Photo of soldiers is not from current-day Ukraine

Amid a flood of photos misleadingly labeled as if they show current events in Ukraine, another recycled image with an incorrect caption is circulating on social media.

A March 6 post on Facebook says an image shows "Ukrainian soldiers praying." The caption also says, "Another part of the unseen story. Join them in praying."

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The caption implies that the image is from current-day Ukraine, but the photo dates to at least 2017. And when it was posted on Facebook at that time, its caption said it showed U.S. soldiers.

In October 2017, SML Ministries shared the photo on Facebook with the caption, "Powerful image of U. S. soldiers praying together after a chapel service in Fort Benning, Georgia."

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, old media is being repackaged on all platforms, Joan Donovan, research director at the Shorenstein Center of Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard, told NPR.

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Viral image

stated on February 24, 2022 in a Facebook post

Video shows footage from Russia invading Ukraine.

"And so we have been seeing quite a bit of people just trying to get clicks, likes and shares," Donovan said. "Some is financially motivated, and then other parts of it are propaganda."

We rate the claim that an image shows Ukrainian soldiers praying False.