Fact Check: Viral Video Titled ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ Is Old Footage From A US Military Exercise
The video being shared as part of the US ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ is old and depicts a US military exercise, and another video is AI-created. This military operation, which took place on the night of January 3rd, captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and took them to the US. Maduro and his wife are now facing charges related to arms and drug trafficking in a US court.
- By: Abhishek Parashar
- Published: Jan 6, 2026 at 06:11 PM
New Delhi (Vishvas News). Following the attack on Venezuela’s capital Caracas and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro, two different multimedia are being shared on social media with claims that these are related to the US ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ in which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife were captured and taken to the US.
Vishvas News investigated and found this claim to be false. While one viral video is old footage of a US military exercise, another video showing US soldiers capturing the Venezuelan president is not real, but rather AI-generated.
What is viral?
Social media user Surya Samajvadi shared the viral video, with the caption, “When Venezuela refused to supply oil to USA companies arbitrarily, America sent in the army and arrested the President. America did not become the number one country in the world on its own, but by oppressing smaller countries.”
In the video, soldiers can be seen landing on the roof of a building from a Boeing Chinook helicopter and proceeding further.
Another user, ‘FEDERAL INVESTIGATION INTERNATIONAL‘, also shared the viral video in which US soldiers can be seen capturing Maduro.
Investigation
In the first video, soldiers can be seen landing on the roof of a building from a Boeing Chinook helicopter and carrying out further operations. Trump described the operation as a ‘daring’ operation that captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, from their home in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, on the morning of January 3, 2026.
Trump provided information about this military operation in a press conference on January 3, 2026.
While the viral video appears to be of daytime action, we used a reverse image search to trace the source of the video and found it on a verified account, @MargoMartin47, shared on June 11, 2025.
The viral clip is being described as showing American Special Forces and appears to be footage from a military training exercise.
During our investigation, we found the web page dvidshub.net, where the image used is similar to the one used in this campaign, and the building seen in it is the same one seen in the viral video.
According to the information provided, this image is from a US Army Special Operations Command Capability Exercise held at Fort Liberty, North Carolina. The image dates back to April 5-12, 2024, when US Army Rangers were deployed and prepared to assault a building using an MH-47 Chinook helicopter.
Our investigation confirmed that the viral video is not of ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’, but is several months old and is not of any actual military operation, but of a military exercise.
We contacted Umashankar Singh, a senior journalist covering foreign affairs, regarding the viral video, who confirmed that “The video is file footage of a US military exercise.”
Second video
The US government and the White House have officially released some footage and photographs related to this operation.
Trump shared a photo on his Truth Social account showing Maduro aboard a US Navy ship. The White House also released photos from Mar-a-Lago showing Trump, along with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, monitoring the operation via live feed.
However, due to security reasons, the video of the entire military operation has not been released. This video appears to contain footage of the entire operation, raising suspicions that it may have been fabricated.
We verified this video with the help of a Swiss deeptech company, Origin.ai, whose analysis confirms that this multimedia is likely AI-generated.
The frame from 0.00 to 0.05 in the video is likely to be 100% AI-created. The entire analysis does not confirm the presence of authentic elements in the multimedia.
Meanwhile, analysis by Google’s SynthID (a tool that identifies AI-generated content) also confirms the possibility of AI manipulation in this video.
It is noteworthy that after the blasts in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, early Saturday morning, Trump confirmed that Maduro had been ‘captured’ by attacking Venezuela.
According to the report, Trump shared a photo of Maduro on his social media platform and held a press conference in Florida, in which he explained what America’s role would be in Venezuela now.
Various countries around the world have reacted to Maduro’s capture. According to the report, “Russia, a close ally of Venezuela, has stated that if this is proven true, it would be a serious violation of any country’s sovereignty and international law. China, meanwhile, has stated that it is deeply shocked and strongly condemns the US’s blatant use of force against a sovereign country and its action against its president. The British Prime Minister has stated that Britain had no role in these attacks, while Argentina has welcomed the US action.”
Conclusion: The video being shared as part of the US ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ is old and depicts a US military exercise, and another video is AI-created. This military operation, which took place on the night of January 3rd, captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife and took them to the US. Maduro and his wife are now facing charges related to arms and drug trafficking in a US court.
- Claim Review : Video of the US military operation to capture Nicolas Maduro.
- Claimed By : Social media user Surya Samajvadi
- Fact Check : False
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