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Kumar Malhotra
Image source
The distinctive yellow-colored residential building in the background assisted us locate the footage.
We are checking video footage and photographs circulated this morning that depict the aftermath of a reported vehicle-borne explosive blast that authorities in Russia say fatally injured a high-ranking military officer in Moscow.
Russian authorities confirmed that Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov was in the car that exploded and that he succumbed of his injuries. An investigation is currently ongoing.
Our starting point to check the site of where the pictures originated relied on social media reports indicating the blast happened on Yasenevaya Street in the southern district of the capital city of Russia.
Our analysis employed street-view imagery on Google Maps and the local mapping service Yandex to corroborate the unique yellow hue of a adjacent apartment building captured in the video.
Locating additional buildings, streetlights and the street layout confirmed where the footage were taken.
We also checked that the videos were new and that the visuals had not been digital alteration.
