While footage and claims from Wagner should be treated cautiously, it stands to reason that had the video depicted a mass surrender, then Prigozhin or his representatives would have heralded that fact and not a prisoner exchange.
In short, based on footage from the Wagner Group and other news sources, Newsweek can confirm the aerial footage is not of a Ukrainian mass surrender.
The OSCE did not confirm the facts of illegal transplantologists operating in Ukraine in 2014 and generally lacks evidence regarding possible organ removal in eastern Ukraine. On October 30, 2014, the organization issued an official refutation. It states that during one of the sessions of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meetings (HDIM), two Russian non-governmental organizations quoted reports of possible organ removal and sale of human organs in eastern Ukraine. In response to this, a representative of the Ukrainian government stated that these accusations would be investigated as soon as greater access to the region becomes possible. This situation was described by the OSCE Special Representative on Human Trafficking Issues, Madina Jarbussynova, for Ukrainian media. Later, her words were taken out of context in Russian media.
A video has been circulating online that allegedly shows "Lord of the Rings" actor Elijah Wood giving the Ukrainian president advice on how to tackle his alleged drug and alcohol addictions. He can be seen recording himself and talking to a so-called "Vladimir". However, the video has been heavily edited and his agent has confirmed it was not published by the actor.
Numerous reports from international human rights organizations prove that
since the beginning of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has
regularly deployed cluster bombs against Ukrainian civilians and Ukrainian
civilian infrastructure. One such cluster munitions attack was the April
8, 2022, Russian missile strike on the Kramatorsk railway station, which
killed at least 58 civilians and injured some 100 people.
Information about the destruction of the Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral
appeared in the Wikipedia article about the church shortly after it became
clear which buildings were damaged by the Russian attack on Odesa during
the night of July 23. Ukrainian Wikipedia administrator Anatoliy Lutsyuk
explains that the editing history of Wikipedia uses UTC time, which
currently is three hours ahead of Kyiv time.
It is illegal under Ukraine's constitution to hold elections while martial law is in effect. These rules predate President Zelensky's time in power.
This Foreign Policy article gives a detailed overview of why holding elections in wartime Ukraine would be not just illegal, but would also put millions of civilians at risk while lining up under Russian missiles. An election today would also disenfranchise many of the millions of Ukrainians who are displaced, abroad as refugees, under Russian occupation, or prisoners in Russia.
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Ukrainian legislation has prohibited organ transplants of servicemen who
died during hostilities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2019. A
new draft law under review is designed to clarify previously adopted norms,
broadening the ban on organ removal from servicemen who died in the line of
duty anywhere in Ukraine, where hostilities are taking place.
The Ukrainian government has repeatedly emphasized that it is not going to cede its territory to Russia for peace. For Ukraine, there is only one acceptable way to end the Russian war: the undisputed victory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the de-occupation of all Ukrainian lands.
Apart from the fact that the video has been bizarrely edited, it does not mention Zelensky, only someone named Vladimir, and is attributed to an Instagram account with no web presence.
Elijah Wood does not have a public Instagram account and the video being shared of him online, allegedly asking Zelensky to seek treatment, is the only recording available. The video appears to have been spread as a Russian propaganda effort and to promote a dubious documentary that falsely credits Tom Cruise as its star.
Although Newsweek is yet to hear from Wood's representatives for comment, we are confident that the video and claims surrounding it are, respectively, inauthentic and false.