Claim: A video shows an Iranian drone hitting a building in Tel Aviv, Israel, in June 2025.
Fact: The footage predates the recent Israel-Iran conflict. According to news reports, it shows a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, from October 2022.
On 15 June 2025, a Facebook user, “Iran Military”, shared footage (archive) that apparently shows an Iranian drone hitting a building in Tel Aviv, Israel. The caption states: “Moments ago an Iranian drone struck Tel Aviv”.
The post implies that the video depicts one of the instances from Iran’s retaliatory drone strikes against Israel, carried out in June 2025.
Israel-Iran conflict
Early morning on 13 June, Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, targeting its nuclear sites and military bases. The attacks have also struck residential areas.
The missiles targeted the Natanz nuclear site, Iran’s main nuclear enrichment facility. Israel also struck the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center, damaging four buildings. The offensive killed six Iranian nuclear scientists, including Fereydoon Abbasi-Davani, former head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, and Mohammad Mehdi Tehranchi, president of the Islamic Azad University in Tehran.
Israeli attacks also killed top Iranian military officials, including General Mohammad Bagheri, Revolutionary Guards Chief Hossein Salami, and IRGC Aerospace Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh. Gholamali Rashid, the head of the IRGC’s Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, was also killed in the attack.
Soon after, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, named replacements for the two top Iranian commanders killed in the attack, the AP reported.
Israel’s attacks have killed at least 610 Iranians and injured another 4,746, according to Al Jazeera’s 24 June report, which cited the Iranian Ministry of Health.
Some 200 Israeli jets were involved in the attacks targeting 100 sites in Iran, The Guardian reported.
In response, Iran launched drones towards Israel, some of which were reportedly intercepted by Jordan and also spotted in Iraq’s airspace. According to an Israeli military official, the country’s air defences had “shot down many of the over 100 drones launched by Iran.” The retaliatory attacks have killed at least 29 people and wounded another 900.
It is necessary to note that official sources in Iran and Israel have not been regularly publishing death tolls during this time. Soch Fact Check has not independently verified the number of casualties reported by the Iranian and Israeli state.
The Israeli offensive occurred ahead of the nuclear talks which were scheduled to take place between the US and Iran on 15 June in Muscat, Oman. However, on 14 June, officials confirmed that the discussions between the two countries had been cancelled.
US strikes Iran
While the US initially distanced itself from this attack, calling Israel’s actions “unilateral”, US President Donald Trump later called the attack “excellent”. He asserted that more were to come unless Iran agrees to a deal with the US on its nuclear program. On 17 June, Trump warned Iranian citizens to “immediately evacuate” Tehran, and called for Iran’s “unconditional surrender” the following day. Trump said the US knew where Iran’s supreme leader was hiding, but did not want him killed “for now.”
On 18 June, Khamenei rejected Trump’s call for surrender, deemed it a threat and warned that any US “strikes on its territory” would have “serious irreparable consequences.”
On 22 June, the US joined the conflict by attacking three nuclear sites in Iran. The US pilots dropped 30,000 pound bunker buster bombs, supported by the Tomahawk missiles launched by the US submarines, targeting nuclear sites in Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz.
“I am gravely alarmed by the use of force by the United States against Iran today,” said the UN Secretary-General António Guterres, and described the US attack as a “dangerous escalation.”
China, Russia, and Oman condemned the US attacks on Iran, while Japan and Italy called for de-escalation, and other countries urged restraint.
Iran responded by launching missiles at the US forces at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar on 23 June.
Soon after, the US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. However, hours later, reports emerged that Israel and Iran continued to exchange attacks. Trump censured both countries for violating the agreement, “but reserved his harshest condemnation for Israel”. While addressing the media, the US President added that “Israel, as soon as we made the deal, they came out and they dropped a load of bombs, the likes of which I’ve never seen before.”
Fact or Fiction?
Soch Fact Check conducted reverse searches of the video’s keyframes and found that it predates the recent Israel-Iran conflict. According to news reports, it shows Russia striking Kyiv, Ukraine, in October 2022.
The video was featured in an article about Russian strikes in Ukraine, published by the Daily Mail (archive) in October 2022. The article displays the video with the caption: “Smoke rises from Kyiv as Iran-made kamikaze drones strike capital”. The scenes in this footage match those in the video from the claim.
The report also carries two photos, the first and second from the top, which are sourced from “Twitter” (now known as X) and align with the footage being fact-checked. The caption for the first image states: “An Iranian-made suicide drone launched by Russia dive-bombs the streets of Kyiv on Monday as the Kremlin steps up its attack on Ukraine’s cities”.
The description of the second image also reads: “Flames rise on the streets of Kyiv after a suicide drone dive-bombed the Ukrainian capital”. The video, along with the two images in the Daily Mail’s article, indicates the video in the claim is from the Russia-Ukraine war.
On the left is the screenshot from the video in the claim. On the right is the first image carried by the Daily Mail article.
At the time, Daily Mail as well as Al Jazeera and PBS News reported that Russian strikes had targeted residential areas and the energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
A Sky News report (archive) titled, “Videos show drone attacks and explosions in Kyiv, Ukraine”, from October 2022, also carried the same video. The first 13 seconds of the Sky News video match the video being fact-checked from timestamp 00:05 onward, and confirm it is unrelated to the current Israel-Iran conflict.
Unlike the original Sky News and Daily Mail videos, which are presented in a clear and consistent format, the video in the claim appears to be altered to prevent its authentication. First, the overlaid text in the footage [translated into English] reads: “The Iranian attack”, which seems to misleadingly link the video to the recent conflict. Secondly, the footage in the claim appears to be a flipped version of the videos from Daily Mail and Sky News. These two factors can hinder successful reverse searches and prevent the verification of their origin.
Therefore, the claim that the video shows an Iranian drone strike on Israel is false.
Virality
The Facebook post was viewed over 1 million times and received 33,000 likes.
It also appeared on Facebook here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.
On Instagram here.
On X here.
On YouTube here, here, and here.
Conclusion: The video predates the recent Israel-Iran conflict. According to news reports, it shows a Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, in October 2022.
Background image in cover photo: Yahoo News
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