Russia starts investigation into employee who published footage from video game as ‘proof of U.S. support of ISIS in Syria’
The Russian Ministry of Defense is conducting an investigation into an employee who mistakenly attached photographs to military department statement on the interaction of the U.S.-led international coalition and militants of ISIS in the city of Abu Kamal in Syria. This was stated in a release from the Russian defense department, reported RIA Novosti.
The investigation that is being conducted concerns a civil service employee, the release stated.
On Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry published on its official Facebook page and Twitter accounts a report that the U.S. only pretends to fight against ISIS, but in fact refused to engage with a group of terrorists. The posts were accompanied by photographs, which, as stated in the posts, were made from Russian drones and were “irrefutable evidence.”
Later, a group of investigators from the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT) reported that one of the images submitted by the Defense Ministry was a screenshot from the game AC-130 Gunship Simulator: Special Ops Squadron. Other photos, according to CIT experts, were taken from a video of the Iraqi Air Force’s actions in the Fallujah area in 2016.
Later, the Facebook and Twitter posts with the photos attached to them were removed. Afterward, new posts with accusations against Americans were published on the department’s social network pages that were similar to those that had been removed, but without photos. Later, the department attached new photos to the posts. In them, the department says, a line of ISIS vehicles is visible, leaving Abu Kamal and heading towards the Syrian-Iraqi border.