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Did Ukraine Give Up Nukes for Russia, U.S. Security Guarantees?

The Budapest Memorandum, signed in December 1994, resulted in Ukraine voluntarily handing over its nuclear arsenal, as well as other military stocks and munitions, to Russia.

In exchange, Moscow vowed to respect Ukraine's sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity.

The U.S. and the U.K. were among the co-signatories, but stopped short of providing "guarantees" (which would have entailed a direct military intervention) and instead offered "assurances," a term that left some wiggle room for a response to potential aggression from Moscow.

How a video game has been used to create fake news about the Ukraine war – Truth or Fake

Since February, several Facebook and Twitter accounts versed in disinformation have been regularly sharing impressive videos purporting to show the war in Ukraine. But these viral images actually come from a video game called Arma 3. How can you spot these realistic spoofs that have even fooled international media? In this episode, the Truth or Fake team asks Pavel Křižka, representative of Bohemia Interactive, the company that developed Arma 3.

Fact Check: Was Ex-Adult Film Star Sasha Grey in Russian Military Promo?

Social media users began to share an image appearing to show former adult film star Sasha Grey dressed as a conscription officer.

Images of posters with a woman of Grey's likeness have been shared on Twitter since November 27, appearing to show the California-born actress and model wearing a green uniform, while sitting at a desk. She can be seen looking at the camera with captions encouraging Russians to join the military [...] Grey did not take part or agree to be featured in a Russian government campaign to promote its military service. The film star has confirmed so herself, while the image featured in the tweets is old, part of a composite, and has undergone a number of edits.

This photo of Ukraine plunged into darkness is photoshopped

Has the entire Ukrainian territory been plunged into darkness due to Russian bombing? That's what some people on social networks have been saying since November 23, while sharing what appears to be an aerial photograph of Europe. While millions of Ukrainians have indeed lost power, this image has been manipulated using a photo that dates back to 2012.

Have gasoline prices fallen to pre-Ukraine war levels, as Joe Biden said?

According to the most recent weekly data, the cost of a gallon of gasoline is $3.53. That's exactly the same as it was just days before Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.

Our ruling
Biden said, "Gas prices are down back to where they were before Russia invaded Ukraine."

Gas prices didn't start increasing with the onset of the war, but the most recent weekly price data shows the cost of a gallon of gasoline at $3.53, which is exactly the same as it was just days before Russia invaded Ukraine.

We rate the statement True.

Photos of war makeup in Ukraine are from combat medic training in 2016

Four photos being shared on social media of a woman having war wound makeup applied to her face and body are from a medic training exercise in 2016.

At least one of the images was posted by an Instagram user whose profile describes her as a combat medic in Ukraine. The same woman appears in three of the photos.

A Twitter user with the same handle as the Instagram user tweeted Nov. 25 that "enemy propagandists" stole her photos from the 2016 training sessions to misrepresent them.

Allegations that images showing war devastation in Ukraine were staged have been shared on social media since Russia invaded the country in February.

We've debunked multiple claims about photos, including a false one that said a teacher injured on the first day of the war was a crisis actor.

Our ruling
An Instagram post claims that photos of war wound makeup being applied to a woman are fake combat photos, implying the violence in Ukraine isn't real.

But the photos can be traced to an Instagram user who described herself as a combat medic veteran. She shared at least one of the images on Instagram in 2016. A woman with the same handle on Twitter wrote that the photos were from training sessions and were being misrepresented by "enemy propagandists."

There is no evidence the photos were staged to show an injury from the current battle in Ukraine. We rate the claim False.

UPDATE, Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m. ET: The story was updated Dec. 1 to add the response from an Instagram user received after publication of this article.

No, Ukrainian fans were not responsible for Nazi graffiti at the World Cup

Numerous accounts on Twitter and Telegram have been sharing a video they say is a report by Al Jazeera showing Nazi graffiti left by Ukrainian football fans during the kickoff game of the World Cup in Qatar on November 20. The media outlet, however, says that they didn"t make this video. Moreover, a number of clues have allowed us to establish that this is a fake news report and that the Nazi graffiti was, in fact, photoshopped.