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FACT BRIEF

Does a video show rows of graves dug for Russian soldiers before the war in Ukraine started?

By Marlo Lee
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NO

The video of open graves in Russia does predate Russia's invasion of Ukraine. However, the graves weren't dug in anticipation of Russian deaths from the invasion. The administrator of the cemetery told a Russian news outlet in 2021 that they dig many graves in the fall because the ground becomes too hard in the winter.

A reverse image search of the video by Lead Stories found the same video in a tweet published on Oct. 9, 2021. A Russian news report in 2021 quoted the administrator of the cemetery explaining graves are dug in the autumn to avoid digging in the hard ground of Russia's winter.

This video circulating in March 2022 was also used in 2021 to incorrectly claim that this cemetery was digging graves for oncoming deaths because of "forced vaccinations."

See a full discussion of this at Lead Stories
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
SiTV Why So Many Graves? Russian News Site 2021
ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTOR
Lead Stories
Lead Stories is a fact checking and debunking website at the intersection of big data and journalism that launched in 2015. It scouts for trending stories, images, videos and posts that contain false information in order to fact check them as quickly as possible. It actively monitors the fake-news ecosystem and doesn’t wait for reader tips or reports before getting started on a story.
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About fact briefs published on Gigafact
Fact briefs are short, credibly sourced summaries that offer “yes/no” answers in response to claims found online. They rely on publicly available, often primary source data and documents. Fact briefs are created by contributors to Gigafact —a nonprofit project looking to expand participation in fact-checking and protect the democratic process. See all fact briefs here.