What was claimed
A viral video claims to show US paratroopers landing in Ukraine.
Our verdict
False. The footage reportedly shows soldiers in North Carolina and dates back to at least 2016.
Viral video does not show US paratroopers landing in Ukraine
14 March 2022
A Facebook video viewed over seven million times shows American paratroopers, and falsely claims these are “American soldiers in Ukraine”.
The footage has actually been around since at least 2016 and reportedly shows paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions performing parachute drills at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
The United States is not directly involved in the war in Ukraine, though it is providing aid and arms to the country.
In late February, the US Army did confirm that members of the 82nd Airborne Division (which features in the Facebook video) were situated near the Ukraine-Poland border.
Reuters reported the division was stationed near Przemysl in Poland, a NATO member.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as false because the video does not show US paratroopers in Ukraine.