Users are now sharing a viral video claiming to show crisis actors faking injuries for the Ukrainian army in order to "solicit" more money from allies. We debunk these claims in this edition of Truth or Fake.
VERDICT: Misleading. The image was taken in January 2020, two years before Russia invaded Ukraine and Zelenskiy ditched suits for wartime attire.
Neither the Wall Street Journal nor AMVETS have reported such information. The U.S. has no authority to prosecute a foreign leader because of sovereign immunity.
However, Zelenskyy did not use any expletives about Trump when speaking to journalists during the walk from his motorcade to greet Starmer. The claim is false. Further, the video exhibited potential signs that its originator used an artificial-intelligence tool to create many of its elements.
An unedited video (archived) showing the same moment featured an unidentified reporter asking, "Mr. President, how was the trip? How do you feel?," and Zelenskyy responding, "Ok. Thank you so much."
There is no such word in the dictionary. The screenshot that is being shared online was edited.
A screenshot from a bookmaker's website that is being circulated online has been edited.
There is no evidence that such a meal has actually appeared in Ukraine. The original source of this claim is the Telegram channel of Yulia Vityazeva, the former host of the Russian propaganda programme Solovyov Live. In addition, there is no mention of this dish in any credible source, and the name of the restaurant remains unknown. Furthermore, digital analysis of the image's flaws suggests that it was most likely artificially generated or altered. All of this suggests that the information is false.
Claim: Ukraine was caught faking combat scenes to ask for more money from the US.
Fact: This video does not show Ukrainian soldiers creating fake combat scenes. It's a behind-the-scenes shot from a music video.
UNITED24 did not report such information, and neither did any other credible source.
This information is fake, as the Wall Street Journal never published such an article, and the screenshot circulating online is a fake.