Images show the control room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, not the Pakistani air force base after India’s strike
A few days after India attacked several Pakistani air force bases, a photo circulated in social media posts falsely claimed it showed damage to one of the bases’ control rooms. In fact, it was the Chernobyl nuclear power plant decades after the facility was abandoned.
“Scene in Nur Khan Airbase,” wrote in a Hindi post shared on Facebook on May 18.
Screenshot of fake posts taken on May 21, 2025
The facility was a week ago three Pakistan Air Force bases targeted by Indian missiles, with New Delhi and Islamabad having a fierce four-day conflict (released link).
The battle killed more than 70 people in both countries before a ceasefire was agreed on on May 10 (released link).
The conflict was triggered by a radical attack on April 22 in India-controlled Kashmir, which killed 26 people, mainly Hindu men. New Delhi accused Pakistan of supporting the attack, and Islamabad denied the attack (archive).
The fake posts have spread hundreds of times between Facebook and Hindi-speaking users on X.
Some users seem to think that the claim is true.
One user commented: “A good air base built was destroyed due to our soldiers.”
“Beautiful view. My heart feels happy,” another wrote.
But Google’s reverse image search showed the wrong picture, which actually showed the control room of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, similar to stock photo sites Alamy and Adobe Stock (archived here and here).
CNN released a picture in a report taken on May 29, 2020 by German photographer Bernhard Ludewig (a link to archive).
Comparison of screenshots of fake posts (left) and photos in CNN posts
Ludewig told AFP on May 22 that images circulating online depict the control room of the power plant.
“Today there is basically only one good photographic spot left…so most pictures will show things from very similar perspectives,” he said in an email.
The Telegram also released a video, shot at the factory on October 25, 2019, showing similar visuals (archive link).
A reactor at the Chernobyl power plant exploded in a one-time safety test conducted on April 26, 1986, causing the world’s worst nuclear accident that caused radiating clouds across much of Europe and forced thousands of people to evacuate (a link to archive).
AFP debunked other misinformation from the conflict between India and Pakistan.
