Category USA

Senior US military officer was not captured by Russian forces in Ukraine

As Russian strikes pounded the besieged port city of Mariupol in Ukraine, Facebook posts shared in various languages claimed US General Roger L. Cloutier was captured by Russian forces there. However, NATO said the rumour was "completely false" and that Cloutier, who leads NATO's Allied Land Command, had not been to Ukraine since July 2021. Cloutier was in Turkey when the false claims about his whereabouts circulated online.

Read MoreSenior US military officer was not captured by Russian forces in Ukraine

No, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros are not related – Africa Check

As a number of other fact-checking organisations have made clear, there is no evidence that Soros and Zelenskyy are cousins or that a spokesperson from the DOD confirmed this.

We could also find no evidence of any statement mentioning the two men in the DOD's press releases or on its social media accounts.

Read MoreNo, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros are not related – Africa Check

FACT CHECK: Did Oprah Winfrey Remove ‘War and Peace’ From Her Book Club Due To Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine? | Check Your Fact

Verdict: False
The person who originally made the claim later said it was satirical. There is no evidence Winfrey announced the book’s removal.

Read MoreFACT CHECK: Did Oprah Winfrey Remove ‘War and Peace’ From Her Book Club Due To Russia’s Invasion Of Ukraine? | Check Your Fact

No, Zelenskyy and Soros are not cousins

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and billionaire philanthropist George Soros are not cousins. ​The claim is "entirely false," said a spokesperson for Soros' Open Society Foundations.

A viral Facebook post falsely says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and billionaire philanthropist George Soros are related by birth ' one in a series of baseless claims about links between the two.

Soros has been at the center of many debunked claims about his connections to Ukraine, including that he wanted to run the country and that he was using the Ukraine "as a playing field to undermine (former President Donald) Trump's campaign," NBC News reported in 2019.

More recently, false claims have said that Soros admitted on television that he helped overthrow the former Ukrainian president in order to help Zelenskyy take office.

The NBC News story noted that Soros "has long been the target of conspiracy theorists about Jews controlling the world." Soros and Zelenskyy are both Jewish.

We rate the claim that Zelenskyy is a cousin of Soros Pants on Fire!

Read MoreNo, Zelenskyy and Soros are not cousins

No, Tucker Carlson didn’t say this about Ukraine staging dead bodies

Some people have interpreted a tweet about Tucker Carlson and Ukraine to mean that he suggested the country staged dead bodies. But he didn't say that.

Russia has said without evidence that "fake dead bodies" were "staged" in Bucha after its troops left the town. Carlson, meanwhile, has been criticized for echoing Russian talking points. On March 9, for example, Carlson said a Russian claim that Ukraine has bioweapon labs was "totally and completely true," but there's no evidence that's the case, PolitiFact reported.

But this talking point, about staged bodies, wasn't one Carlson made.

We rate claims that he said the words that appeared in Wash's tweet False.

Read MoreNo, Tucker Carlson didn’t say this about Ukraine staging dead bodies

No, NATO Allied Land Command leader wasn’t captured by Russians in Ukraine

Lt. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr., commander of NATO's Allied Land Command, has not been captured by Russian forces in Mariupol, the Allied Land Command confirmed.

Cloutier posted photos from a recent event in Turkey to his LinkedIn profile, where he disputed the internet rumors alleging that he had been captured.

Read MoreNo, NATO Allied Land Command leader wasn’t captured by Russians in Ukraine

Footage has circulated online since 2010 in posts about US and Iraqi forces retaking Iraqi shrine

After Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine, a video was viewed millions of times in multiple Facebook posts that claimed it shows fighting between soldiers from the two countries. In fact, the video has circulated online since 2010. A visual analysis of the clip found it corresponds with a raid by American and Iraqi troops on a shrine in Iraq in 2004.

Read MoreFootage has circulated online since 2010 in posts about US and Iraqi forces retaking Iraqi shrine

Fictional video shared in posts falsely claiming ‘Eiffel Tower was bombed’

A video that appears to show explosions in the French capital of Paris has been viewed thousands of times in misleading social media posts that claim it shows a real attack on the Eiffel Tower. The posts suggest the attack was carried out by Russian forces in response to sanctions from foreign powers following its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The footage, however, has been shared in a false context: it shows a fictional film created by a French director that was then shared online by Ukrainian officials in a bid to urge European authorities to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Read MoreFictional video shared in posts falsely claiming ‘Eiffel Tower was bombed’

Claim that Putin beheaded bioweapon engineers, called Trump to tell him has no basis in fact

There is no evidence Putin beheaded 12 bioweapon engineers in Ukraine.

This claim comes from Real Raw News, a blog that has shown a pattern of fabricating news about politicians being executed or arrested by the military.

Though the story claims Putin told former President Donald Trump about the alleged beheading, a spokesperson for Trump said the account is baseless.

Read MoreClaim that Putin beheaded bioweapon engineers, called Trump to tell him has no basis in fact