Russia And Ukraine

By Uliana Malashenko Is it true that the Ukrainian president's daughter, Oleksandra Zelenska, called her father, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a "Nazi" and a "murderer"? No, it's not true: The image of a crying woman that circulated on social media in spring 2022 is a screenshot from a 5-year-old video of another Russian-speaking woman who was caught on camera crying about not…

Is it true that "not one real video has surfaced" from the 2022 Russia-Ukraine conflict? No, that's not true: There is an abundance of footage showing the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on May 20, 2022. The post, which contained several claims and featured images of figures from the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA)…

Did the Canadian sniper known by the pseudonym Wali claim that a fraudulent scheme was organized in Ukraine to steal U.S. military aid? No, that's not true: In a conversation with a journalist from the Canadian edition of La Presse, which the authors of the claim refer to, Wali does not say a word about theft. The number of virtually…

Are high U.S. gas prices in 2022 related to closed pipelines? No, that's not true: The high gas prices in 2022 are mostly attributed to the price of crude oil, along with global economics and world affairs. There is no evidence that closed pipelines have dramatically affected gas prices in 2022. Although President Joe Biden blocked the rest of the…

Did Ukrainian soldiers turn back a Russian incursion with paintball guns? Did Reuters represent a photo of soldiers training with paintball gear as an actual military conflict? No, that's not true: The photo originally included in a May 16, 2022, article was captioned to reflect that it showed a training simulation in Sumy, Ukraine, on April 15, 2022. This caption…

Did "US General Eric Olson" surrender with other troops in at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, Ukraine? No, that's not true: The image of a line of soldiers used in a post is from April 14, 2022, which was weeks before the Ukrainian military announced in May 2022 that Ukrainian forced had completed their "combat mission" in Mariupol, and…

Did White House disinformation "czar" Nina Jankowicz say she wants "trustworthy verified people" like her to be able to "add context" to other people's tweets? No, that's not true: Her clipped comments from January 2021 were taken out of context. Jankowicz, who in April 2022 was named executive director of the Department of Homeland Security's Disinformation Governance Board, was responding…

Was the Russian ruble named the "world's best-performing currency" in May 2022? Yes, but that claim requires significant context: Bloomberg did publish an article on May 11, 2022, stating that the ruble was the "year's best performing currency." However, the Bloomberg article also provided the necessary information to clarify the claim, explaining that the ruble appears much stronger theoretically than…

Did President Joe Biden, George Soros and former President Barack Obama talk about fulfilling the conspiracy theory of tyrannically taking over the world, otherwise known as the New World Order? No, that's not true: The quotes are legitimate, but they are used out of context. The claim appeared in a Facebook post on April 27, 2022. However, its origin seems…

Was the founder of the Timberland boot company an 18th-century slave owner in Mississippi named Timberland Hawkins who hung slaves he couldn't auction from a tree in his field that's still standing and is now featured as the Timberland company logo? No, none of that is true: This post is a spinoff from earlier false social media rumors that the…