Category Treaties & agreements

Manipulation: West Refuses to Provide Ukraine With Security Guarantees

A column in the Ukrainian online newspaper EuropeanPravda by lawyer Mykhaylo Soldatenko examining the wording and nature of the treaty on future security commitments that Ukraine plans to sign with its allies is being touted by Kremlin propagandists as an example of the West refusing to provide Ukraine with security guarantees. Soldatenko does not write that the G7 countries refuse to provide security guarantees, he simply points out that the word "guarantees" did not appear in the G7 leaders' declaration after the NATO summit. Ukraine is currently negotiating with the United States and Britain on a bilateral agreement on security guarantees.

October 14, 2024
Context European Union Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods NATO Treaties & agreements Ukraine USA

Fake: Russian Army Never Attacks Churches or Cultural Sites

UNESCO and UN specialists have recorded at least 270 Russian attacks on Ukrainian cultural sites, 116 of those were religious buildings.

Don’t Let Russia Fool You About the Minsk Agreements

The deals reached several years ago are far from perfect, but they nonetheless offer a way to talk to Russia while pressing it not to invade further.

January 5, 2024
Context Minsk Agreements Russia Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Fake: New Maidan in Zhytomyr – Video

A video shared online shows a protest action that took place on Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv on October 1, 2019. The protesters were opposed to the then current policy of resolving the war in eastern Ukraine, namely, the implementation of the Minsk agreements under the Steinmeier formula.

November 21, 2023
2014 Maidan revolution Context Disinformation Media taken out of context Methods Minsk Agreements Misconceptions Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements Ukraine

De-coding the myth of NATO expansionism

The Verdict False
This was based on a mistranslation. Ulf Kristersson said the opposite: that there was no reason for having nuclear weapons in Sweden in peacetime.

September 15, 2023
Context Fact checks / debunkings International community NATO Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements Ukraine USSR (Soviet Union)

Was Russia ready to sign a peace treaty with Ukraine in 2022?

Putin's claims that a treaty was ready and acceptable for Ukraine in the spring of 2022 but was rejected by Ukraine are highly unlikely. The documents displayed at the June 17 meeting are likely to have been working drafts. The positions of the parties were too far apart, and Russia was not likely to abide by a ceasefire. A treaty would have to be signed by the presidents, and subject to a referendum in Ukraine.

September 8, 2023
Bucha Context Fact checks / debunkings International community Narratives NATO Negotiations and peace deals Putin Russia South Africa Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Did Ukraine Give Up Nukes for Russia, U.S. Security Guarantees?

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.

December 7, 2022
Aid to Ukraine Fact checks / debunkings Russia Treaties & agreements Ukraine USA

No, Ukraine does not have nuclear bombs or “dirty bombs”

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.

October 27, 2022
Context Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Manipulation: Ukrainians are “Tired of War” and Beg the Government to Negotiate

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.

July 28, 2022
Context Fact checks / debunkings Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements Ukraine

Fake: NATO Chief says Alliance Preparing for War with Russia for Eight Years

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.

July 11, 2022
Context Fact checks / debunkings International community NATO Russia Russian propaganda Treaties & agreements