Following President Donald Trump’s declaration that the ceasefire is over, tensions surrounding the Iran conflict have intensified, leading to the rapid spread of misleading content online. On Wednesday, social media users began sharing videos that allegedly captured new attacks by Iran, including one specific clip that has been viewed over 288,000 times on the platform X.
The post claims that the footage depicts a “highly classified” US facility engulfed in flames following a retaliatory strike by Iran. However, this claim is false. A visual analysis reveals that the video actually shows a fire that occurred at the Pravoberezkny Market in St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 10.
The footage shows thick plumes of smoke rising from a burning building, with firefighters and bystanders gathered nearby amidst a backdrop of city streets and high-rise apartments. Visual cues, such as the distinct round structure over the entrance and triangular roof elements, confirm that the video matches previous recordings of the St. Petersburg incident.
This is not the first time the video has been used to spread misinformation. Reverse image searches show the clip previously circulated in May with false claims that it depicted various scenarios, including an Iranian attack on Dubai, a US strike on Kuwait, and a Hezbollah attack on a secret base in Israel. The video has been widely shared across multiple platforms, including Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, in various languages such as Arabic, Turkish, Indonesian, and Spanish.
We can thus geolocate the video as showing the Pravoberezkny Market in St. Petersburg (59.904505, 30.469624).
