Do social media posts show Russian agents arresting neo-Nazis for an assassination plot and then displaying their confiscated property? Maybe, it's not clear what the images show: A video of the purported raid was released by Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) that included still images of what its agents allegedly found. The "evidence" displayed was staged in such a way…

Did Finland vote to join NATO? No, that's not true: The Finnish Embassy in Washington, D.C., told Lead Stories that such a decision has not been made yet. Finland and Sweden plan to submit their NATO applications in May 2022, according to The Guardian, but Finnish parliamentary groups had not officially voted on this issue at the time of writing.…

Did Great Britain threaten to use nuclear weapons against Russia during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict? No, that's not true: A spokesperson at the press office of No. 10 Downing Street in London -- the office of U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- told Lead Stories that the claim was not true at the time of writing. The claim, which may…

Does a Stew Peters Show video prove mainstream media and the U.S. government lie about the war in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The video by the radio and TV host repeats debunked claims and misattributes information, often embracing Kremlin talking points. The claims appeared in a Facebook post on April 7, 2022, under the translated-from-Russian title "LIE Mode:" It…

Did Google remove a blur on publicly available satellite maps that had previously obscured details of Russian military installations or high-security areas? Not according to Google: Claims posted on Twitter saying that the company had unblurred sensitive satellite imagery were countered by the official @GoogleMaps Twitter account, which said no blurring changes had been made to the satellite imagery in…

Does a video on social media show the Russian warship Moskva -- the English-letter spelling of the Russian term for "Moscow"-- being hit by a missile before later sinking in the Black Sea? No, that's not true: The 10-second clip comes from a longer video posted in 2013, showing the Norwegian military testing a Naval Strike Missile off the coast…

Did the BBC release a video suggesting Ukraine has spread fake news about a train station attack in the country? No, that's not true: The BBC stated that the video was fake. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) on April 13, 2022. The tweet contained a video attributed to the BBC. It reads: The BBC is distributing a…

Did Ukrainian soldiers prepare a poseable dummy with tape to use in the production of war propaganda, to fabricate a death with a fake corpse in order to "blame Putin"? No, that's not true: This behind-the-scenes video shows a prop dummy being prepared for a scene that would show a human figure falling from a tall building. After the clip…

Did a Pentagon official say that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the cousin of George Soros? No, that's not true: There is no evidence of a Pentagon official saying this or of a familial relationship between Zelenskyy and billionaire philanthropist Soros. This claim was seeded to the public by an account from India, @OsintUpdates, that has a history of planting…

Does a video in the Ukrainian city of Bucha show "corpses" waving and moving alongside a road? No, that's not true: Bodies laying along the street can be seen in a video taken after Russian forces pulled out of the town, but none move or wave. The video making that claim blurs images and distorts the scene by slowing the…

Is the Russian Consulate in Montreal located on "Avenue Zelensky" as of March 31, 2022? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for the city of Montreal tells Lead Stories, "This is misinformation." The sign in the image of this post was fake; it was featured in a satirical show based in Quebec on March 10, 2022. The claim appeared in…

Does a video show a military singing group getting arrested in St. Petersburg, Russia amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022? No, that's not true: The video is from 2015 and shows the Russian Army choir, a well-known singing group, in a video that appeared to be a stunt to promote the James Bond movie "Spectre." The claim appeared…

Did Russians start digging graves for all the soldiers who have died during the Russian invasion of Ukraine? No, that's not true: This 2021 video of already-dug graves predates the invasion. The administrator of the cemetery where these graves are located told a Russian news outlet that they dig many graves in the fall because the ground becomes too hard…

Did British artist Banksy create a new art piece involving Ukraine and Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia? No, that's not true: A Banksy spokesperson said he did not create this image, which was altered from a screenshot of a music video by the Russian band Little Big. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on March 14,…

Does Ukraine produce 25% of the world's wheat crop? No, that's not true: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates Ukraine's annual wheat harvest at just over 3% of the global total. Ukraine accounts for 9% of the global wheat export market. Many of the world's largest wheat producers -- China, India, Russia and the United…

Did this video showing live gun and tank battles originate as a BBC News broadcast about the conflict between Ukraine and Russia? No, that's not true: This footage did not come from a live news report of a real battle. The footage was filmed in a controlled environment and posted on a royalty-free stock footage website before Russia invaded Ukraine…

Was a Canadian firefighter spotted putting out a fire in Ukraine during the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict? No, that's not true: That was a Ukrainian firefighter wearing donated firefighter gear from Edmonton, a city in Alberta, Canada. Kevin Royle, the project director for the aid group Firefighter Aid Ukraine, confirmed that the bunker gear was donated by the group. The claim…

Does a video show Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy playing piano and singing "Imagine," John Lennon's iconic song about world peace? No, that's not true: This video shows American singer Alejandro Manzano from the band Boyce Avenue. Manzano bears a striking resemblance to Zelenskyy but he was not doing an impersonation of the Ukrainian president when he covered Lennon's song. When…

Did Russian troops in Kherson find pre-made Ukrainian medals "For the Taking of Crimea" when they captured a Ukrainian military facility at Kherson? No, that's not true. The photos circulated by the Russian news media and social media users show crude forgeries. Ukrainian officials pointed out mistakes in the "award documents" and errors in the design of the "award", which…

Does Ukraine engage teenagers in its military forces by providing them with shoulder-mount anti-tank weapons and grenade launchers and sending them to the front lines as an Instagram post claims? No, this is not true: there is no photo, video, audio evidence or trustworthy eyewitness testimony that proves the deployment of children by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The claim…