A video depicting a NATO-supported Santa Claus being shot down by Russian air defenses has gone viral on social media, in the wake a crash that claimed over three dozen lives.
On Wednesday, an Azerbaijan Airlines jet crashed in Kazakhstan, killing 38 people and injuring 29. Initial reports said the plane might have been shot down by Russian air defense systems that mistook it for a drone.
The viral video was published Friday by the Pul N3 Telegram channel and has since spread across the internet.
The video shows Santa and his reindeer carrying NATO-branded rockets over the skies of Moscow, saying, "Ho, ho, ho! Hi, Russians! Here are your presents! Happy New Year!"
Santa pauses as he sees a missile headed toward his sleigh and exclaims, "Holy s***!" Then, the sleigh explodes in a fireball.
The video then shifts to inside a Russian air defense room, where an operator is seated next Grandfather Frost, the Russian version of Santa, who asks, "Is that all?"
"That's all! Target destroyed!" responds the soldier.
"Right! We do not need anything foreign in our skies!" says Grandfather Frost. "Happy New Year!"
The video spread on Russian social media, including Telegram and VK, mere hours after Russia was implicated in the crash. Russian has denied any involved in the accident.
Ukraine Center for Countering Disinformation shared the video, saying that Russia's "paranoia about the 'NATO threat' has reached new heights."
James Morley III ✉
James Morley III is a writer with more than two decades of experience in entertainment, travel, technology, and science and nature.
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