Footage of a man and woman having fake blood applied has been viewed thousands of times in posts claiming it shows Ukraine "faking" civilian casualties following the Russian invasion. In fact, the clip was filmed in 2020 on the set of a series called "Contamin".

"Ukraine faking Russian civilian massacres for pity and more money from international community," reads a post on BitChute from February 28.

The video, viewed more than 11,000 times, shows a man and a woman having fake blood smeared on their faces.

The video was shared in similar posts here, here and here as heavy shelling in Ukraine following Russia's invasion on February 24 killed hundreds of civilians and forced more than 1.5 million people to flee the country.

The clip was also posted by Simeon Boikov, a conspiracy theorist who runs a self-stylised military group called the Australian Cossacks, which aims to "promote pro-Russian sentiment,” he told Australia's national broadcaster ABC.

"How the Media fabricate Fake War News (Propaganda)," reads the title of a YouTube video he posted sharing the footage on February 27, which has since attracted more than 49,000 views.

However, the claim is false.

AFP found the original video after comments from social media users on the misleading posts said it had been posted on TikTok by a Ukraine-based production company called Driu Production.

A keyword search found the video posted on TikTok on December 28, 2021 -- two months before Russia invaded Ukraine -- by a TikTok...

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