Russia Ukraine War

Did Sweden launch a "surprise air strike" against Russia on May 3, 2023? No, that's not true: The claim comes from a clickbait video and is not supported by any other credible sources. The story originated from a post on Facebook on May 3, 2023. It included a video titled: Surprise Air Strike from Sweden- Russian warships were hunted down…

Does a TV interview with international affairs analyst Gilbert Doctorow prove that a Russian hypersonic missile "killed 200 NATO generals, including at least 20 or 30 high-ranking American officers"? No, that's not true: Doctorow doesn't offer any evidence to support his assertion other than an indefinite reference to "The Russians." The U.S. Department of Defense responded to this with: "This…

Does a video authentically show footage captured by a Ukrainian drone flying over Moscow in April 2023? No, that's not true: The video shared on Twitter was originally posted to YouTube in 2015 by AirPano, a virtual reality production studio "focused on taking high-resolution" aerial footage. In 2023, an 11-second clip of that video was cropped from a horizontal shape…

Did a special April 2023 (issue 337) of The New European (TNE) feature on its cover a cartoon of a scowling Rishi Sunak, U.K. prime minister, looking at Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy sitting on the lap of the Dalai Lama, who has stuck his tongue out -- with Zelenskyy saying, "I'll suck it if you pay me!"? No, that's not…

Did sanctioned Russian banks regain their access to the international system of cross-border money transfers in April 2023? No, that's not true: No such decision was made by the European Union or the United States, as of this writing. The claim appeared in a tweet (archived here) published on April 22, 2023. It opened: NEWS | Russia has been reconnected…

Yousuf Basil is a freelance journalist whose career in media started with the onset of the Iraq war, where he covered the violence, political chaos and regional and global repercussions from Baghdad. He relocated to Atlanta,where for more than a decade he worked at CNN on top global news stories, including the rise and fall of ISIS, the Covid pandemic…

Does this video show a Russian fighter jet intercept a U.S. Navy aircraft and order it to leave on April 10, 2023? No, that's not true: This event shown in the video did not happen on April 10, 2023, but on July 7, 2021. The source of the footage can be found on the Ministry of Defense of Russia's YouTube…

Does a viral snapshot of a poster portray authentic recruiting efforts of Ukraine to encourage the homeless and welfare recipients in the United States to join the fight against Russia? No, that's not true: The rumor was promoted by Kremlin-affiliated entities citing unidentified and unconfirmed social media posts. The Ukrainian Embassy in the United States denied the country's involvement in…

Did Volodymyr Zelenskyy announce that he would "no longer take a call from Xi Jinping?" No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the Ukrainian president made the comment about Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Lead Stories previously debunked another made-up quote from the same Twitter account. The claim appeared as a post published on Twitter on April 6, 2023…

Does a social media photo show the aftermath of Russian bombing of a NATO "secret underground bunker," possibly in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The image is a screenshot from a March 2021 video showing the aftermath of explosions at an oil depot that was being used by Turkey-backed opposition forces in northern Syria. The claim appeared in a post…