A new hoax has been targeting Ukrainian refugees. These two men covered in Nazi tattoos, wearing beach shorts, have been presented as Ukrainian refugees in Croatia by pro-Russian Twitter accounts. In reality, the images show Hungarian members of a neo-Nazi group.
But a video being shared on social media a few weeks later perhaps buoyed Ukraine's supporters. The description in the July 17 post said "Sievierodonetsk's air defenses shot down 55 Ka 52 helicopters."
Dozens of comments cheered on Ukraine, with Ukrainian flags and GIFs congratulating the country.
That's because anyone who watches the video can clearly see that the footage isn't authentic. It's a video game.
We rate claims of this footage's veracity False.
Ukrainians were not involved in any way in the video that was published by Russian propagandists showing protesters blocking traffic. It was not Ukrainians who were blocking the road to traffic, but local environmental activists from the Extinction Rebellion organization.
Russian claims that the US Embassy in Ukraine has evacuated its staff and ceased working is not true. Both the embassy and its consulates continue working. Claims that the Odesa consulate has closed are completely ridiculous, as that particular office closed four years ago in 1918.
A Swiss land registry official said that documents claiming to show purchases of luxury properties by Ukrainian officials are forged.
The documents contain errors, such as the wrong digit count in numbers identifying the property.
A Swiss newspaper said the false claims were the work of a blogger loyal to the Kremlin.
Our ruling
A website claimed that three high-ranking Ukrainian officials had purchased luxury property in the resort town of Gstaad, Switzerland.
A Swiss land registry official said the documents cited as evidence were forged; errors in them prove that they did not come from the registry, the official said.
We rate this claim False.
To strengthen border security in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on July 11 the EU launched a Support Hub for internal security and border management in Moldova. Neither the program nor the announcement mention Ukraine reselling western weapons or being involved in drug trafficking.
Ukrainian refugees are accused by Russian social media users of mowing a huge swastika into a field in Brandenburg, Germany. These accusations are unfounded. According to German media, the Nazi symbol, which has been banned in Germany since the end of WWII, could have been made by a local villager.
Social media posts share an image that purportedly shows Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky riding a horse made of banknotes on the cover of Money, a US magazine. But no such cover was published; the image was altered from a 2016 issue, according to the magazine, which is now only available online.
Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed in Russian rocket attacks since February 24. Still, Vladimir Putin claims his soldiers don't attack civilian targets. The facts show quite the opposite.
Kissinger did not suggest that Ukraine cede territory to Russia. He argued that in order to start peace negotiations with Ukraine, Russia must return to the positions that existed before the war began on February 24, 2022.