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Footage shows Ukraine in 2022, not Russia in 2018

Social media posts claim US broadcaster ABC misrepresented a video of a 2018 gas explosion in Russia as footage from the war in Ukraine. This is false; the clip was shot in Ukraine by a Turkish news agency, and a similar video from AFP confirms that the incident took place following Russia's 2022 invasion of its eastern European neighbor.

Video footage from 2014 misleadingly cast as Russian invasion

Footage of armored vehicles set alight by Molotov cocktails on a Ukrainian street is being presented on social media as local resistance against Russia's ongoing invasion. This is false; the recording is from Ukraine, but it was shot in 2014 in Kyiv during the country's popular protest movement, when demonstrators torched the army's vehicles.

Fake CNN tweet falsely reports first US casualty in Ukraine

Social media posts claim CNN lied to the public by tweeting that a man was the first US casualty in Ukraine after previously featuring the same photo in a post about his execution in Afghanistan. This is false; the network says the tweets are not from its official accounts, and the man pictured is a YouTube video game commentator who continues to livestream on the platform.

New Russian nuke weapon dubbed Satan 2 cannot destroy ‘everything breathing in the world’

Russian state media says the missile can destroy an area the size of Texas or France, not the world. We could not find more objective reports detailing the same destructive power.

"Individual warheads would strike distinct targets within a very limited ballistic 'footprint,' or many warheads from the same missile would strike the same target, increasing the likelihood of destroying that target completely," according to a 2021 report from EurAsian Times.

The weapon is believed to be able to evade missile defense systems and its deployment is expected around 2022, said a March 1 Congressional Research Service report.

We rate the claim that a Russian nuclear weapon dubbed Satan 2 is "capable of destroying everything breathing in the world" False.

Posts falsely claim Steven Seagal with Russian forces in Ukraine

Social media posts feature an alleged CNN tweet that claims American actor Steven Seagal took up arms alongside Russian special forces in Ukraine. But CNN said the tweet -- which includes an image of Seagal in fatigues and carrying a weapon -- is fake, and his representatives also rejected the claim, saying the actor wants peace for both countries.

Photo of children sending off Ukrainian troops is from 2016, not 2022

The viral image of children waving off troops dates back to 2016. It does not depict the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia.

Our ruling
Social media posts claim that a viral image, which shows two young children holding hands and saluting troops, was captured in Ukraine in 2022. But the photo traces back to 2016.

We rate these posts False.

Fact-checking claims that NATO, US broke agreement against alliance expanding eastward

No legal agreement prohibits NATO from expanding eastward.

Russians have argued that comments made by U.S. and other Western leaders during the negotiations over the reunification of Germany constituted a promise that NATO would not extend beyond then-East Germany. Those allegations have sparked decades of debate amongst those involved in the events, and scholars studying them.

Even scholars who say they believe western powers did offer the Soviet Union assurances about NATO expansion say Owens' claim is misleading.

Our ruling
Owens said, "NATO (under direction from the United States) is violating previous agreements and expanding eastward."

There is an ongoing historical debate over comments that Western leaders, including Baker, made during post-Cold War negotiations, and whether what they said amounted to assurances that NATO would refrain from welcoming in countries closer to modern-day Russia.

But NATO as an organization made no such pledge, and the formal agreement signed at the end of those negotiations said nothing about the alliance not expanding eastward.

We rate this claim Mostly False.

Is Russia using mobile crematoriums in Ukraine? – Truth or Fake

British website The Telegraph is reporting that Russia is using mobile crematoriums in Ukraine in bid to hide its losses. But the accompanying video footage of a crematorium actually dates from 2013. It was posted by a Russian incinerator construction company and is not footage from the ground. The use of mobile crematoriums by Russians during the current war in Ukraine is yet to be verified. We tell you more in this edition.