MApN: Fake news about Romanian HIMARS and Gepard systems heading to the Republic of Moldova

The Romanian Ministry of National Defense warns over an online fake news, regarding a so-called recent “relocation” of some anti-aircraft defense systems from the endowment of the Romanian Army to the border with the Republic of Moldova. In reality, the images used to spread fake news are from the preparation of the military parade on December 1 last year, MApN states.

The video material used for the distribution of this topic on various online platforms, in which appear, among others, HIMARS and Gepard systems from Romanian military units, was made at the end of November 2022, in the center of Alba Iulia, on the occasion of training for the military ceremony organized to celebrate Romania’s National Day, the Ministry of Defense states on Tuesday, in a statement.

“Falsely, with the obvious aim of inducing panic, the video material is presented, on February 27, 2023, as “the move of the Romanian air defense systems to the border with the Republic of Moldova, this morning”, the statement reads.

The ministry also says that many of the users who posted comments on that post “noticed that the video material is, in fact, an old recording, they also correctly indicated the real location of the filming, even calling on users not to (re)distribute these false information”.

Video claiming to show military equipment in Romania moving towards Moldova is disinfo. Looks like an info-op to stoke up tensions between Moldova, Romania and the Russian sham republic Transnistria. https://t.co/oBNUMnSklq

— Euan MacDonald (@Euan_MacDonald) February 27, 2023