Does a photograph show the wife of the vice president of Ukraine in military fatigues with a weapon fighting for her motherland? No, that's not true: Ukraine does not have a vice presidential position in its government, and the image is available from a photo agency where it is listed only as a "Ukrainian female soldier" in a 2021 military…

Are various images of U.S. soldiers embracing their families actually pictures of those soldiers headed to Ukraine during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict? No, that's not true: These images, some of which are years old, are misattributed because, at the time of writing, U.S. troops have not been sent to Ukraine. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published…

Did Vladimir Putin's daughter break a world record for the most subscribers in 24 hours on a free OnlyFans account? No, that's not true: This one-second-long video posted on Instagram is a ruse to drive traffic to an OnlyFans account and to use a free subscription to entice people to paid subscriptions. There is no evidence that the "18 year…

Does a Facebook video show heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces? No, that's not true: The video shows U.S. and Afghan National Army (ANA) forces fighting the Taliban in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, during Operation Creature Pan Kalay in December 2011. This video was shot more than a decade before Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced his intention to conduct a…

Did a CNN report contain a banner that described an explosion in Ukraine as "mostly peaceful"? No, that's not true: The banner was fake, part of a running joke about CNN chyrons that are directly refuted by the images they describe. This example included obvious indicators that it was an attempt at being satirical. The claim appeared in a Facebook…

Does a video show a massive thermobaric explosion in Cherkasy Oblast captured on video on February 27, 2022? Some of these details may be confusing, incorrect or unconfirmed, but other details about what happened are coming together. Reports that this was a thermobaric bomb -- also known as a vacuum bomb because of its high-temperature blast and prolonged blast wave…

Does a Facebook video show Ukrainian citizens destroying Russian tanks with Molotov cocktails in the capital city of Kyiv? No, that's not true: Instead of being from the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the minute-long video shows anti-government protests from 2014. The armored personnel carriers (APC) that were set on fire belonged to riot police. Known as Kyiv in…

Does this post show a photo of children and Ukrainian troops during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, and could it be Time magazine's "photo of the decade"? No, that's not true: The image seen in the post was taken in 2016 during an anti-terrorist operation in Ukraine -- not in 2022. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived…

Did Russia unveil a nuclear weapon called "Satan 2" amid the invasion of Ukraine? No, that's not true: None of the images in the social media post making the claim are of new nuclear weapons. All are of older weapons, none of which have been unveiled during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. The "Satan 2" nuclear weapon has been…

Is an image of two men bearing rifle cutouts in Ukraine an example of a "staged" photo used for "propaganda purposes" during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine? No, that's not true: The image was taken during a civilian training exercise, which explains why the men are not carrying real weapons. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here)…

Does a video of soldiers firing weapons show the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine? No, that's not true: The video -- a version of which has circulated online since at least 2010 -- actually appears to show French soldiers in Afghanistan and has no connection with the Ukraine invasion. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on…

Was American actor Steven Seagal spotted among Russian special forces positioned near Kyiv? No, that's not true: The CNN tweet is fake and the image used of Seagal from the 2016 movie "Cartels." The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) published by Legally Armed America on February 28, 2022. It opens: Gonna need a bigger body bag. #stevenseagal…

Did CNN publish tweets claiming that a CNN journalist killed in Afghanistan by the Taliban in 2021 is the same person who was the first American casualty in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine? No, that's not true: The tweets were published by parody accounts with no relation to CNN's official Twitter accounts. Plus, the "victim" mentioned in the…

Does this post show an 8-year-old Ukrainian girl standing up to a Russian soldier and telling him to go back to his country? No, that's not true: The girl pictured here is a Palestinian activist, she wasn't 8 and the soldier she's confronting is Israeli. This 2012 video shows a young Palestinian activist yelling at a soldier, asking him where…

Did Russia target Africa with missiles for talking about its war with Ukraine? And did Russian President Vladimir Putin declare war on Kenya? No, neither of those claims are true: Putin does not threaten Africa -- or, more specifically, Kenya -- in a TikTok video that was also posted to Facebook. The edited and miscaptioned clip is taken out of…

Do these photos show proof that the "Ghost of Kyiv" was shot down on February 25, 2022? No, that's not true: These images of jet crashes are several years old and are not associated with the February 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. It is not known if there is truly a Ukrainian ace pilot who has been named "The Ghost…

Did a recent video published on TikTok and other places, showing red tracers going up in the sky and a missile impacting, depict events in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The video dates back to January 13, 2022, and shows a C-RAM system engaging a missile near Baghdad's Green Zone and an impact followed by an explosion. The video originally…

Is a man named Samuyil Hyde the mysterious pilot known as the "Ghost of Kyiv"? No, that's not true: at this point in time it is still uncertain if the rumored pilot said to have downed six or more Russian planes over Ukraine even exists. But even if he was real his name wouldn't be Samuyil Hyde because the post…

Does this photo show President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine visiting battle lines during the Russian invasion that started February 24, 2022? No, that's not true: Multiple reverse image searches show the photo was taken in 2021, almost a full year before Russia attacked. Please note that according to current reports (confirmed by video footage) Zelenskyy is present in Kyiv, which…

Does this video show Ukrainians firing bullets at Russian fighter jets? No, that's not true: This is footage from a computer-generated animation and is not video of an authentic conflict happening at the current time. The original animation was posted on the Instagram account of the artist Borisao Blois on October 8, 2021. A copy of the animated video was…