The Polish television channel TVP, whose logo was used on a Russian fake
showing a map of Poland that includes neighboring Ukrainian territories,
denied they had ever used such a map during any of their programming. The
screenshot used by Russian media was taken from a TVP weather forecast, a
map was photoshopped with a new map and a presenter from another Polish
television channel.
Russian media claims that humanitarian agencies killed civilians and looted in Soledar are based on one "interview" with an alleged Soledar resident, an interview which is not supported by any other evidence. The Donetsk Region police have not documented any criminal actions against residents involving international or Ukrainian volunteers.
As the war in Ukraine raged on in early 2023, rumors about the country's president rage with it. From claims about his career, to rumors about illicit drug use, Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a magnet for doctored images, misinformation, and more.
Continue below for a collection of stories about the Ukraine president's history before and after the war began.
A study by the US think tank CSIS states that the United States may face shortages of certain types of weapons and ammunition. However, this will not be a problem for the American Armed Forces. The United States possesses more than enough interchangeable types of weapons.
Is Ukraine sending children to fight on the front lines of the war? That's what some people on social media are claiming. As proof, they cite a video showing three very young-looking soldiers, which has been circulating online since November 8. It turns out, however, that we could identify two of the three people pictured in the footage and they are young adults - 23 and 25 years old. Furthermore, our team spoke to the NGO Amnesty International, which said that it had no knowledge of documented cases of child soldiers in the Ukrainian Army.
StopFake checked the photo using Google and Bing image searches, and found that the photo used to create this latest fake is of a tattoo studio in Russia. The original photo shows a tattoo parlor called "Tattooirograf," which is located in Biysk, in the Altai Republic of southern Russia. In addition to this low-quality photoshop, Russian media also made a mistake with their special offer, writing the word "акция" ("discount offer") in Russian instead of "акція", as it would be spelled in Ukrainian.
The latest pro-Russian narrative in the war in Ukraine is that the Ukrainian army is sending children and teenagers to the frontline. To illustrate this claim, users are posting a video on Twitter that shows three young soldiers, claiming they are children. Our team were able to identify two of the three soldiers in the video. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
Verdict: Misleading
Ukraine did not kill 12 generals in a single day, though they claimed the deaths of several Russian officers in December 2022.
Social media users have noted that the same blonde woman has appeared behind Russian President Vladimir Putin on three different occasions - proof, they say, that he used "paid extras" during his address marking the start of 2023. However, it turns out that these images do feature different women. One is a soldier who was given a prize by Putin on December 31, 2022 while the two other images show a regional deputy (local politician) from Novgorod, and a supporter of the Russian president. This politician has been previously accused of being an extra.
Internet sleuths are setting social media alight with claims that the Russian president used "paid extras" in his New Year's Eve address, after they found previous official photographs featuring a blonde woman with a striking resemblance to one pictured during the speech. These claims have made media headlines across the globe. We take a closer look in this edition of Truth or Fake with Vedika Bahl.