Video shared as Iran firing missiles is actually footage Russia released in 2022
A video circulating on social media claims to show Iran launching ballistic missiles from underwater. A Dismislab fact-check finds this claim to be false. The footage dates back to March 26, 2022, and shows Russia firing missiles at Ukraine.
On March 3, 2026, a personal Facebook profile posted the video, claiming: “Iran’s new surprise! Today they launched ballistic missiles from underwater. This is dangerous. See the video in the comments — missiles emerging from underwater, one after another. Iran’s Aerospace Force published this. The U.S. Air Force was identifying and destroying land-based missile launch pads with radar, but how will they destroy underwater ones? This is complicated. Today Iran also announced that it destroyed two U.S. THAAD air-defense systems in the Middle East. THAAD is so powerful that it needs a separate analytical post to explain. For now, understand that Iran has blinded the U.S. in the Middle East — if the incident is true, and Iran is clearly advancing with strong military calculations.”
The post had received over 8,100 reactions and had been shared 200 times at the time of publication. The 11‑second video in the comments shows four missiles emerging from underwater in succession. Several other Facebook profiles (1, 2, 3, 4,5) and pages also posted the same footage with identical claims.
Using reverse image searches of multiple key frames, Dismislab traced the footage to a verified X account belonging to Russia’s Ministry of Defense, which posted the video on March 26, 2022. The caption stated: “The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation launched missile strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure using precision weapons.” The segment between 6 and 17 seconds in the original 29‑second video matches the viral clip exactly.
On the same day, Russia’s Ministry of Defense posted the video on its verified Facebook page with a caption saying: “The Russian Armed Forces have launched precise missile strikes on Ukrainian military infrastructure. 💥 The crew of a small missile ship belonging to the Black Sea Fleet launched four Kalibr cruise missiles from the Black Sea targeting Ukrainian military facilities. These high‑precision weapons destroyed a depot of weapons and military equipment in the Zhytomyr region.” The same footage also appeared on YouTube that day, shared with the same claim.
Further verification found additional reports (1, 2) featuring the same launch footage. A June 19, 2022 report by Deutsche Welle includes a still from the video with the caption: “Russia says it used sea‑launched Kalibr missiles in the attack (file photo of a March strike).”
Thus, the video being shared as “Iran firing missiles” is actually from 2022 and shows a different context entirely. Dismislab has previously published multiple fact‑checks regarding misinformation linked to the ongoing Iran‑Israel conflict.
