No, BBC didn't report that Ukraine politician David Arakhamia supplied weapons to Hamas

By: Ishita Goel
December 13 2023

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Social media posts claiming that BBC reported that David Arakhamia is being investigated. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What is the claim?

A screenshot, purportedly from the BBC, claims that an investigation has been launched into David Arakhamia, a Ukrainian People's Deputy. The image of Arakhamia is accompanied by text stating, "David Arakhamia is suspected of brokering the sale of Ukrainian arms to Hamas representatives."

This post, along with others making similar claims, has been widely shared on social media. One such caption reads, "BBC assure investigation has been launched into Arahamia for his involvement in selling western weapons to Hamas, which allowed the latter to successfully attack Israel (sic)."

Another post includes a short video allegedly from the BBC, along with three screenshots from the clip. Our investigation traced the viral screenshot to this video, which contains various claims involving the International Criminal Court (ICC), BBC journalist Shayan Sardarizadeh, the investigative journalism group Bellingcat, and its founder Eliot Higgins. Archived versions of these posts can be accessed here, here, and here.

Screenshots of the viral posts on social media. (Source: Facebook/X/Modified by Logically Facts)

What are the facts?

The clip in question appears to be a BBC report alleging the involvement of a Ukrainian politician in arms sales to Hamas. "The ICC is preparing a case against Ukrainian politician David Arahmia. Bellingcat journalists received this information from a source close to the prosecutor's office of the International Criminal Court. David Arahmia is suspected of brokering the sale of Ukrainian arms to Hamas representatives,” the first few slugs of the video read. Further, the clip claimed Sardarizadeh and Higgins had also weighed in and provided inputs on the allegations.

However, this video is a fabrication. It mimics the style of genuine BBC YouTube videos but lacks authenticity. No such report exists on the BBC's website or social media channels, as confirmed by our search of the BBC website and archived pages.

Additionally, the clip misspells 'Arakhmia' as 'Arahmia,' a mistake unlikely for the BBC. Authentic BBC reports spell the name correctly as 'Arakhmia.'

What about the entities named in the clip?

Logically Facts also contacted the BBC, receiving confirmation that, "This is not a BBC News report."

Further, no credible reports support the claim that the ICC is investigating Arakhamia for arms sales to Hamas. The ICC's website also lacks information corroborating the clip's claims.

On December 6, Bellingcat responded to a related post on social media, labeling the report as false and clarifying their lack of involvement. Bellingcat posted screenshots demonstrating the video's connection to the viral clip.

On the same day, Higgins highlighted three videos circulated in November, attributed to BBC, himself, and Bellingcat. He traced them back to a Telegram account, noting this was the third such video falsely attributed to them.

Similarly, Sardarizadeh addressed the issue on social media, dismissing the video as fake and denying the attributed quotes.

The verdict

A fabricated clip with false quotes, purporting to show a BBC report about a Ukrainian politician supplying arms to Hamas, is circulating on social media. There is no evidence of the ICC investigating David Arakhamia on these grounds. The BBC has not published any such report, and all individuals mentioned have discredited it.