Category Fact checks / debunkings

American megachurches are offering support to Ukraine, despite claims on social media

Multiple megachurches around the United States have been raising funds to help Ukrainians during Russia's invasion.

Gateway Church, another megachurch in Texas, has set up a crisis relief fund to support people in Ukraine and the surrounding region.

Saddleback Church, a megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, has an advance relief team connecting with local pastors in Ukraine and Poland who are caring for hundreds of Ukrainian refugees. The church's website features ways people can help and has provided multiple updates on its efforts in the region.

The Rock Church, a megachurch in San Diego, California, is directing people to its partner organization, Crisis Response International, and told PolitiFact that it's in the process of establishing a Ukraine relief fund.

Crossroads Church, an Ohio-based megachurch, partners with humanitarian and disaster relief organizations Convoy of Hope and World Vision, which both have operations on the ground in Ukraine.

Other church networks, like the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Catholic Relief Services, are collecting donations and deploying staff and resources.

We rate posts that say no megachurches are raising money for Ukraine relief False.

Read MoreAmerican megachurches are offering support to Ukraine, despite claims on social media

Ukrainian boxer sold medal for charity in 2012, not 2022

Social media posts shared in 2022 picture Ukrainian former professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko alongside text saying the athlete auctioned his Olympic gold medal to raise money for children in his home country. But the move is not related to the ongoing war with Russia; Klitschko sold his award in 2012, a decade before President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine.

Read MoreUkrainian boxer sold medal for charity in 2012, not 2022

Video shows Putin’s dog barking at Japanese journalists in 2016, not 2022

A video has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in Facebook posts that claim it shows Russian President Vladimir Putin trying to embarrass a "Japanese delegation" by bringing his dog to an official meeting. The posts -- which circulated online after Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- refer to Japan's alignment with the United States and other countries, which have imposed sanctions on Moscow. But the video has been shared in a false context. It shows Putin bringing his dog to an interview with Japanese journalists at the Kremlin in 2016.

Read MoreVideo shows Putin’s dog barking at Japanese journalists in 2016, not 2022

Photo shows aftermath of 2018 fire in Turkey, not ‘elderly man in Ukraine’

A photo of an elderly man clutching a cat has been shared in social media posts around the world that claim he was seeking shelter from Russian shelling in Ukraine. While millions of people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion, the photo actually shows a man with his cat at the scene of a fire in Turkey in 2018.

Read MorePhoto shows aftermath of 2018 fire in Turkey, not ‘elderly man in Ukraine’

Old photos digitally altered to include China’s national flag

Picture showing cars with smashed windows are circulating in multiple social media posts that claim they are vehicles in Ukraine targeted after the Russian invasion for displaying stickers of the Chinese flag. In fact, the pictures were digitally altered to add the flag and were taken years before Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Read MoreOld photos digitally altered to include China’s national flag

Movie footage shared with false claim that it shows ‘Ukrainian soldier murdering civilians in Chechnya’

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times after it was shared in social media posts with a claim that it shows "a Ukrainian soldier killing Muslim Chechens during Ukraine's attack on Chechnya". However, the claim is false. The clip was actually taken from the opening scene of a French feature film called "The Search", which shows the execution of a Chechen family by Russian soldiers. The 2014 movie was set against the backdrop of the Russian-Chechen war in 1999. Since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was Russia - not Ukraine - that fought wars in Chechnya.

Read MoreMovie footage shared with false claim that it shows ‘Ukrainian soldier murdering civilians in Chechnya’

A pre-recorded video? The pro-Russian hoax suggesting that Volodymyr Zelensky has left Ukraine

Russian media outlets, including Russia Today, are falsely claiming that the video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's visit to a Kyiv hospital on March 13 was recorded last month, fuelling speculation that he has fled the country.

Read MoreA pre-recorded video? The pro-Russian hoax suggesting that Volodymyr Zelensky has left Ukraine

Ukraine recognized downed pilot as ‘hero,’ but claims he was the ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ are unsubstantiated

Col. Oleksandr "Grey Wolf" Oksanchenko, a decorated Ukrainian pilot, was killed in combat on Feb. 25.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded him posthumously with the title of Hero of Ukraine, along with 11 other military service members.

Unconfirmed reports hold that an unidentified pilot, who has come to be called the "Ghost of Kyiv," downed six Russian planes on the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We do not find evidence that this was Oksanchenko.

It's uncertain how the Ghost of Kyiv tale originated, but we know that Ukraine's military reported on Feb. 24 that at least six Russian planes and two helicopters had been downed. Crediting Ukrainian military, CNN and NBC soon reported five Russian planes and one helicopter had been shot down. Russia's defense ministry denied the report, according to Reuters, and said that Ukraine's air force defenses had been "suppressed."

Ukraine's official Twitter account, meanwhile, promoted the Ghost of Kyiv narrative with a video that suggested the mystery pilot could have been responsible for as many as 10 downed Russian aircraft by Feb. 26. That video, too, included footage from a video game.

PolitiFact did not receive a response from Zelensky's administration about Oksanchenko and the Ghost of Kyiv claim.

Finding no conclusive information tying Oksanchenko to the Ghost of Kyiv, we rate this claim False.

Read MoreUkraine recognized downed pilot as ‘hero,’ but claims he was the ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ are unsubstantiated