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Fake: Ukraine keeps foreign ships out of ports under threat of sinking

International organizations confirm that it is Russia, and not Ukraine, that is blocking some 90 ships carrying foodstuffs in the Black Sea. There have also been at least three recorded cases of Russia bombing merchant ships carrying goods from Black Sea ports.

Russian media continue to accuse Ukraine of being "aggressive" not only towards Russia, but also towards the entire civilized world. Since February 24, 2022, state media have actively promoted the claim that Ukrainian authorities are allegedly "forcibly detaining" "some 70 foreign merchant ships" in ports to "blackmail the whole world". Russian media also claim that Ukraine has "deliberately mined" the Black Sea to "create Russophobe provocations".

No evidence that Ukraine attacked a train station in one of its cities

There's no credible evidence that Ukraine was behind the April 8 attack at the Kramatorsk train station. A video used to bolster this claim is fake ' it did not come from the BBC.

The claim has largely been spread by pro-Kremlin accounts following reports of civilian casualties and contradict earlier Russian posts that initially took credit for the bombing.

The Tochka-U missile used in the attack, and the serial number on it, isn't proof that it came from the Ukrainian army. Several news reports, legitimate photos and videos show that Russia has used these missile systems recently.

Our ruling
Facebook posts claim that Ukraine was responsible for the Kramatorsk train station bombing.

A video used to bolster this rumor is fake. Although the video has a BBC logo, it was not produced by the news organization.

There's no credible evidence that Ukraine was behind the attack.

The Tochka missile used in the attack, and the serial number on it, isn't proof that it came from the Ukrainian army. Several news reports, legitimate photos and videos show that Russia has used these missile systems recently. The rumors that Ukraine attacked the train station have largely been spread by pro-Kremlin social media accounts.

We rate this claim False.

Fake: All Ukrainian Refugees Willingly Going to Russia

Citing the Russian Ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova, Russian media are claiming that the Kremlin is not forcefully deporting Ukrainians from territories currently occupied by the invading Russian army. [...]

The evacuation of civilians from territories occupied by invading Russian troops has been problematic and raised numerous questions from the very beginning of the war. In parts of Mariupol captured by the Russian forces, many civilians had no choice but to go to territories not controlled by Ukraine or to go to Russia. Many did so under pressure from the Russian military, who forced them to leave their shelters and hiding places and directed them to "filtration camps" for identification and interrogation. Those who passed the filtration were then transported to various Russian regions, those who did not were imprisoned.

Senior US military officer was not captured by Russian forces in Ukraine

As Russian strikes pounded the besieged port city of Mariupol in Ukraine, Facebook posts shared in various languages claimed US General Roger L. Cloutier was captured by Russian forces there. However, NATO said the rumour was "completely false" and that Cloutier, who leads NATO's Allied Land Command, had not been to Ukraine since July 2021. Cloutier was in Turkey when the false claims about his whereabouts circulated online.

No, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros are not related – Africa Check

As a number of other fact-checking organisations have made clear, there is no evidence that Soros and Zelenskyy are cousins or that a spokesperson from the DOD confirmed this.

We could also find no evidence of any statement mentioning the two men in the DOD's press releases or on its social media accounts.

Fake: Ukrainian Drones for Spraying Poisonous Substances Found

The drones Russian media are claiming Ukrainian troops use to spray poisons are not combat drones, but rather DJI AGRAs T30 agricultural drones which are used in farmland management.

According to the All Ukrainian Federation of Drone Owners, the drones in the video circulated by the Russian media belong to their client and they were stolen by the Russian military.

‘Old footage’ of ‘Ukrainian Nazis’ murdering ‘Chechnya Muslims’? No, video from 2014 war movie – Africa Check

None of this is true. The video is a work of fiction and the people in it are actors. The video is related to war in Chechnya, but only because it's a clip from The Search (2014), a war drama written and directed by French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius. The Search is fiction, though set in a real war. But it's worth pointing out that right at the beginning it specifically identifies the men who kill the man and woman as Russian soldiers.

And the caption's claim that "Ukrainian Nazis once upon a time invaded Chechnya" is incorrect.