No, this video does not show a NATO strike on Moscow

No, this video does not show a NATO strike on Moscow.

This video is circulating widely on social media and is being wrongly described as showing NATO forces striking Moscow at night.

Users claim the strike on the Russian capital happened earlier this month on the eve of peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul.

They accused the NATO alliance of trying to start a nuclear war with Russia.

The far-right American radio host and known conspiracy theorist Alex Jones shared the unfounded claim in a post that has been seen more than two million times on X.

But the claim is false.

We used a reverse image search to identify the origin of this video and found it in fact was taken in December 2023.

It shows Ukraine's air force striking a Russian warship in Crimea using an air-launched cruise missile.

That strike damaged a large landing ship which Russia was using to transport tanks and land troops ashore.

It happened in the port of Feodosia in Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Some users have also linked this video with the so-called Operation Spiderweb, in which Ukraine says it destroyed as many as 40 Russian military airplanes using drones.

But the video is completely unrelated to that operation and does not show a drone strike.

NATO forces have not directly engaged in any military activity as part of Russia's war in Ukraine, but do supply Ukrainian armed forces with military equipment and arms, including long-range missiles.