War

Did Vladimir Solovyov, dubbed "the most energetic" Russian state TV propagandist by the U.S. State Department, say he got drafted? No, that's not true: Deliberately mistranslated subtitles in a viral video that allegedly shows this scene distorted Solovyov's words beyond recognition. However, he did criticize the so-called "partial" mobilization previously ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, drawing international attention for…

Did Poland "take the first step towards turning Ukraine into a Polish colony"? No, that's not true: Even a Facebook video that made such a claim admits there are no credible media reports or official statements backing this up. Lead Stories previously debunked similar claims that were initially published on the website of Russia's foreign intelligence service, the SVR. On…

Did Russian airlines ban men between 18 and 65 years old from buying tickets to other countries in response to the "mobilization" announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 21, 2022? No, that's not true: Despite rumors on social media, there was no such ban at the time of writing. However, high prices, a limited number of available destinations…

Does a video show Ukrainian children singing the unofficial anthem of the Luftwaffe? No, that's not true: They aren't singing a Nazi German air force song. The song is by Bots, a Dutch folk rock group. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published by AZmilitary1 on September 23, 2022. The tweet opened: Nothing unusual, just Ukrainian children singing…

Did Russians fleeing President Vladimir Putin's partial mobilization of troops for deployment in Ukraine immediately form a "35KM" (about 21.7 miles) line on September 21, 2022 at the Finnish border? No, that's not true: The viral video started circulating online two days before this announcement. According to Finnish officials, border checkpoints saw a slight increase in traffic on September 21,…

Did no Republicans thank U.S. President Joe Biden for taking out the leader of Al Qaeda? No, that's not true: Several GOP members of Congress publicly acknowledged Biden for the July 31, 2022 drone strike in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of Al Qaeda and one of the conspirators behind 9/11. The claim was shared on a…

Does a video show a convoy of Chinese military vehicles crossing the Russian border into Ukraine in mid-September 2022? No, that's not true: There were no reports of Chinese military troops or vehicles in Ukraine when the claim was posted. This video dates back to at least August 29, 2022, a date that coincides with the timing of Vostok-2022, a…

Was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy photographed shirtless and wearing an Afro wig at a gay pride event in the United States in the 1990s? No, that's not true: This photo has been digitally edited. The original photo was taken on June 25, 2006 at New York City's 2006 Pride March and does not show Zelenskyy. The edited photo has been…

Were Ukrainians arrested in Bremen, Germany, while trying to sell on the black market Western-provided, Stinger surface-to-air missiles and "other heavy weapons"? No, that's not true: The video posted on social media with supposed proof of this event does not show a single arrested person. Moreover, its audio track appears to have been manipulated. Bremen police said that no such…

Does a "newly leaked report" from the RAND Corporation, a U.S. think tank, reveal the "true motives behind European Destabilization & The Russia/Ukraine War"? No, that's not true: In an email to Lead Stories and a news release on its website, the RAND Corp. called the "supposedly leaked" report "fake." The claim appeared in the September 12, 2022, issue of…

Did the "entire leadership of NATO" lose their jobs on September 5, 2022? No, that's not true: There is no evidence to support this claim. An event of this scale would be intensively covered by media organizations in many countries, including the United States, but there were no such reports. The text of this claim does not name any of…

Does this video show Russian tanks abandoned in the Kharkiv Region during the September 2022 Ukrainian counteroffensive that overran Russian positions in northeastern Ukraine? No, that's not true: Lead Stories has corroborated open-source investigators' use of Google Maps satellite images to identify the long industrial building as being on the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula, more than 300 miles distant from Ukraine's…

Was a letter from the British Ministry of Defence about the Ukrainian Armed Forces' non-NATO-compliant level of training legitimate and "leaked" from the UK government to a website? No, that's not true: The published document's authenticity cannot be verified. Given several errors in English grammar and terminology, the document did not originate from the desk of the British Army Secretariat.…

Did the Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB), one of the largest German academic libraries, ask its readers to bring in Russian books "for heating purposes"? No, that's not true: SLUB General Director Katrin Stump denied the leaflet's authenticity and said that the library had filed a criminal complaint about the claim. The claim appeared in a Facebook post…

Did the Swiss government call on its citizens to turn in their neighbors to the authorities if people heat their homes above 19 degrees Celsius (66.2 degrees Fahrenheit)? No, that's not true: A claim on social media originated from a tabloid article that misled its readers about the extent of possible energy-saving measures in case of gas shortages. As of…

Is North Korea sending troops to Ukraine to help the Kremlin's war efforts? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, Moscow appeared to be considering the idea of North Korean workers, not soldiers, working on reconstruction in Ukraine's Russian-occupied regions, severely damaged during months of fighting between Russia and Ukraine. Previous reports about an alleged agreement to ship…

Did a Ukrainian wedding party pose in front of the blue-and-yellow flag of Ukraine and raise their hands in a "Nazi salute"? No, that's not true: The flag in the picture has been altered, and the original photo was taken at the base of a monument to Vladimir Lenin in the Russian city of Novokuznetsk in the Kemerovo Oblast in…

Does a form circulating on social media show an official report of the American military describing as unsatisfactory the level of the Ukrainian army's preparedness? No, that's not true: This form, easily downloadable from one of the U.S. Army websites, is not intended to be completed for this type of large-scale assessment -- instead, it is for counselors working with…

Was the second plane to hit the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, a military plane? No, that's not true: The plane that hit the south tower was United Airlines Flight 175, a commercial plane. The 9/11 Commission Report described "The Hijacking of United 175" with eyewitness accounts including phone calls made from the plane. The claim was inferred…

Are these posts proof that British elementary school students and kindergarteners are being taught to tolerate sexual abuse? No, that's not true: There's no evidence to authenticate pictures of a brochure about strangers who approach, with the brochure saying, "do not call him a pedophile." Posts about the brochure first appeared on a Russian social media platform, citing an un-named…