Ukraine

Did President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy invest $500 million or $1.5 billion "of his own money" in "a ski resort in Western Ukraine"? No, that's not true: Social media posts misattribute publicly known investment amounts about such a project. Talking to Lead Stories, the project's developer denied not only Zelenskyy's participation but also the presence of any direct government funding.…

Did viral videos document that Ukrainian soldiers started to surrender en masse in Pokrovsk, as of November 5, 2025? No, that's not true: The clips showed a watermark of a generative AI tool. As of this writing, Ukraine denied that its soldiers in Pokrovsk were surrendering in large numbers. The claim appeared in a post (archived here and here) published…

Does a video show illegal immigrants in the UK stealing from the dead by taking things from graves to sell? No, that's not true: The video was first posted by a TikTok account from Ukraine, on April 27, the day the Ukrainian and Eastern Orthodox Churches observe "Thomas Sunday" or "Provody." The specific observance of the tradition varies by region,…

Does a video show authentic clips of world leaders speaking frankly about controversial narratives? No, that's not true: The video clip was posted with disclaimers in the caption and in the video itself clearly stating it is AI-generated. It was produced and published by RT, a state-controlled network funded by the Russian government. The video appears in a post (archived…

Did the chair of the Nobel committee that chose the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize say that Donald Trump was not chosen because they only "give the award to people of courage and integrity?" No, that's not true: A reporter asked Nobel Committee chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes how the campaign by President Trump and his supporters to get the award for…

Did the Russian cities of Vyborg, Petrozavodsk, and Murmansk decide with an overwhelming majority vote to leave Russia and join Finland? No, that's not true: This fictional multipart story is illustrated with an AI-generated image of "unidentified militants" and a fictional map of "Greater Finland". The fake news narrative is a twist on an idea from the early 1900s regarding…

Do California and New York issue commercial driver's licenses with no name given, and did Oklahoma arrest 125 "illegals" with such CDLs? No, that's not true: The so-called "No Name Given" commercial driver's licenses include a mononym, which is a single name. The use of mononyms is legal in the United States and is even accepted for U.S. passports. State…

Was the person who shot Charlie Kirk identified as "Samden Hindenburg", a pagan fundamentalist refugee from Ukraine? No, that's not true: A viral post recycled the meme in circulation since 2015 that casts the comedian Sam Hyde as an attacker after mass shootings in the U.S. or abroad. No credible media organization reported that anyone named "Samden Hindenburg" was connected…

Does a viral video really show a Russian Su-27 jet intercepting a NATO F-15 trying to get closer to a Tu22m3 bomber over Ukraine? No, that's not true: The footage which was widely copied to other social networks carried the watermark of a TikTok channel that publishes aviation videos. The caption under that video claimed it was created in the…

Is there any evidence for a story being spread online about "Olena K.", a Ukrainian anti-corruption official who supposedly defected to Europe and revealed real-estate corruption involving President Zelenskyy worth $1.2 billion ? No, that's not true: The story did not contain any verifiable details or documents and no media reported on the supposed events. The London Telegraph, the website…