Vladimir Putin

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…

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,…

Was a debt jubilee, the cancellation of a broad range of debts from the public record, "officially declared" after Queen Elizabeth II's death? No, that's not true: At the time of writing, no such announcement has been made. The man who posted the rumor online was promoting his online store selling precious metals. The claim appeared in a Facebook post…

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…

Did Ukraine launch a counterattack against Russia by crossing its border and blowing up a Russian power plant, leaving the country in flames? No, that's not true: Although the Ukraine military has launched some cross-border missile attacks since Russia invaded the country on March 24, 2022, no Russian power plants have been destroyed by Ukraine and there is no evidence…

Did NATO send "10 thousand" troops to Ukraine? No, that's not true: There are no credible reports about that. Moreover, the social media posts that made this claim did not contain a single verifiable detail about the purported event. The story appeared in a Facebook post on August 25, 2022. The caption says: Putin is stuck: 10 thousand NATO Troops…

Did France 2 intentionally misinform its audiences about an incident in the war in Ukraine on August 10, 2022? No, that's not true: The French TV channel's report about a strike that hit buildings surrounding Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant overall correctly reflected the situation on that day, but one segment misidentified a building chimney as an unexploded missile. In…

Are Russia and China creating a "new global reserve currency" based on "rare earth minerals" as videos on social media claim? No, that's not true: The original source of the story, Russian President Vladimir Putin, brought up the idea of a reserve currency based on a basket of currencies of BRICS countries -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa…

Does a video posted on Facebook prove that Israel destroyed one of Russia's nuclear submarines, the Kazan? No, that's not true: The clip contains an image of a different submarine, and there have been no credible reports about any Russian submarines being attacked, damaged or destroyed by Israel as of August 9, 2022. The claim originated in a video published…

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin describe Africa as a "cemetery for Africans"? No, that's not true: No English or Russian credible sources confirm he ever said this. The claim appeared in a TikTok video clip posted to Facebook on July 25, 2022. The caption said: "Africa is a cemetery to Africans." The video opened with a man reading: Vladimir Putin…