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".
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.
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.
Two viral videos purported to show that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses cocaine. One video appeared to show cocaine on Zelenskyy's desk as he spoke, while the other appeared to show him saying that he uses the drug routinely.
The first video was doctored; in the original, there is no white substance on Zelenskyy's desk. The second video was deceptively edited; in the original, he denied using drugs.
Our ruling
Two videos claimed to show Zelenskyy either using or admitting to using cocaine.
The first video purports to show a white powder on Zelenskyy's desk as he placed a video call to Musk. But the video was doctored to include the substance, which is not in the original.
The second video appears to show Zelenskyy talking about using cocaine regularly, but the video was deceptively edited to reorder Zelenskyy's words. In reality, Zelenskyy denied using drugs.
We rate these videos Pants on Fire!
Vladimir Putin's Ukraine War is not going according to plan, with Ukrainian forces rebuffing attempts to capture Kyiv and forcing a general Russian retreat from the north of the country. Nevertheless, there remains no end in sight to hostilities, with every indication that Moscow is preparing for a long campaign. As the Russian military begins a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin is accelerating efforts to indoctrinate young Russians and consolidate the pro-war consensus on the domestic front for a further generation.
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.
Photos of high-ranking Nazi officials are circulating on social media along with the allegation they show the grandfathers of leading politicians such as German chancellor Olaf Scholz. Here is why these claims are false.
The actress Agniya Mishchenko-Brodskaya denied allegations that she was beaten because of Russophobia and she was outraged that the Russian media had published her statement without her permission, distorting its meaning.
One photo shows Ukrainian police and Territorial Defense servicemen moving goods from a bombed Kharkiv shop to a safe location. Video footage shows an ATB supermarket in Kyiv province looted by Russian troops.
Photos of the same drone as in the one featured in this fake story were already published a month earlier, including by pro-Kremlin Telegram channels. At that time Russian propagandists claimed the drone was shot down in the city of Klintsy, in the Bryansk region.