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UPDATE 14.11.2017, 17:34 CET:

The Russian Defense Ministry said that it is investigating its civil employee who attached wrong photos to illustrate its statement on the ISIS withdrawal from al-Bukamal.

“The Defense Ministry is investigating its civil service employee who erroneously attached wrong photo illustrations to its statement on interaction between the US-led international coalition and militants of the Islamic State [terrorist organization outlawed in Russia] near Abu Kamal, Syria,” the ministry said, according to the Russian state-run media agency TASS.

It also released released new photos:

The post was originally released on November 14, 12:05 CET:

On November 14, the Russian Defense Ministry released a series of photos allegedly showing an ISIS withdrawal from the Syrian city of al-Bukamal. The ministry said that the US-led coalition assisted the ISIS terrorists withdrawing from the city.

However, the photos were fake. [UPDATE 13:03 CET: The photos disappeared from the Russian Defense Ministry’s Facebook and Twitter accounts]

1. The photo below was released by the Russian Defense Ministry on November 14. It was aimed to show an ISIS column withdrawing from al-Bukamal.

However, it appears that the Russian Defense Ministry’s photo is just a part of the AC-130 Gunship Simulator video.

Video:

2. Another photo is indeed from Iraq. It shows the US-led coalition airstrikes against ISIS near Fallujah.

The Russian Defense Minsitry’s photo:

The original:

Video:

3. The photo below is also a screenshot from the video “Iraqi Airstrikes Hit ISIS Convoy Fleeing Fallujah P. -2-“.

4. Another photo is also a screenshot from the same video:

5. And this photo is also a screenshot from the video showing airstrikes on ISIS in Iraq.

Video:

It is not clear if this a mistake or something else. Were the Russian Defense Ministry’s social media accounts hacked? However, it’s clear that this undermines the report’s credibility.

By 13:03 CET, the Russian Defense Ministry had deleted the photos from its statement:

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