FACT CHECK: Was A US Navy Ship Attacked By A Russian Warship?

A post shared on Facebook claims a U.S. Navy ship was recently attacked by a Russian warship.

Verdict: False

There is no evidence to suggest a U.S. Navy ship has been attacked by a Russian warship. A Department of Defense (DOD) spokesperson denied the claim.

Fact Check:

The U.S. has pledged more than $2.5 billion in military assistance to Ukraine as the country continues to fight off a Russian invasion, according to Reuters. Despite this, President Joe Biden and other U.S. officials have repeatedly said that U.S. troops will not be pulled into the conflict, The Washington Post reports.

A post shared on Facebook calls this commitment to neutrality into question. The post features an eight-minute video that shows several clips of missiles and weapons being fired from naval vessels. “Horrible! Russian Warship Hit US Destroyer Amid Delivery Missiles to Ukraine in Russia Pacific Coast,” reads the video’s title.

The claim in the video’s title is false. Check Your Fact searched news outlets such as The New York Times, the Associated Press and Reuters but found no reports of a U.S. Navy vessel being attacked by a Russian warship. Neither the U.S. Navy nor the DOD has issued a statement or press release on such a development.

“That is false,” said a DOD spokesperson in an email to Check Your Fact when asked about the viral claim. (RELATED: Does This Image Show The Moskva On Fire?)

The video included in the Facebook post offers no source to corroborate the title’s claim and simply recites the text of a November 2020 report from The Guardian about a brief standoff between the Russian and U.S. Navy in the waters off Russia’s Pacific coast. The article makes no mention of Ukraine.

The video shared on Facebook appears to originate with an April 23 YouTube video shared on the YouTube channel “Military Vids.” The account has previously shared videos with titles that make unsupported claims, such as one that alleges France attacked a Russian warship and another that claims North Atlantic Treaty Organization forces shot at Russian aircraft.

Check Your Fact has reached out to the U.S. Navy and the Center for Strategic and International Studies for comment and will update this piece if a response is given.

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