Video Of Failed Russian Rocket Launch Passed Off As Pak Missile

Dramatic footage of a rocket crashing seconds after take off is being shared with the false claim that it is from the recent launch of Pakistan's nuclear capable ballistic missile 'Ghaznavi'.

The 45-seconds clip shows a rocket take off but soon lose its trajectory, somersault and explode while still in flight.

The clip was shared with the misleading caption that reads, "Pakistan's 13th test of Ghaznavi missile failed. The missile going up to 300Km ended up burning like a fallen paper at 36Km."

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(In Hindi - "पाकिस्तान की गजनवी मिसाइल का 13वां टेस्ट जो फेल हो गया। 300Km तक जानेवाली मिसाइल 36Km पर गिरी कागज की तरह जल कर खत्म हुई।") 

The video is viral in the backdrop of Pakistan successfully conducting a training launch of a nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile 'Ghaznavi', which can strike targets up to 290 kilometers reported Economic Times on January 23, 2020.

We searched with the same caption on Facebook and found that the video was viral with the misleading caption.

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FACT-CHECK

A Twitter user alerted us stating that it is an old video of a Russian Proton-M rocket explosion. We search with 'Proton M rocket' on Google and found that the video was indeed from the failed launch of the Russian rocket in 2013. 

On can spot the same visuals in this video uploaded to YouTube by The Telegraph on July 1, 2013. The description reads: "A Russian Proton-M rocket carrying three navigation satellites crashes soon after takeoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur Cosmodrome."  

The video description further sates that, "The Spectacular footage showed the rocket veering off its trajectory just seconds after its launch at 0638 am (0238 GMT), before erupting into a ball of flames and releasing highly toxic rocket fuel into the air. The Russian space agency Roskosmos, said the accident caused no damage or casualties."

Russia Today, state owned Russian media outlet had a detailed report on the incident reported on July 2, 2013. The report mentions that the Russian Proton-M rocket was carrying three GLONASS navigation satellites and crashed 17 seconds after takeoff from Kazakhstan's Baikonur cosmodrome.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), military media wing of the Pakistan Armed Forces had posted the footage of the successful launch of ballistic missile Ghaznavi on its official YouTube channel.