Fact check: Video clip shows fictional 2014 movie, not Ukrainian soldiers killing civilians

The claim: Video shows Ukrainian soldiers killing civilians in Chechnya

Some social media users have been disseminating a video they claim shows Ukrainian soldiers killing people in Chechnya.

The video shows what appears to be a confrontation between soldiers and civilians. A soldier shoots two of the civilians with a rifle. 

"This is what the Ukrainian army did when they entered the land of Chechnya," the video is captioned in a March 9 Facebook post. "Forward so people can see the real truth about Ukrainians."

The video was viewed more than 9,000 times in a few days.

But the claim is false. The video is actually a clip from a fictional movie, as  independent fact-checking organizations have reported.

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USA TODAY reached out to Facebook users who shared the claim for comment.

Video is from 2014 movie, not authentic war footage

The video featured in the social media posts is a clip from the 2014 movie "The Search." The fictional movie was set in Chechnya amid a Russian invasion in 1999, according to IMDb.

The movie was uploaded to YouTube on Feb. 24, 2020. The clip shown in the social media posts begins at timestamp 3:38.

Fact check: Video shows Libyan fighter jet shot down in 2011, not Russian plane in Ukraine

USA TODAY has debunked multiple videos falsely claiming to show footage associated with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. For instance, social media users have claimed that old videos and even video game footage showed recent events in Ukraine since Russia's invasion on Feb. 24. 

Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that a video shows Ukrainian soldiers killing civilians in Chechnya. The video is a clip from a fictional 2014 film.

Our fact-check sources:

• Reuters, March 10, Fact Check-Video shows 2014 French drama film set in Chechnya, not real war footage
• YouTube, Feb 24, 2020, The Search (Google translated)
• Google translate, March 10, YouTube video: Quest The Search 2014 DVDRip Turkish Dubbing English subtitles
• IMDb, accessed March 10, The Search
• The Guardian, accessed March 10, Chechnya
• USA TODAY, March 10, Fact check roundup: What's true and what's false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine
• USA TODAY, March 10, Ukraine Russia invasion live updates
• USA TODAY, March 7, Fact check: Fighter jet clip from video game, not Russian invasion of Ukraine
• USA TODAY, Feb. 24, Fact check: Viral video shows 2015 explosion in China, not in Ukraine

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