Two old photos circulate as Iranian and Russian cargo planes arriving in Damascus

Social media accounts recently published two photos of two planes, claiming that one of them is Russian and the other Iranian, and that they arrived in Damascus following the “Deterrence of Aggression” operation. The photos were accompanied by the following text: “Breaking: Two Iranian and Russian cargo planes have arrived in Damascus.”

Kashif verified the two images via “Google Images” tool and found that the two images are old, and that the claim is misleading. The two images are of two Russian aircraft, and were circulated before the start of Operation “Deterrence of Aggression” on 27/11/2024.

The first photo was published by a number of websites, including “armyrecognition” on 1/7/2019. The photo was accompanied by the following description: “Russian Air Force 76MD-90A aircraft.” “SPUTNIK” published the photo on 7/5/2023 in a report titled “Yushin Il-76: Meet the Head of the Russian Strategic Transport Aircraft.” “AlePogoda” account on “X” published the circulated photo on 9/1/2017. The websites and the account mentioned that it was taken by photographer Alexey Reznichenko.

The second photo was published by “SPUTNIK” on 13/7/2015, which stated that it was taken by “Iliya Pitalev”. It documents “a military transport plane transporting injured soldiers after a military barracks collapsed at the paratrooper training center on the outskirts of Omsk.”

The opposition factions announced on Wednesday 27/11/2024 the start of a military operation called “Deterrence of Aggression.” While the foreign ministers of Iran and Russia expressed their support for Syria following the operation.