Russia's invasion of Ukraine this year kept our fact-checkers very busy. We wrote 92 articles debunking false claims about information related to the war. These ranged from claims the Bucha massacre was staged to false TV reports and accusations of Nazism among Ukrainians. To mark the end of the year, we made a list of some of our top fact-checks about Ukraine.
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.
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.
The petition on the Ukrainian President's website calling to resume the negotiation process with Russia does not reflect Ukrainian public opinion. Despite a certain degree of fatigue and constant attacks by Russia, Ukrainians remain united in their determination not to make any concessions to the aggressor. According to a Kyiv International Institute of Sociology (KIIS) poll conducted between July 6 and July 20, 84% of Ukrainians are not ready to make territorial concessions in order to end the war.
Verdict: False
The photos show a set of custom-built Lego figures. A Lego spokesperson confirmed the images do not depict an official product.
Jens Stoltenberg has never said anything about any eight-year preparation for war with Russia, nor about NATO's plans to "attack" Russia. The NATO Secretary General talked about the foundations of European security, which the Kremlin undermined in 2014 by occupying Ukrainian Crimea and seizing parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.
Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed in Russian rocket attacks since February 24. Still, Vladimir Putin claims his soldiers don't attack civilian targets. The facts show quite the opposite.
The Politico newspaper, which Russian media claims published a story about an imminent peace treaty between the West and the Russian Federation, does not have a single article on this topic. Quite the contrary, the publication quotes many Western politicians who say that the United States and the European Union are committed to long-term support for Ukraine and do not see a possible to end the war in the near future.
During the second half of April 2022, when Bocquet claimed to be in Ukraine, military operations were no longer taking place in Bucha, nor were any Russian soldiers being taken prisoner. The town was occupied by Russian troops from the end of February to April 1. That evening saw the first reports with videos showing dead bodies on its streets. That is, Adrien Bocquet could not have been in Bucha to observe "neo-Nazis committing war crimes."
Ukrainian citizens cannot be deported as they entered the European Union legally, forced into the move because of Russia's invasion.