War

Is a photo of Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham standing with Osama Bin Laden real? No, that's not true: The image was digitally altered from a real photo of McCain and Graham standing with Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai in July 2013. The fake version showing al-Qaida founder Osama Bin Laden began circulating after McCain's 2018 death as a way…

Did President Trump delete his June 4, 2025, Truth Social post discussing his phone call Russian President Vladimir Putin? No, that's not true: The post was still visible on Trump's timeline as of 12 p.m. ET on June 5, 2025. Lead Stories confirmed this 22 hours after it was initially posted and 17 hours after the false claim was posted…

Does a viral image show three actual Russian TU-95 bombers and an unknown fourth plane damaged in a Ukrainian drone strike? No, that's not true: Some detection tools say the image shows strong evidence of being forged or synthesized using artificial intelligence. The image also contains tell-tale details that do not match with other photographs of such planes, including elements…

Did U.S. President Donald Trump complain on social media that Ukraine's attacks on Russia interfere with his sleep? No, that's not true: A search across his account on Truth Social did not produce a match to the image a viral post purported to have taken from his account. Searches across an archived version of his account and news reports did…

Did President Trump say that Ukraine must compensate Russia for the aircraft it destroyed in a June 1, 2025, drone attack on Russian air bases? No, that's not true: There is no record of President Trump posting these words on his social media accounts or saying them publicly. A Google search for the quote finds it only on social media…

Did a widely-shared clip show Russian missile strikes on Ukrainian airbases, in retaliation against a series of drone attacks on Russian warplanes in June 2025? No, that's not true: The footage was old, and dated to July 2024 at the latest. It appeared to show Russian missiles striking a children's hospital in Kyiv, not airbases. The claim appeared in a…

Does a video shared online show a huge explosion in Moscow, Russia in 2025? No, that's not true: The video shows an explosion in Crimea in 2023 related to an attack on a ship. It does not show an attack on the Russian capital in 2025. One example of the video being shared with a misleading caption was an X…

Does a viral video really show the destruction of "40 Russian strategic bombers" of type TU-95 destroyed by a "daring Ukrainian FPV-drone swarm raid"? No, that's not true: This particular viral social media footage originates from the video game ARMA3. It does not depict the actual drone strikes reported on by worldwide media on June 1, 2025. The video (archived…

Does a photo shared on social media authentically show Houthis missiles targeting Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in May 2025? No, that's not true: The Houthis' attempt to target the airport on May 18, 2025, failed when Israel's air defenses intercepted the rockets. There was a Houthi missile that hit near the airport on May 4, but none since. The image…

Does this video authentically document the Israeli military bombing Gaza, as a social media post claimed? No, that's not true: The video originated on a TikTok account named "@everythingai97" with a bio that says: "DISCLAIMER: ALL VIDEOS I POST ARE AI GENERATED." Several elements of the video reveal digital artifacts of the kind often found in videos that are made…

Does a video show China air-dropping humanitarian aid into Gaza in May 2025? No, that's not true: The video is from March 2024, when U.S. military planes dropped food and supplies onto a beach in Beit Lahiya, Gaza. Other videos posted at the time show the same scene, and news reports documented the event. There is no evidence that China…

Does a video show Chinese fighter jets escorting a Chinese cargo plane over Egypt's Giza pyramids en route to an air-drop of food and supplies to Gaza? No, that's not true: The video shows a May 4, 2025 joint training drill between China and Egypt's military called "Eagles of Civilization 2025," according to an official statement on China's military website.…

Does a viral image confirm that the Ukrainian government issued new rules prohibiting taking pictures of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy from certain angles? No, that's not true: Talking to Lead Stories, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States referred to the image as "fake". The "rules" were self-contradictory and lacked any specific identifying information tying it to…

Did CNN broadcast a graphic touting Pakistan's supposed military success against India, including a caption that read "Pakistan Strikes India's Air Defense"? No, that's not true: A CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories it was a "fabricated image". India has denied Pakistan's claims of having inflicted significant damage on their S-400 air defense system. The fake CNN graphic was presented as…

Did a letter shared in May 2025 authentically show that Pakistan's Air Force had fired Air Vice Marshall Aurangzeb Ahmed, for supposedly "failing to protect" a nuclear facility? No, that's not true: The fake letter originated on an X account which describes its content as "political satire". The image of the letter also had the word "satire" in the top…

Did CNN air a graphic of statistics from the India-Pakistan conflict that showed India suffered far larger losses than Pakistan and that U.S. President Trump helped "curb India's losses?" No, that's not true: A CNN spokesperson told Lead Stories the global news network did not air the graphic and that it was "fabricated." There are no official numbers of jets,…

Did a widely-shared video authentically show President Donald Trump speaking in praise of Pakistan's Air Force, and claiming India had "humiliated itself", in the context of May 2025 clashes between the two countries? No, that's not true: The video contained fake audio of Trump's voice making remarks he never did, in reality. The fake voice and conspicuously fake mouth movements…

Does a video clearly show French President Macron hiding a bag of white powder cocaine as reporters enter a train car where he is meeting with German Chancellor Merz and UK Prime Minister Starmer? No, that's not true: The low-resolution video used to make the claim that the white material in front of Macron is cocaine is too blurry to…

Does a video of a circular object with sparks and smoke swirling under it as it falls to the ground show an Israeli drone sent by India being destroyed over Pakistan? No, that's not true: The video shows a firework known as a "Thai Girandola" misfiring during a launch in Thailand. The video is an edited version of the original…

Did widely-shared clips show fires and explosions in the Pakistani city of Karachi during May 2025 clashes with India? No, that's not true: Some of the videos in question had been online for several weeks before that conflagration began, and therefore had no link to the later conflict. One was recorded during a market fire in Sadiqabad, Pakistan in March,…