Virtual Syria? Sharp-Eyed Russians Spot Video-Game Footage In State TV Report

[TomSea]

Virtual Syria? Sharp-Eyed Russians Spot Video-Game Footage In State TV Report
RFE/RL

As battlefield action shots go, the one shown on Russian state TV's flagship weekend news program was of exceptional quality: a short clip, seen through what appeared to be a sniper's scope, showing an armored vehicle in flames, destroyed ostensibly by Russian air power.

Included in a montage of video footage that aired on February 25, the clip was part of a segment illustrating the fate of Roman Filippov, the pilot who was shot down over Syria earlier this month and who has been honored by the Kremlin for his service. The entire segment was broadcast in connection with Defenders of the Fatherland Day, an annual patriotic holiday in Russia.

Except the clip, which lasted just a second, wasn't from Syria. Nor was it from Russian surveillance footage.

It was from the video game Arma-3, a fact that sharp-eyed TV watchers noticed quickly and sent ricocheting around Russian social media.

Continued at: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-state-tv-uses-video-game-for-syria-battle-footage/29064075.html