BBC warns of fake video suggesting Ukraine carried out attack on own civilians

People have been urged to ignore a fake video circulating online with the BBC News branding that suggests Ukraine was responsible for a deadly missile attack on its own civilians.

The video, which uses the BBC News logo and the same red and white coloured graphics as the broadcaster, gives the false impression that Ukrainian armed forces were behind a missile attack on a railway station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine on Friday.

The BBC press office said: “We are aware of a fake video with BBC News branding suggesting Ukraine was responsible for last week’s missile attack on Kramatorsk train station.

“The BBC is taking action to have the video removed.

“We urge people not to share it and to check stories on the BBC News website.”

The mocked-up video, which is reported to have originated among pro-Kremlin accounts, has since been aired on Russian state TV and spread across social media.

The one minute and 27 second-long video shows a BBC-style explainer saying the missile serial number was similar to those fired by the Ukrainian army.

Underneath the text is graphic clips of bodies covering the ground in the aftermath of the explosion along with footage of damaged tower blocks across Ukraine and the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walking with military personnel.

In another part of the video, the text refers to the Ukrainian president as “Zelenskyy”, but the BBC website spells his surname as “Zelensky”.

The fake video also claims that “military experts stress” that Ukraine is using “fake news to promote its position”.

Around 4,000 civilians were thought to be in and around the Kramatorsk railway station when a missile hit on Friday and 50 people were killed, according to Ukrainian authorities.

Photos from the scene showed bodies covered with tarpaulins on the ground and the remnants of a rocket with the words “For the children” painted on it in Russian.

The Russian Defence Ministry has denied that Russia was behind the attack.

President Zelensky and other Ukrainian leaders have accused Russia’s military of deliberately targeting a location where only civilians were assembled.