Video from Poland dance festival falsely shared as Ukraine being 'diversified' during the war

What’s the claim?

A viral video of a dance festival is being shared on TikTok claiming it shows Ukraine's "diversification" during the ongoing war with Russia. The clip shows people from different races dancing together, and the clip seems to have been sped up.

The video shared on TikTok shows a person clapping while the video plays in the background behind him, before saying, "Truly one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. Ukraine is already being diversified. While a million Ukrainian men have lost their lives defending the homeland, the homeland is being diversified already. Truly beautiful diversity I tell you, everybody needs more diversity." An archived version of the post can be found here.

However, the video was filmed in Poland in 2022 and is not related to Ukraine or the ongoing conflict.

What we found

Logically Facts conducted a reverse image search using different keyframes from the viral video and discovered a YouTube video (archived here) uploaded by Kizomba Corner on July 18, 2022. The video carried similar visuals with the same background and individuals but at a normal playback speed. The same people from the now-viral video are visible in this 2022 video.

Comparison showing the YouTube video and the viral clip. (Source: YouTube/TikTok)

The YouTube video title states that it was recorded during a dance festival called Kizz Me More Kizomba Festival in 2022. A Google search led us to a website named Dance Place, which stated that the festival was held at Hotel Novotel Warszawa Airport in Warsaw, Poland. Kizz Me More is a dance festival that celebrates music and dance, particularly kizomba, urban kiz, taraxxo, and afrohouse. 

A Google Street View image from Google Maps confirmed the location, showing a matching view of the hotel in the viral video. This confirmed that the video was recorded at the Novotel Warszawa Airport Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, and not Ukraine.

Comparison showing the Novotel Hotel visuals and the viral clip. (Source: YouTube/Google Maps)

The verdict

The video was filmed at a dance festival in Warsaw, Poland, in 2022. It does not show Ukraine during the ongoing war. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.