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While the Pentagon briefing of the news media highlights the most direct role American personnel have played within Ukraine, to call it "boots on the ground" is an overstatement.
The team will be weapons experts with the aim of keeping tabs on the U.S.-supplied arms in an operation that does not involve American soldiers fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. The inspectors will not be near the frontline, the Pentagon said.
Since the Russian war in Ukraine began, misinformation has been spreading widely. And one of the narratives we've seen again and again is the idea that Ukraine has been "staging" atrocities to sway public opinion in Western media outlets. Here's a closer look at three videos we've seen and debunked.
False. Jamie Raskin did not say that the U.S. should try to destroy Russia nor that America should engage in jihad against the country's "Christian...traditional values."
Posts on Russian social media and Twitter have incorrectly taken Carlson's words as a verbatim quote from Raskin.
False. The claim that Lapin's body was discovered in a river is unsubstantiated. The original reports were based on a misleading tweet and were later retracted.
While there are numerous and, so far, unverified reports, including those from by pro-Kremlin outlets, suggesting that Lapin resigned or was removed from his command, there is no evidence to suggest that he is no longer alive.
Russia's Foreign Ministry has published photos purporting to prove that Ukraine is building a dirty bomb. In truth, the photos are of entirely different things - including reactors in Russia.
The dogs in the photo were pictured lined up near a feeding station in Kramatorsk, as confirmed by photos and film clips taken by volunteers in the city.
While there have been other recorded instances of dogs queueing, they were often highly trained. It's not clear whether these dogs were patiently waiting their turns or it was simply a well-timed photo, but the image is deeply heart-warming nonetheless.
True. Konstantin Yaroshenko was convicted in 2011 for his involvement in a major drug smuggling operation. It is also true that he was part of a prisoner exchange that also included Trevor Reed, a former U.S. marine.
In October 2022, Yaroshenko was indeed appointed to civic office by the Russian president's decree, having earlier expressed an interest in "human rights advocacy" and "social work."
Ukraine is apparently in the process of developing a so-called dirty bomb - a bomb containing radioactive elements - or, at least, that's the narrative that Moscow has been peddling since October 23, 2022. The Russian Ministry of Defence posted these claims to Telegram and Twitter, along with illustrated documents meant to support these claims. But the images published in these documents are old and some of them were even taken in Russia.
Ukraine does not have a nuclear bomb or a "dirty bomb," according to experts and watchdogs.
The country used to have Soviet-era nuclear weapons but returned them to Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed.
Ukraine also dismantled or destroyed its nuclear missiles and silos. Its nuclear materials are now used for peaceful purposes.
Experts and watchdogs say Ukraine has neither a nuclear bomb nor a "dirty bomb." Ukraine used to have nuclear weapons but it transferred them to Russia after the Soviet Union collapsed and dismantled or destroyed its nuclear missiles and silos. The nation's nuclear materials are now used for peaceful purposes.
We rate the post False.