War

Does a viral video prove the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine in May 2023? No, that's not true: The footage, predating the Russian invasion of Ukraine, shows Afghanistan. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok on May 10, 2023. The text overlay said: Is World war 3 already startin 💔 it like a dream 😭 It continued: Nato…

Was there an explosion near the Pentagon on May 22, 2023? No, that's not true: This is not a real photo but a digitally fabricated image that shows a plume of smoke near a building that slightly resembles the Pentagon, the headquarters of the U.S. Department of Defense in Arlington, Virginia. The building in the image is not the Pentagon,…

Did a red banner resembling a Soviet flag fly in Berlin over the Reichstag building, the seat of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, on May 8, 2023 to commemorate the 1945 liberation of Europe from Nazi control? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that this happened -- the photos and videos are manipulated. The small collection of…

Did "United States Special Forces" raid a "regime warehouse filled with drug shortage" medicine headed to Ukraine? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories this article "is false." The article is also located on a website that regularly publishes fabricated content. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on May 14, 2023,…

Did NATO sign a written agreement not to expand eastwards after the fall of the Soviet Union? No, that's not true: On its website, NATO refutes the claim, and even Russia -- which historically argued that it was offered verbal guarantees -- did not take it as far as stating that such a formal agreement was signed in the aftermath…

Does a viral video show a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Ternopil during the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest? No, that's not true: The same footage first appeared online four months before, where it was used by Russian state-controlled TV in news reports about Iran. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on May 13, 2023. It…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin display a religious icon that featured a dark-complexioned man's face to show that "Jesus was black"? No, that's not true: The video in this post shows Putin displaying a copy of a Russian Orthodox Church icon that depicts a specific interpretation of Jesus Christ. In the original footage for this clip, posted on a Russian…

Does a video posted on social media in early May 2023 show Ukraine being struck by a nuclear weapon? No, that's not true: Although the video does show the aftermath of a reported Russian missile attack in Ukraine, there is no evidence that the attack was nuclear and there has been no reporting of what would be a news event…

Did Sweden launch a "surprise air strike" against Russia on May 3, 2023? No, that's not true: The claim comes from a clickbait video and is not supported by any other credible sources. The story originated from a post on Facebook on May 3, 2023. It included a video titled: Surprise Air Strike from Sweden- Russian warships were hunted down…

Does a photo that has been circulating online since November 2022 show British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak flashing his bare chest and wearing nothing but a white lab coat and a jockstrap? No, that's not true: This photo cannot be traced back to Sunak and its origin is unknown. It could be a digitally edited or an AI-generated image. The…

Does a TV interview with international affairs analyst Gilbert Doctorow prove that a Russian hypersonic missile "killed 200 NATO generals, including at least 20 or 30 high-ranking American officers"? No, that's not true: Doctorow doesn't offer any evidence to support his assertion other than an indefinite reference to "The Russians." The U.S. Department of Defense responded to this with: "This…

Does a video authentically show footage captured by a Ukrainian drone flying over Moscow in April 2023? No, that's not true: The video shared on Twitter was originally posted to YouTube in 2015 by AirPano, a virtual reality production studio "focused on taking high-resolution" aerial footage. In 2023, an 11-second clip of that video was cropped from a horizontal shape…

Did a special April 2023 (issue 337) of The New European (TNE) feature on its cover a cartoon of a scowling Rishi Sunak, U.K. prime minister, looking at Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy sitting on the lap of the Dalai Lama, who has stuck his tongue out -- with Zelenskyy saying, "I'll suck it if you pay me!"? No, that's not…

Did sanctioned Russian banks regain their access to the international system of cross-border money transfers in April 2023? No, that's not true: No such decision was made by the European Union or the United States, as of this writing. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on April 22, 2023. It opened: NEWS | Russia has been reconnected…

Does this video show a Russian fighter jet intercept a U.S. Navy aircraft and order it to leave on April 10, 2023? No, that's not true: This event shown in the video did not happen on April 10, 2023, but on July 7, 2021. The source of the footage can be found on the Ministry of Defense of Russia's YouTube…

Does a viral snapshot of a poster portray authentic recruiting efforts of Ukraine to encourage the homeless and welfare recipients in the United States to join the fight against Russia? No, that's not true: The rumor was promoted by Kremlin-affiliated entities citing unidentified and unconfirmed social media posts. The Ukrainian Embassy in the United States denied the country's involvement in…

Did Volodymyr Zelenskyy announce that he would "no longer take a call from Xi Jinping?" No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the Ukrainian president made the comment about Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Lead Stories previously debunked another made-up quote from the same Twitter account. The claim appeared as a post published on Twitter on April 6, 2023…

Does a social media photo show the aftermath of Russian bombing of a NATO "secret underground bunker," possibly in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The image is a screenshot from a March 2021 video showing the aftermath of explosions at an oil depot that was being used by Turkey-backed opposition forces in northern Syria. The claim appeared in a post…

Did Ukraine stage war scenes to boost the morale of its soldiers at the frontlines by exaggerating their success? No, that's not true: A clip used as "proof" by social media users actually shows backstage footage from a real movie set located outside Ukraine. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on April 4, 2023. It said: Ukrainian…

Does a video, published on social media, show "44 Russian Tanks" hit in a "Bakhmut trench" by a single "Ukraine elite Drone" on April 1, 2023? No, that's not true: The same account posted multiple items in which the narrator mispronounced the name of the city being fought over, making similar claims that contradict each other in key details and…