Fact Check: The ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ fighter pilot
The Ukrainian fighter pilot, celebrated on social media as a war hero, was said to have shot down several Russian aircraft - and has now died. But what's the truth behind the myth of the "Ghost of Kyiv"?
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Read MoreFact Check: The ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ fighter pilot
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The photos are real, but they're outdated and do not appear to have been taken in Mariupol.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.
Disinfo: Zelenskyy is only a marketing operation, a Jewish face for a Nazi regime
The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been actively used by the pro-Kremlin outlets for years to denigrate Ukraine.
In 2015 Ukraine issued a ban on Nazi and Communist ideologies. The far-right groups had a limited presence during the Euromaidan protests and have suffered defeats in every national election since, with a united front of all radical right-wing parties in the 2019 parliamentary elections winning only 2.15% of the vote falling far short of the 5% minimum guaranteeing entry into parliament.
Fake: Crimean Tatars Unanimously Support Russia’s “Special Operation” in Ukraine
Crimean Tatars are Ukraine's indigenous people, they support Ukraine's territorial integrity and categorically oppose the Russian war. In temporarily occupied Crimea, Russian security forces continue pursuing a policy of repression against the Crimean Tatars, massively imprisoning them for supporting Ukraine.
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.
Fake: Zelensky’s Fortune Estimated at $850 Million
There is absolutely no evidence that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has a net worth of $850 million. According to several authoritative sources, Zelensky's combined fortune could amount to some $20-25 million.
Putin’s Fake: War in Ukraine Conforms with UN Charter
The full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation which began on February 24, 2022, is a flagrant violation of international law and a naked act of aggression.
Fake: Austria Agrees To Pay for Russian Gas In Rubles
Austria continues to pay for Russian gas only in Euros and strictly adheres to agreed EU sanctons, said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. The politician called the news that Austria paid its Russian gas bill in rubles "another Russian propaganda fake".