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Old military training drill video falsely passed off as footage of US soldiers fighting in Ukraine

A video of soldiers jumping out of a plane with parachutes has been shared tens of thousands of times on Facebook in South Africa alongside a claim that it shows US paratroopers joining the war in Ukraine. But this is false: the footage, which has been viewed millions of times, has been online since at least 2016 and features US soldiers performing parachute drills at the Pope Army Airfield in North Carolina.

One America News runs conspiratorial segment claiming strike on Mariupol hospital was US false flag

The aftermath of the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, was captured on video and in photos showing that it was an actual attack.

A Pentagon spokesperson called OAN host Pearson Sharp's claims "ridiculous." Several independent experts who spoke to PolitiFact agreed that it was completely without merit. Russian officials have conceded the attack occurred.

Our ruling
Sharp said the attack on the Mariupol hospital had "the makings of yet another false flag operation" by the U.S.

There is no evidence that the attack was staged or a false flag carried out by the U.S. Its aftermath was documented by workers, witnesses and journalists on the ground.

We rate OAN's claim Pants on Fire!

No evidence to support claims that Ukraine is killing people for speaking Russian

Russia has leaned on claims that Ukraine has killed Russian speakers in the country and that Russians are the targets of genocide there, but there's no evidence to support that.

Ukraine appealed to the U.N.'s International Court of Justice in the Hague to rule on the Russian government's claims of genocide "in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine," calling them false. The court ruled 13-2 on March 16 that the Kremlin's justification for the war was unjustified and ordered Russia to stop its invasion. Judges from Russia and China were the two dissenting votes.

We rate this post False.

Photos of Nazi symbols in Ukraine are shared out of context – Truth or Fake

Several videos and photos are circulating online, lending credibility to Russian claims of a serious neo-Nazi problem in Ukraine. The problem here though is that the images and videos are a distortion of reality and, in some cases, completely fictional. We take a closer look in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Video Shows Climate Protest in Austria, Not ‘Crisis Actors’ in Ukraine

Video Shows Climate Protest in Austria, Not ‘Crisis Actors’ in Ukraine

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has triggered a barrage of false claims on social media, including posts that purport to show a video of “crisis actors” portraying dead victims of the fighting. The video used in the posts is from a climate protest held in Vienna, Austria, weeks before the war in Ukraine began.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Parrots Russian Talking Point on Ukraine

Marjorie Taylor Greene Parrots Russian Talking Point on Ukraine

Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene parroted a Russian talking point with her claim that Ukraine is a country whose “government only exists because the Obama State Department helped to overthrow the previous regime.”

FactCheck.org presents the history of this Russian propaganda talking point, and explains why it is false.

Kelly Degnan’s Statement Regarding Sanctions Disseminated with a False Interpretation

On March 17th, the Facebook user "Nikoloz Kvanchiani" published a screenshot of a "Mtavari Arkhi" post depicting the US Ambassador to Georgia, Kelly Degnan, with the caption: "There are consequences for any country that doesn't comply with international sanctions regime - Kelly Degnan." According to the post's author, Degnan threatens Georgians and forces them to join the war against Russia. [...]

The statement of Kelly Degnan is being disseminated with a false interpretation. In fact, Degnan is neither threatening Georgia nor encouraging it to get involved in the fight against Russia. Degnan claimed that no one is asking the Georgian government to impose bilateral sanctions if the country does not want to do so.

Posts misleadingly link pharmaceutical event in India with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Several images have been shared repeatedly in social media posts that claim they show a minaret in India's capital lit up with the colours of the Russian flag to show "support" for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The posts circulated online after a similar tweet was shared by the state-run Chinese tabloid Global Times. The claim is misleading: the Indian government said the building in New Delhi was illuminated as part of a week-long event to promote affordable medicines. Local media reports also said the minaret was illuminated for the pharmaceutical event, not Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Zelensky Remains in Ukraine, Despite False Claims on Social Media

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appeared in several recent videos that show he has remained in the country since Russia invaded on Feb. 24. But a post circulating on Facebook falsely claims he fled and recorded a video using a green screen to make it appear as though he's still in Ukraine. There's no evidence to support the claim. A digital forensics expert told us that nothing in the video indicates it was filmed using a green screen.