War

Did graffiti showing Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy eating money appear in the capital of France during November 2022? No, that's not true: Neither local authorities nor the personnel of a store located near the supposed graffiti's site saw it. Journalists sent on location did not find any signs of the graffiti. The absence of other images of the scene suggests…

Do photos circulating on social media show a recently captured Ukrainian POW with a swastika tattoo on his back? No, that's not true: These are seven-year-old images, taken during fighting in 2015 with armed, Russia-backed separatists in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. A 2015 video interview with an individual who closely resembles the man in these photos established that he is…

Are these staged photos taken from the phone of an employee of the Ukrainian CIPSO (Center for Information and Psychological Operations) showing fake victims, proving the war in Ukraine is staged? No, that's not true: The photos were taken in 2016 during a first-aid training exercise for the Ukrainian organization TacCat First Aid. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, several…

Does a trident superimposed on the gold and blue Ukrainian flag represent membership in, or support for, the Nazi political movement? No, that's not true: The trident is the national symbol of Ukraine that is often added to the country's flag. The claim appeared in an Instagram post from November 25, 2022, under the title "Here I am driving to…

Does a viral video show Al Jazeera footage of "Nazi Ukrainians" "arrested in Qatar after they drew swastikas on football posters"? No, that's not true: The network denied that it had anything to do with the clip using its logo. More importantly, the video did not contain shots of the scene with the purportedly existing posters or provide any verifiable…

Did Russian ex-president and the deputy chair of Russia's Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, tweet that Moscow "is ready to supply Poland with the best air defence systems to prevent further aggression from Ukraine"? No, that's not true: archived versions of his Twitter accounts do not show a tweet like that. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on November 20,…

Is a video montage showing before and after photos of Ukrainian buildings damaged by war -- but restored to their original appearance -- an example of propagandists manipulating photos? No, that's not true: Basic image searching independently verifies damage at some of these locations, photographed and videotaped from multiple angles. There is no evidence the war photos are inauthentic. The…

Was U.S. government aid to Ukraine misused by funding Democratic candidates during midterm campaigns through the crypto exchange FTX? No, that's not true: Social media posts did not differentiate between private donations and U.S. government funds allocated to support Ukraine, and no reliable sources reported that either of those was invested in FTX. The claim appeared in re-posts identical to…

Does a viral video prove that the founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, and other speakers at WEF events planned to establish the "new world order" and "microchip human race"? No, that's not true: The heavily edited social media clip only shows short soundbites taken out of context, which alters the meaning of the speeches. The claim appeared…

Did a U.S.-based cable news network publish a story stating that Russian influencer Hasbulla Magomedov died in a drone strike while fighting in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The story is a satirical fake created to look like a credible news report that makes fun of a social media sensation with a genetic condition. The claim appeared in an Instagram…

Has Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy written a book with the same title as Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf," the anti-Semitic manifesto for Nazism, and did Zelenskyy present the book to an Israeli embassy? No, that's not true. Social media posts showing the cover of the purported book, entitled "Моя боротьба" ("My Struggle" in English and "Mein Kampf" in German), used altered…

Did Titanic, a German satirical monthly magazine, release a cover in October 2022 that features an illustration of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sucking money and resources into his mouth? No, that's not true: The October 2022 issue of Titanic does not feature Zelenskyy and the illustration has not appeared on any of the other issues' covers. The claim appeared in…

Does a video circulating on social media show evidence that war footage of Russian attacks on Ukraine was staged? No, that's not true: It took out of context the footage of actual film sets -- one clip dating from 2013 -- recycling the falsehoods that fact-checkers had debunked during the first days of the war. The claim appeared in an…

Is it true that Google translates the Ukrainian president's last name to English as "evil rules the world"? No, that's not true: Lead Stories replicated what social media users suggested others do to get this result but found no confirmation. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) on October 7, 2022. It said: 🇺🇦 This is creepy .... Take…

Was a U.S. submarine near the Nord Stream pipeline explosion? No, there's no evidence for such a claim. This claim was made on the Real Raw News website, which is known for publishing fabricated content. There are no serious media sources that make this claim. The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on October 18, 2022,…

Did France's ambassador to Ukraine, Etienne de Poncins, resign his post from fear of Russian bombardments on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv? No, that's not true: "This is fake news," Ambassador de Poncins posted on his official Twitter account on October 19, 2022.A Facebook account called RT Afrique, which describes itself as a personal blog, posted the French-language claim on October…

Did the U.S. military hang U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink for committing treason? No, that's not true: The story is entirely fabricated and Brink remains an ambassador in good standing. The claim originated on the website Real Raw News on October 17, 2022 under the title "Military Hangs to Death US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink" (archived here). It…

Does a video prove its headline claim that the senior commander of the Russian army was taken prisoner? No, that's not true: A video posted on Facebook made this false claim in its clickbait headline, but the video itself did not state or prove that a senior commander of the Russian Army has been captured. The claim appeared in a…

Does this video show an incident that recently happened in Russia, where a conscript was knocked down and run over by an armored personnel carrier? No, that's not true: This accident happened eight years ago, on June 12, 2014. During the swearing-in ceremony of Russia's 83rd airborne brigade, an armored personnel carrier knocked down and ran over one of the…

Is this a recent photo from Kyiv, Ukraine, of a man shooting at Iranian drones from his balcony window? No, that's not true: This photo is from a Twitter account that acknowledges this tweet is an old picture and a meme. The claim appeared in a tweet on October 17, 2022 (archived here), that opened: Casual morning in Kyiv: Coffee,…