Fake Euronews Video Invents Deadly Shooting
Usagevpn.com – A Fake Euronews video invents deadly shooting at a NATO drill in Latvia, and the fabricated clip has already pulled over two million views on X since appearing on 14 August. The clip mimics Euronews’ visual identity — its colour scheme, lower-third graphics, and anchor framing — to present a story in which a Ukrainian soldier allegedly opened fire during a multinational exercise, killing three allied troops before taking his own life. No such report exists on Euronews’ website or verified social accounts, and no independent outlet has corroborated any fatality at the exercise.
The Real Exercise Behind the Fabrication
The drill named in the clip is genuine. NATO’s Baltic Trust 2026 ran from 3 to 14 August in Riga, Latvia, with the stated aim of training personnel and testing counter-drone detection systems. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, unmanned-aircraft countermeasures have become a priority across European defence planning, and the exercise brought together troops from several member and partner states for joint air-domain training.
Latvia’s National Armed Forces responded within hours. On its official X account, the service posted:
“Such an incident has not occurred, and the exercises are taking place without incident.”
The statement went on to label the episode part of a “coordinated disinformation campaign” and closed with the hashtag #RussiaAlwaysLies, signalling that the Latvian military reads the fabrication as an element of Russian influence operations designed to sow discord among alliance partners.
A Recurring Pattern of Brand Hijacking
The Latvia clip follows a pattern. During the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics earlier this year, multiple doctored videos carrying the Euronews masthead circulated online, each making false claims about Ukrainian refugees and athletes. One, viewed over 114,000 times on X, alleged that Ukrainian refugees robbed a news crew. Another claimed Ukrainian supporters vandalised Milan cultural sites after skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych was disqualified. A separate pro-Russian Telegram channel pushed AI-voiced clips imitating real Euronews journalists, one of which asserted that European pension systems were being strained by spending on Ukrainian refugees.
Information-warfare analysts point to three overlapping goals behind such operations: eroding public sympathy for Ukraine as Western governments debate continued support; casting doubt on European newsrooms themselves; and manufacturing intra-alliance friction by inserting invented incidents into live multinational exercises. A fabricated report of allied forces killing one another during joint training strikes directly at the trust that makes that cooperation viable.
The Baltic Trust exercise, centred on counter-drone technology, sits squarely at that intersection. Drones have become the defining weapon of the Russia-Ukraine war, and European militaries are racing to field detection and interception capabilities. Latvia’s swift public denial, paired with its explicit framing of the episode as a coordinated campaign, underscores how seriously the Baltic states treat the information environment surrounding their defence preparations.
FAQ
Did a Ukrainian soldier actually kill NATO troops in Latvia? No. Latvia’s National Armed Forces confirmed on 14 August that no such incident occurred and that the Baltic Trust 2026 exercise proceeded without incident.
Where did the fake clip first appear? It surfaced on the platform X on 14 August, using Euronews branding and graphics to mimic a legitimate news broadcast.
How many views has the fabricated video received? More than two million views on social media as of reporting.
Is this the first time Euronews’ identity has been used for disinformation? No. Similar doctored clips circulated during the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, making false accusations about Ukrainian refugees and athletes.
