Russia And Ukraine And Video

Did a viral video show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy performing a belly dance on camera? No, that's not true: The footage portrays a different person, a professional belly dance instructor from Argentina, and Zelenskyy's face seems to have been superimposed on that person's body. The story appeared in a post (archived here) published on TikTok on July 15, 2023. It…

Does Amazon's Alexa speaker say World War III will start in November 2023 when "Russia launches an attack against Germany"? No, that's not true: Amazon told Lead Stories that their AI system does not give that Alexa response to a question about when World War III would start. The claim appeared in a video published on Facebook on July 3,…

Did "Call of Duty" game maker Activision post a tweet mocking the Russian military, apologizing to gamers for using Russia as an antagonist and saying it should have built games around a more competent army, such as that of Cuba or Laos? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Activision ever posted such a tweet. The claim appeared…

Did President Joe Biden declare "war on Russia" as of June 17, 2023? No, that's not true: This video post is missing context as the footage, taken from a March 2022 event of Biden speaking to the House Democratic Caucus, was edited. The transcript of his original remarks and a video recording of the event show that the video clip…

Did Sen. Lindsey Graham publicly proclaim that spending U.S. resources on "killing Russians" is "the best money we've ever spent"? No, that's not true: Graham's words from two different sentences have been run together into what amounts to a misquote, distorting both the meaning and rhetoric of his message. The story appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok on…

Does a black-and-white video show a nighttime explosion at the Nova Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, causing flooding downstream on June 6, 2023? No, that's not true:. This footage was widely circulated before the June 6 incident. It shows a blast damaging the bridge at the dam in November 2022, not the June 6, 2023,…

Did Commander In Chief Of The Armed Forces Of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyy disappear during the battle of Bakhmut in May 2023 or on June 3, 2023, as the country was moving forward with its counteroffensive plans? No, that's not true: The claim reused an already debunked rumor from mid-May 2023. The story appeared in a video published on Facebook on…

Does a video on Mexico's Milenio Television channel show a Mexican cartel member carrying a U.S.-made Javelin anti-tank missile? No, that's not true: Raytheon Technologies, which makes the Javelin, told Lead Stories that the video shows another type of shoulder-fired anti-tank weapon. The claim appeared in a post on Twitter (archived here) by Mexican journalist Azucena Uresti on May 31,…

Does a photo shared on social media during the May 22, 2023, attack on the Russian region of Belgorod by two paramilitary groups show the wife of the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, at an "international airport" with her "belongings"? No, that's not true: This photo was distributed by the Russian airline Azur Air at least three months before these groups…

Does a video of a long convoy of cars show residents of Belgorod, Russia evacuating their homes after Russian paramilitary groups fighting for Ukraine crossed the Russian-Ukraine border on May 22, 2023, and attacked the Belgorod region? No, that's not true: Lead Stories compared the video footage with photos of Belgorod in Google's Street View and found that the cars…