Fake BBC video reports on “war” between Russia and NATO

ByCraig Haley

A video snippet of what appears to be a BBC report about a “serious incident between Russia and NATO” is spreading across social media, and it’s fake.

The video, which begins with the familiar BBC News opening music, appears to show a BBC reporter detailing an attack on a Russian surveillance vessel by NATO forces. As the video progresses, it is announced that Russia had launched thermonuclear missiles and that the Royal Family had been evacuated.

The video ends on an “Emergency Broadcast” screen as a narrator details advice on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack. A screenshot of the report can be sen below.

Don’t worry though, as the video wasn’t real. According to the BBC, the video was actually recorded in 2016 for an Irish company. The video features an actor named Mark Ryes, who offers video and voiceover services for companies.

Mr Ryes told the BBC: “It was created by a company called Benchmarking Assessment Group as a psychometric test for their clients to see how they’d react in a disaster scenario.”


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According to the BBC News Press Team Twitter feed, the video has been circulating on social media, specifically WhatsApp. The Twitter feed dismissed the video as “fake news”.

While original instances of the video came with a clear disclaimer asserting the video was not meant to be taken seriously, as is often the case online, it has escaped sans disclaimer and has been taken at face value by many on social media.

With stories and videos like this, we’d always recommend seeking independent verification with a secondary source. Even if the video appears to have come from a reputable news outlet, that may not be the case if you’re viewing/reading it on social media and not on their website.

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