Fact-check: Did Ukraine start its war with Russia, as Trump claims? | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera
Verdict: False Ukraine did not 'start' this war. Russia launched an unprovoked and brutal invasion claiming hundreds of thousands of lives.
Category Narratives
Read MoreFact-check: Did Ukraine start its war with Russia, as Trump claims? | Russia-Ukraine war News | Al Jazeera
Fact Check: Did the US Give $350B to Ukraine, as Trump Claims?
False.
Tracking of Congressional spending on Ukraine shows it has appropriated nearly $183 billion since Russia's invasion. Analysis has shown that some of this funding ends up back in the United States, to restock weapons and defense supplies domestically that the U.S. has given to Kyiv. Some funding has not gone directly to Ukraine but to NATO defense partners.
Fact-checking Donald Trump’s claims about war in Ukraine
Verdict False; Claim: Zelensky is a 'dictator without elections'… Ukraine has been under martial law since the Russian invasion in February 2022, which means elections are suspended
Fact Check: Did JD Vance Say US ‘Military Action’ Available Against Russia?
True.
JD Vance did say that "military tools of leverage" could be used if Moscow did not cooperate with the terms of a negotiation that ended fighting between Russia and Ukraine. He did rule out U.S. deployment, saying "the president is very clear that whenever he walks into negotiation, everything is on the table."
While Vance claimed his words were "twisted," a full transcript shows he did not rule out military action.
No, USAID didn’t pay Hollywood actors millions to visit Ukraine
Our rating: Manipulated media
The video is a fabrication that wasn't reported or published by E! News, a company spokesperson said. The video is consistent with material created by a Russia-aligned influence campaign, disinformation experts said.
False claims USAID paid celebs to visit Ukraine linked to Russian disinformation campaign
WHAT WAS CLAIMED: E! News published a video stating celebrities received funds from USAID to visit Ukraine.
OUR VERDICT: False. The video is fake and there's no evidence USAID funded the visits.
Fake: USAID Funded Hollywood Celebrities’ Visits to Ukraine During War – E!News
The E!News portal never published such a story, and the widely circulated news is fake, debunked by both the media and the celebrities who visited Ukraine.
Musk amplifies fake report claiming USAID paid celebrities to support Zelensky
Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr and other prominent conservatives are sharing a video that claims to show E! News reporting that the US's humanitarian agency paid millions of dollars to celebrities including Angelina Jolie and Ben Stiller to visit Ukraine and help boost President Volodymyr Zelensky's popularity amid the country's war with Russia. But the clip is not an authentic report, a spokesperson for the entertainment news channel told AFP, and Stiller has publicly rejected the allegations as false.
Fake story about death of Burisma ‘whistleblower’ started on site known for misinformation
PolitiFact found nothing to substantiate claims that a Burisma accountant was "found dead" before she could provide incriminating evidence on the Biden family.
We traced this viral headline to a site known for publishing misinformation. The narrative appears to have stemmed from an unclear comment made by Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's former attorney.
No, a viral photo doesn’t show Ukraine surrendering
A viral post claims Ukraine surrendered to Russia. The photo is not recent and suspected to be part of a Russian misinformation campaign from April 2022.