FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show A Ukrainian Drone Sinking A Russian Warship? | Check Your Fact
Verdict: False
The footage is from a military-based video game. It does not show a genuine Ukrainian drone strike on a Russian warship.
Category Media taken out of context
Undamaged windows are not evidence of staged Ukraine violence
Social media posts claim a photo shows cars damaged by a Russian bomb near a building with intact windows in Bucha, suggesting it proves violence in the Ukrainian town was staged. But there is no evidence of a strike near the building, and residents said military vehicles were used to upend the cars -- accounts confirmed by media reports and other images from the town.
Video featured since 2020 in reports about Turkish attack in Syria, does not show Ukraine
After Russia pressed on with its invasion of Ukraine, a video surfaced in social media posts in various languages claiming it shows a Ukrainian drone attack on Russian tanks. But the footage -- which has been viewed tens of thousands of times -- has been shared in a false context. It has circulated since March 2020 in reports about a Turkish drone assault on Syrian forces.
Images of Ukrainian flag being replaced with Soviet Union flag are from 2015, not 2022
Iterations of the collage have been online since at least 2015 and appear to be screenshots of a video that shows pro-Russian forces taking control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltseve. It's unrelated to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The photos are real, but they're outdated and do not appear to have been taken in Mariupol. The social media posts were miscaptioned.
Our ruling
A collage shared online claims to show Russian forces replacing the Ukrainian flag with the Soviet Flag in Mariupol in 2022.
Iterations of the collage have been online since at least 2015 and appear to feature screenshots of a video that shows pro-Russian forces taking control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Debaltseve.
It's unrelated to Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
We rate this False.
Video of mannequin shows TV drama, not Ukraine ‘faking dead bodies’ in Bucha
Footage of two men handling a mannequin is circulating in social media posts that claim it shows a "prop" passed off as a dead body in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where dozens of corpses were discovered in April after Russian forces retreated. In fact, the video -- viewed hundreds of thousands of times -- was not filmed in Bucha. It was recorded for a Russian TV drama in Vsevolozhsk near Saint Petersburg on March 20, 2022.
This video does not show dead Russian soldiers being honoured in 2022, it is from Ukraine in 2015
In the days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a video circulated online alongside the claim it showed Russian civilians honouring their soldiers killed in the conflict. However, the claim is false. The video is clipped from one posted in 2015, which says it shows Ukrainians paying their respects to soldiers who died fighting in the country's eastern Donbas region in 2015.
Posts do not show ‘Putin condemning Denmark for plundering Indonesian oil tanker’
A video has been viewed millions of times in social media posts that claim it shows Russian President Vladimir Putin angrily condemning Danish authorities for "plundering" an Indonesian tanker after it collected oil from Russia. This is false; the footage shows a ship that was blocked off the coast of Denmark in March 2022 by Greenpeace activists who were calling for a ban on the import of fossil fuels from Russia. The clip of Putin was taken from an unrelated speech he gave in March 2021, in which he accused the West of trying to "cancel" Russian culture.
Three claims accuse Volodymyr Zelensky of being addicted to cocaine
In recent weeks, people have been sharing at least three videos purporting to show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky either using cocaine or making incoherent remarks after allegedly consuming drugs. But these videos have been cut misleadingly and sometimes even digitally manipulated.
Doctored CNN tweet circulates in posts about ‘child soldiers training in Ukraine’
An image shared in multiple social media posts in different countries purports to show a genuine tweet from CNN about child soldiers in Ukraine. The claim is false; AFP found no evidence that the tweet was ever published by CNN, and the US broadcaster said it was fabricated. The photo in the posts has circulated online since at least 2018 in reports about Ukrainian children learning battlefield skills at a summer camp, and the photographer told AFP it was "never used" by CNN.
Social media posts overplay North Korea’s support for Russian invasion of Ukraine, analysts say
Social media posts claim North Korea has decided to send troops to Ukraine to support Russia, citing a report by Russian state media. However, the report makes no mention of North Korea sending troops to Ukraine. There have been no official reports or statements to support the claim, as of April 26. North Korean experts told AFP it was "highly unlikely" that Pyongyang would deploy troops to Ukraine.