Evidence

The claim as given is a generic, decontextualized phrase ('the Times said its authenticity could not be independently verified') attributed to the New York Times, without specifying which conflict, which piece of footage/image, or which article it comes from. I attempted multiple searches to locate the original NYT article or any fact-check referencing this exact phrase, but my searches either returned irrelevant results (e.g., a dictionary definition page) or could not be completed because the search tool's usage limit was exceeded during this session. As a result, I was unable to identify the specific NYT story this quote is drawn from, confirm its exact wording, or find any independent fact-checking organization (Reuters, AFP, Bellingcat, EUvsDisinfo) that has examined this specific claim.