge suggests he’s American. It’s an Air Combat Command Shield from the U.S. Air Force.
Moscow has maintained close relations with Hamas, Foreign Policy reported Oct. 19, and the Kremlin has never declared it to be a terrorist group, unlike the U.S. “But so far, there is no clear evidence that Russia supported Hamas in planning or executing its surprise attack on Israel,” the story said.
China and Russia, meanwhile, plan to work together to reach a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, according to The Associated Press.
We found no news reports or other credible evidence that Russia has attacked Israel, much less that this video shows such an invasion.
We rate this claim False.