Category Media taken out of context

The War in Ukraine: A Collection of Fact Checks About Volodymyr Zelenskyy | Snopes.com

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.

Read MoreThe War in Ukraine: A Collection of Fact Checks About Volodymyr Zelenskyy | Snopes.com

Five fact-checks about the war in Ukraine

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.

Read MoreFive fact-checks about the war in Ukraine

This video was filmed years before the 2022 Ukraine-Russia crisis

A video that shows a military tank hurtling down the street has been viewed thousands of times in social media posts that claim it was filmed in Ukraine in January 2022, after Western leaders sounded the alarm over a potential Russian invasion. The posts are misleading; the footage was filmed in May 2014, when deadly clashes erupted between Ukrainian troops and separatists in the city of Mariupol.

Read MoreThis video was filmed years before the 2022 Ukraine-Russia crisis

How a video game has been used to create fake news about the Ukraine war – Truth or Fake

Since February, several Facebook and Twitter accounts versed in disinformation have been regularly sharing impressive videos purporting to show the war in Ukraine. But these viral images actually come from a video game called Arma 3. How can you spot these realistic spoofs that have even fooled international media? In this episode, the Truth or Fake team asks Pavel Křižka, representative of Bohemia Interactive, the company that developed Arma 3.

Read MoreHow a video game has been used to create fake news about the Ukraine war – Truth or Fake

This photo of Ukraine plunged into darkness is photoshopped

Has the entire Ukrainian territory been plunged into darkness due to Russian bombing? That's what some people on social networks have been saying since November 23, while sharing what appears to be an aerial photograph of Europe. While millions of Ukrainians have indeed lost power, this image has been manipulated using a photo that dates back to 2012.

Read MoreThis photo of Ukraine plunged into darkness is photoshopped

Photos of war makeup in Ukraine are from combat medic training in 2016

Four photos being shared on social media of a woman having war wound makeup applied to her face and body are from a medic training exercise in 2016.

At least one of the images was posted by an Instagram user whose profile describes her as a combat medic in Ukraine. The same woman appears in three of the photos.

A Twitter user with the same handle as the Instagram user tweeted Nov. 25 that "enemy propagandists" stole her photos from the 2016 training sessions to misrepresent them.

Allegations that images showing war devastation in Ukraine were staged have been shared on social media since Russia invaded the country in February.

We've debunked multiple claims about photos, including a false one that said a teacher injured on the first day of the war was a crisis actor.

Our ruling
An Instagram post claims that photos of war wound makeup being applied to a woman are fake combat photos, implying the violence in Ukraine isn't real.

But the photos can be traced to an Instagram user who described herself as a combat medic veteran. She shared at least one of the images on Instagram in 2016. A woman with the same handle on Twitter wrote that the photos were from training sessions and were being misrepresented by "enemy propagandists."

There is no evidence the photos were staged to show an injury from the current battle in Ukraine. We rate the claim False.

UPDATE, Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m. ET: The story was updated Dec. 1 to add the response from an Instagram user received after publication of this article.

Read MorePhotos of war makeup in Ukraine are from combat medic training in 2016

Don’t confuse this Zelensky lookalike with the Ukrainian president – Truth or Fake

A viral video on social media allegedly shows President Volodymyr Zelensky dancing with a rocket launcher, as the war in Ukraine drags into its ninth month. The man in the video is actually a parody actor, not the real Zelensky. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Read MoreDon’t confuse this Zelensky lookalike with the Ukrainian president – Truth or Fake

Poland missile strike: Beware of images on Twitter unrelated to the blast – Truth or Fake

Some users on social media are sharing images that allegedly show debris of the S-300 air defence missile that killed two people in Poland this Tuesday. But one of the images being shared is actually from projectile remains found in Dagestan in October 2020. We tell you which images to look out for in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Read MorePoland missile strike: Beware of images on Twitter unrelated to the blast – Truth or Fake

Video game clip falsely shared as footage of Russian tanks struck by US-supplied missiles in Ukraine

A video viewed tens of thousands of times on social media has been falsely shared as showing Ukrainian troops attacking Russian tanks with US-made Javelin anti-tank missiles. While the missiles are among armaments sent by the United States and Western countries to Ukraine after Russia's invasion in February 2022, the clip in fact shows footage from the video game ARMA 3.

Read MoreVideo game clip falsely shared as footage of Russian tanks struck by US-supplied missiles in Ukraine