&Quot;Russia&Quot;

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 Jeffrey Epstein's brother raise a question in a real email about if Russian President Vladimir Putin had photos of Donald Trump "blowing Bubba"? Yes, that's true: The 2018 email thread, one of the 23,000 emails released by the House GOP Oversight Committee in November 2025, referenced "DONNI TEE," "your boy Donnie," as well as "Trump." Mark Epstein sent a…

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 posted on TikTok show Hurricane Melissa as it is making landfall in Kingston, Jamaica? No, that's not true: These clips show storms which happened around the world, some fairly recently, and some years in the past. One clip remains unidentified, of the fifteen others, none shows Hurricane Melissa. The miscaptioned video montage (archived here) was published by…

Is a photo that shows damage and flooding from Hurricane Melissa in Black River, Jamaica on October 28, 2025, authentic? No, that's not true: The image was likely made by an artificial intelligence tool, according to a test by an AI detector tool. It appeared on multiple social media accounts. The claim appeared with an image in an October 28,…

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…

Was Adam Sandler announced as the headliner of the Turning Point USA Super Bowl halftime show? No, that's not true: No evidence accompanied the claim that the Hollywood star was announced as the headliner for Turning Point USA 2026 Super Bowl halftime show. The TPUSA website does not have any information about any performers for the show as of publication…

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…