Russia-Ukraine War: Truth Was The First Victim

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky regularly announces that Russian aircraft have been shot down, sometimes ten in ten days, including fighter jets and spy planes. However, it should be remembered that this is a land war, with the air force and navy playing a relatively small role.

Bahmut, 2024. március 3. Az ukrán 28. gépesített dandár katonái egy 122 milliméteres önjáró löveggel készülnek orosz állásokat támadni a kelet-ukrajnai Bahmut település közelében húzódó frontvonalnál 2024. március 3-án. MTI/AP/Efrem Lukackij Fotó: Efrem Lukackij

As to why there is little evidence from the Ukrainian side about the downing of the planes, Attila Demko said that "there are coincidences when a plane is destroyed, someone is filming. Take Prigozhin's aircraft, but there are also videos and pictures of the IL-76. It is simply difficult to tell".

"When Zelensky announces that a plane was shot down, but has no proof, it could be that the Russians were able to prevent the footage from being released or there was simply no footage taken. Or what the Ukrainians claim is just not true. In a war, both sides try to depict the best image of themselves, while the enemy is seen as incompetent and incapable," the expert added.

Hard to check authenticity

There are countless videos and images posted on the internet, and it is difficult to check them for authenticity. What is real can often and easily be confused with staged or edited pictures and videos.

It is extremely difficult to tell which is authentic and which is not. Even the best experts can be fooled by an edited video. But a clue can be found when a photo or a news item appears about a pilot's funeral. Many people don't look for videos or photos, but for reports of funerals, especially if it says war hero,

Demko pointed out.

It's hard to tell from a law-quality photo whether it's real or not. But the expert says that if we have the name of the pilot, the type of plane he was flying and the fact that he is described as a war hero, then we can say it is authentic. There have been several examples of this on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides. In the absence of this, it is questionable whether the plane that was thought to have been downed on the basis of the radar image was indeed shot down.

Cover photo: Soldiers of Ukraine's 28th mechanized brigade prepare to attack Russian positions with a 122 mm self-propelled gun on the front line near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine on March 3, 2024 (Photo: MTI/AP/Efrem Lukacki)