Romanian Air Force Replies to Fake News Spread by Russian Propaganda

Russian propaganda hits the Romanian media again with another piece of fake news about the conflict in Ukraine. This time, the very Romanian Air Force responded promptly to stop the misinformation from spreading more.

Russian propaganda launched a fake news article that created a frenzy in the Romanian media and social platforms regarding how the Ukrainian Air Force accidentally shot down two NATO aircraft over Romania. It’s about those two aircraft that crashed on March 2 near the Black Sea, killing eight.

The fake news said the Ukrainian S-300 was responsible for shooting down two NATO aircraft in an incident of friendly fire, after which eight Romanian military personnel had been killed. The source wrote about a real tragedy in Romania a few days ago in the wrong context, highlighting both the Ukrainian and the Romanian forces’ ”questionable training”.

Given that the news has spread mainly on the social networking platform Facebook, Romanian Air Forces intervened in the matter. The problem with fake news is that it spreads quickly, as it covers sensitive subjects most of the time, and it’s hard to deny it once it’s on the public agenda.

Romanian Air Force replied quickly

Romanian Air Force issued a press release, mentioning that the news is fake and no such accident has occurred in the past days.

The statement is completely false. – The “information” referred to is nothing more than misinformation from the Russian online media and has nothing to do with actual facts or events.

Romanian Air Force press release

According to the press release of the Romanian Air Force, the information about the two accidents was communicated by the Ministry of National Defense in the most transparent manner possible. The Minister of National Defense created a technical inquiry commission to look into these jet crashes circumstances. At the same time, the Military Prosecutor’s Office was contacted, and training flights with certain aircraft types were halted until the specialized inquiry was finished.

We state that no elements were discovered to indicate a possible impact with a projectile or missile following the verifications carried out so far by the appropriate committee of investigation.

Romanian Air Force press release

Even though Romania blocked the Russian sites following misinformation caused by Russian propaganda about the situation between Russia and Ukraine, it is clear that the country still faces fake news. One reason would be Romania’s involvement in supporting Ukraine, which attracted Moscow’s attention.

Given how the Romanian Air Force reacted, one solution would be for the Romanian authorities to respond promptly and quickly stop any false information regarding the conflict in Ukraine.