&Quot;Nato&Quot; And &Quot;Russia&Quot;

Did Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum propose annexing Guatemala so it would become the "33rd state" in Mexico? No, that's not true: The rumor about Mexico annexing Guatemala was first debunked by Mexican outlets during the previous president's administration. Lead Stories found no actual news reports that confirmed the purported "annexation" plan under the new administration in Mexico. The claim appeared…

Did Adm. Rob Bauer, who heads NATO's Military Committee, say the group would launch pre-emptive strikes on Russia in the event of war? No, that's not true: In his remarks at a conference in Brussels, Bauer never mentioned the possibility of NATO attacking Russia pre-emptively. In fact, he stressed Russia would have to hit NATO targets first before the Alliance…

Did NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte publicly say that "if Trump surrenders Ukraine to Putin, he will personally expel the United States from the alliance"? No, that's not true: A NATO spokesperson described the claim as "bogus." The rumor was promoted by a Russian propaganda website and anonymous pro-Kremlin Telegram channels. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on X…

Did South Korea announce it will deploy troops in Ukraine to engage in active combat against North Korean troops supporting Russia? No, that's not true: On October 30, 2024, neither U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin nor his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun said anything about it during a joint press conference about the potential engagement of North Korean troops…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy officially declare war on Russia's allies, Iran and North Korea? No, that's not true: Despite what some social media posts are saying, as of this writing neither Ukrainian government sites, the Iranian Embassy in Ukraine nor news media have mentioned any such declaration of war. In public speeches Zelenskyy has described Iran and North Korea's…

Will staring at an image designed by a Japanese neurologist measure your stress levels depending on how fast elements of the image appear to be rotating? No, that's not true: The image is optical illusion art by Yurii Perepadia, a Ukrainian graphic designer. Elements of the image may appear to rotate based on what's called the "peripheral drift illusion." The…

Did a photo of the attempted assassin of Donald Trump surface, showing that Thomas Matthew Crooks was transgender? No, that's not true: The person in the photo on social media is not Crooks. The photo appeared first on 4chan, posted by an anonymous user who replied to someone's questioning its truth that "spreading rumors is fun." A close-up photo of…

Does a video posted on social media show Russian naval exercises off the coast of Florida in June 2024, as claimed in the post? No, that's not true: The missile launch test shown was performed from the White Sea in May 2018, not off the Florida coast in June 2024. The 2018 test was more than 5,000 miles from Florida.…

Did Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni say, "If Russia does not agree to the terms of the peace summit, we will force it to surrender"? No, that's not true: The comments attributed to her come from a falsified Russian translation of what she said in English at the Ukraine Peace Summit held in Switzerland in June 2024. While Meloni has…

Did China's Defense Ministry warn it would "intervene militarily" if the United States or NATO attacked Russia? No, that's not true: No credible evidence supports this claim. Additionally, there are no official statements or credible reports from the Chinese government or its Defense Ministry to support this assertion. Nor is there any report of such a statement in China Daily,…