War

Did Russian President Vladimir Putin order "the destruction of a Kyiv pharmaceutical laboratory suspected of manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines" owned by Farmak, one of Ukraine's major companies selling medical products, in November 2023? No, that's not true: The company's warehouse near Kyiv had been burned down roughly a year and a half earlier. It happened during the early stages of the…

Did U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez say that a ceasefire is when "somebody sees a fire"? No, that's not true: This is a deepfake video originating from a meme account that identified it as such with a "deepfake" hashtag. The voice track that mimics the voice of Ocasio-Cortez was added over a video clip taken from a livestream posted by the…

Did U.S. Special Forces arrest Ukrainian presidential aide Andriy Yermak and Economy Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on U.S. soil as of November 17, 2023? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer confirmed for Lead Stories that this claim is false. The website where this claim was published carries a disclaimer saying it publishes "humor, parody and satire." The claim appeared…

Did Russia bomb "a cloning lab" in Ukraine's Donetsk, occupied by Russia in November 2023? No, that's not true: The website that published the claim relied on a fictitious single source, and that site carries a disclaimer saying it publishes "humor, parody and satire." No credible media organization reported the purported "news." The claim originated in a article (archived here)…

Does a video show a large billboard ad of an ABC News "Stand With Ukraine" message being replaced with a "Stand With Israel" message in New York City's Times Square district? No, that's not true: This video of the intersection of 50th Street and 7th Avenue has been edited to show a fake advertisement. The real illuminated billboard display at…

Does the cover of the October 2023 issue of the German satirical magazine Titanic feature a cartoon of people wearing masks depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with a title that translates to "This time there won't be enough sweets for everyone"? No, that's not true: Titanic's webmaster confirmed to Lead Stories that this supposed cover is fabricated. The official cover…

Does a photo published on social media show Palestinian children killed during the Israel-Hamas conflict that began on October 7, 2023? No, that's not true: While the image does depict children who lost their lives in the Middle East, it actually dates back to 2013 and was taken during the civil war in Syria. The person making the claim later…

Is there no visual evidence to prove there was a coordinated attack by Hamas militants that killed hundreds of people at the Supernova music festival? No, that's not true: The violent attack at the Supernova Festival is not a conspiracy or lie told by a few propagandists. There were thousands of eye-witnesses who were there at the festival and hundreds…

Did the BBC produce a video stating that Bellingcat proved Ukraine was selling NATO weapons to Hamas in the months leading up to the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel? No, that's not true: The BBC website does not contain such reporting, and investigative journalism group Bellingcat did not publish the purported investigation either. Both organizations publicly refuted the claim.…

Does a video show Russian President Vladimir Putin "warning that America should not interfere in the Israel Palestine war" amid the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023? No, that's not true: The video of Putin is from December 2022 and he never mentioned Israel or Palestine in his comments, as the correct translation shows. He was talking about…

Did Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, spend over a million dollars on Cartier jewelry in New York City while accompanying her husband on his recent official trip to the United States? No, that's not true: Zelenska was in Canada on the day of the purported shopping spree. Media provided extensive coverage of the…

Did Sweden confirm the loss of all Leopard 2A5 tanks delivered to Ukraine? No, that's not true. The government of Sweden did not confirm the loss of the tanks, both the press officer for the Swedish Defence Minister and a spokesperson for the Swedish armed forces told Lead Stories. A post making the claim gives no evidence nor does it…

Did USA Today produce and publish a clip capturing Volodymyr Zelenskyy's bodyguard starting a "drunken brawl" in New York City, and did that incident take place during the Ukrainian president's visit to the United States in September 2023? No, none of that is true: A bar's representative, the NYPD and USA Today refuted the claim. The video doesn't even show…

Did a billboard go up on New York's Fifth Avenue during the summer of 2023, reading "No Zelensky No War"? No, that's not true: This video is fake and has been digitally edited. The original video posted on YouTube in 2021 shows the corner of 57th St. and 5th Ave, in New York, at the Tiffany & Co. jewelry store.…

Did Ukraine issue a stamp with an "image of the Nazi" who was "given a standing ovation in the Canadian Parliament" to recognize Yaroslav Hunka as Ukraine's national hero? No, that's not true: The website of the Ukrainian national postal service does not contain any mentions of the supposed stamp. Furthermore, the image shared on social media contained a barcode…

Does a viral video prove that Ukraine now employs bulletproof vests specifically made for "pregnant women fighters"? No, that's not true: The post on social media misleads audiences about the new body armor's design -- it was made not for pregnant people, but for all female military personnel in order to take their anatomy into account. The caption on the…

Did the German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) report that Poles have started to rename their Wi-Fi networks to insult Ukrainian refugees in Poland? No, that's not true: Both DW and the Ukrainian government refuted the claim. A Lead Stories analysis indicates that the claim's list of supposed Wi-Fi networks may predate Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine that displaced…

Did an LED billboard at the corner of 42nd Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan feature the words "Glory to Urine" against a waving blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flag to welcome Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly meeting on September 19, 2023? No, that's not true: This video is not current or authentic. Shots…

Does a photo on social media prove that Ukraine's former minister of defense Oleksii Reznikov went to Europe to enjoy "successful earnings" right after leaving his job in September 2023? No, that's not true: Reznikov posted that image on his Facebook page in 2020. That was before he became the minister of defense, in November 2021. The claim originated from…

Did the United States transfer $6 billion to Ukraine by mistake? No, that's not true: In the summer of 2023, the Pentagon admitted that it overestimated the value of military gear sent to Ukraine due to an accounting mistake but the money was not misspent or even spent. It is still there as of this writing and will be used…