Photos of war makeup in Ukraine are from combat medic training in 2016
Four photos being shared on social media of a woman having war wound makeup applied to her face and body are from a medic training exercise in 2016.
At least one of the images was posted by an Instagram user whose profile describes her as a combat medic in Ukraine. The same woman appears in three of the photos.
A Twitter user with the same handle as the Instagram user tweeted Nov. 25 that "enemy propagandists" stole her photos from the 2016 training sessions to misrepresent them.
Allegations that images showing war devastation in Ukraine were staged have been shared on social media since Russia invaded the country in February.
We've debunked multiple claims about photos, including a false one that said a teacher injured on the first day of the war was a crisis actor.
Our ruling
An Instagram post claims that photos of war wound makeup being applied to a woman are fake combat photos, implying the violence in Ukraine isn't real.
But the photos can be traced to an Instagram user who described herself as a combat medic veteran. She shared at least one of the images on Instagram in 2016. A woman with the same handle on Twitter wrote that the photos were from training sessions and were being misrepresented by "enemy propagandists."
There is no evidence the photos were staged to show an injury from the current battle in Ukraine. We rate the claim False.
UPDATE, Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m. ET: The story was updated Dec. 1 to add the response from an Instagram user received after publication of this article.
