Video does not show American tanks on a train in Poland

CLAIM: A video shows a train transporting American tanks and infantry fighting vehicles in Poland, after President Biden announced that the U.S. will send tanks to Ukraine.

AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The video was filmed along Highway 40 outside of Gorham, Kansas, by a local resident. U.S. officials said that it will take “many months” to deliver the Abrams tanks to Ukraine, according to AP reporting.

THE FACTS: After Biden announced on Wednesday that the U.S. will send 31 M1 Abrams battle tanks to Ukrainian forces, social media users shared an unrelated video clip of military vehicles being transported by rail in Kansas, falsely suggesting it was Poland.

The video, which was captured from a moving car, shows a seemingly endless line of of tanks and other military combat vehicles traveling by rail along a snowy field. A driver’s rear view mirror is seen at the bottom of the video.

One Instagram post shared the video with text that reads: “BREAKING: Warmonger Biden said he’s sending tanks to the Ukranians today A train pulling tons of Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles was spotted in Poland. We have no fight in this war. Yet BIDEN continues to push aggression.” The post on Instagram had over 90,000 likes.

The video was also shared on Twitter with similar claims that said it showed Poland.

Eddie Johnson, a local resident who filmed the video, told The Associated Press it was filmed as he was driving on Highway 40 outside of Gorham. Johnson’s video shows an intersection with the surrounding land covered in snow and the back of a stop sign, along with a green sign that reads “Hwy 40.” The intersection of 400th Ave and Hwy 40 on Google maps shows the same sign placement along with the rail line shown in the video.

Johnson said he posted the video on Twitter on Jan, 24, as “kind of a joke” and as a reply to a tweet that stated Biden was “considering” sending tanks to Ukraine. “Is that decision already made? This is Kansas today,” his tweet reads.

A Kansas Department of Transportation map shows that Union Pacific runs the rail line that passes through Gorham. A Union Pacific spokesperson told the AP in an email that they couldn’t disclose any information regarding specific shipments, but did confirm that they transport cargo freight for the U.S. military.

Johnson sent a second similar video to the AP that shows Gorham in the distance. Johnson, who said he was an oil field contractor and drives a lot for a living, posted the same video on his Twitter account, which shows a sticker with a vehicle service date and the address of a Toyota dealership in Kansas.

Dr. Gian Gentile, a senior historian at the RAND Corporation, a nonpartisan research organization, told the AP in an email the video shows Abrams tanks but it’s unclear which kind they are. “The numbers of total vehicles on the rail car suggests battalion size strength,” said Gentile, who is also a former Iraq War commander. Gentile also was able to identify several other vehicles as well, including Bradley fighting vehicles.

An Army spokesperson told the AP in an email that they were not able to verify when the video was taken or where the equipment was assigned to.

U.S. officials said that it will take “many months” to deliver the Abrams tanks to Ukraine, according to AP reporting. The U.S. decision to send the 70-ton tanks came as Germany announced it will send 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and allow other countries to do the same. Germany had said the Leopards would not be sent unless the U.S. made a similar commitment.

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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.