On the morning of Thursday, April 19, 2018, after many people were fooled into thinking the film was an official broadcast, the BBC press office tweeted that it was aware of a video clip "claiming to be a BBC news report about Nato and Russia... circulating widely," stating that "The video appears to have come from YouTube, where there is a disclaimer about it being a fictional dramatization... However, this information isn't being repeated when it's being shared, hence our tweet."
Although BBC branding is used in the video, the font, style, and layout are very different. Actor Mark Ryes even told the BBC: "On the original YouTube posting, it says very clearly that it's fictional. It doesn't even look like a genuine BBC News report. It was never meant to."
It was originally created by an Irish company called Benchmarking Assessment Group in October 2016 as a psychometric test for their clients to see how they'd react in a disaster scenario before being uploaded online in April 2018. According to the company website, Benchmarking Assessment Group was "founded in 2006 in Ireland" and works with clients to develop "methodologies in assessment for selection, development and talent management".