“Russia is carrying out naval exercises with nuclear submarines just 100 kilometers off the coast of Florida”reads one of the posts shared on Facebook (1, 2), Instagram and X.
The same statement circulated in English.
Screenshot of a Facebook post, made on June 24, 2024
Tickets began circulating after a Russian naval detachment visited Havana for five days in mid-June. The Russian nuclear submarine Kazan, accompanied by other warships, docked in Havana on June 12 and departed on June 17.
U.S. officials said they were aware of the 2024 Russian deployment and that the ships were not carrying nuclear weapons.
“We have been following the Russians’ plans for this. This is not a surprise”Deputy Press Secretary of Defense Sabrina Singh said at a June 12 press conference.
“We will always, constantly, monitor the operations of any foreign vessel near US territorial waters. Of course, we take it seriously, but these exercises do not pose a threat to the United States.”said.
Video from 2018 in the White Sea
A reverse keyframe search allowed us to find the original video, published on May 23, 2018 on the Voice of America YouTube account, whose initials, VOA, are also visible in the viral recording.
The footage is credited to the Russian Defense Ministry and shows simulated nuclear warheads being fired from the White Sea, off Russia’s northwest coast, toward the Kamchatka Peninsula.
“A Russian nuclear-powered submarine successfully tested four intercontinental ballistic missiles on Tuesday, the navy said”points out the description of the video on the VOA account.
“The submarine, named Yuri Dolgorukiy after the medieval prince who founded Moscow, launched the Bulava missiles in a single salvo from a submerged position in the White Sea. The simulated warheads carried by the missiles hit their practice targets on the opposite side of Russia, at the Kura firing range on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East,” reads the video description.
The same sequence was published in 2018 by the India-based news channel WION, and the launch was also reported by other media outlets (1, 2) and the Russian news agency Tass.
