A TikTok account has published a video claiming that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is arming Kosovo with powerful modern equipment.
This video footage shows footage of several tanks, through which it is claimed that this equipment and several missiles have already arrived in Kosovo.
After fact-checking conducted by hibrid.info, it has been confirmed that the images of the tanks presented in the material belong to the US military, which in October had completed an operation in Lithuania.
Link to the video material published on TikTok by the account "vajza_malsoreketu":
A similar claim about the arrival of this military equipment in Kosovo was made by another TikTok account, "mtrks25". (see here)
After research conducted by hibrid.info, the same video material was found published on Youtube by the “US Military District” channel on November 1. (see here)
Part of the description of this video, translated into Albanian:
US Paladin Howitzer conducts operations in Lithuania
U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to Bravo Battery, 26st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, conduct live fire and motopolina maintenance with M109A7 Paladin Howitzers during an artillery tabletop exercise in Pabradec, O.C., May 25, 2023.
Analyze:
Several TikTok pages have published a video showing several US Army tanks during an operation in Lithuania, claiming that they arrived in Kosovo as a gift from Turkey.
Based on its work methodology, hibrid.info assesses this claim as "Fake News".
Reasoning:
The "Fake News" rating is given to media reports that are entirely the product of a medium that itself contains factually incorrect claims or information.
Content that is considered fake news can be reliably determined to have been created and distributed with the intent to misinform the public, i.e., to present a claim that is completely false as fact.