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Emma Pengelly
Image source
The distinctive yellow-fronted apartment block visible behind assisted us verify the video.
Our team is verifying video footage and photographs circulated this morning that purport to show the aftermath of a reported car bomb blast that authorities in Russia say fatally injured a high-ranking soldier in Moscow.
Russian authorities stated that Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov was inside the vehicle that exploded and that he later died to his wounds. An investigation is currently ongoing.
The initial step to verify the location from which the images originated relied on social media reports saying the explosion occurred on Yasenevaya Ulitsa in the southern part of the Russian capital.
Our analysis employed street-view imagery on digital map platforms and the local mapping service Yandex to corroborate the distinctive yellow colour of a adjacent apartment building seen in the footage.
Locating other buildings, lamp-posts and the street layout verified the exact location the pictures were taken.
We also checked that the videos were recent and that the images had not been digital alteration.
