No, a U.S. Army officer was not captured by Russian military forces in Ukraine
Online users claimed Lt. Gen. Roger Cloutier, an American NATO officer, was recently captured in Ukraine. That's false. He hasn't been in Ukraine since July 2021.
Category Russian propaganda
Read MoreNo, a U.S. Army officer was not captured by Russian military forces in Ukraine
Iconic photo is from Ukraine war, not Russia gas explosion
Olena Kurilo, a teacher, was injured on Feb. 24, 2022, when a Russian missile strike hit her apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Ukraine.
Her photograph was taken by at least three journalists that day and she was interviewed on video.
Photos in news reports that day show the apartment complex is not the building damaged by a 2018 gas explosion in Russia.
Our ruling
A social media user claims a photo of a Ukrainian woman that went viral after her apartment building was attacked on the first day of Russia's invasion is actually from a 2018 gas explosion in Russia.
At least three photojournalists took photos of the woman on Feb. 24 and she was interviewed on camera. Multiple news reports confirmed the attack on the apartment building that day, and images show the building is not the same one damaged in the Russia gas explosion. We rate this claim False.
Fact-check: What really happened in Bucha?
Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of a massacre in Bucha but Kremlin-backed media are denouncing it as a hoax. DW checked both claims and found enough evidence to prove the Russian side wrong.
Russian media campaign falsely claims Bucha deaths are fakes
As gruesome videos and photos of bodies emerge from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Kremlin-backed media are denouncing them as an elaborate hoax — a narrative that journalists in Ukraine have shown to be false.
Denouncing news as fake or spreading false reports to sow confusion and undermine its adversaries are tactics that Moscow has used for years and refined with the advent of social media in places like Syria.
Fact-checking Russian disinformation about Bucha’s massacre, part 2
One of the most contested elements of this story is the timeline of events, which was presented differently by Ukrainian and Russian authorities. But while Ukraine’s version has overall been confirmed by international media – even though it did present some contradictions –, Russia’s claims have been debunked.
The Kremlin, in fact, stated that bodies were not there when its troops left Bucha, but instead they were actors placed by Ukrainians to stage the massacre and blame Russia for it. This theory has been proved to be completely false by several international media, among which the New York Times, which analyzed satellite videos and images from before and after the liberation of Bucha, showing that corpses were already there when the town was under Russian control.
No, the discovery of bodies in Ukraine’s Bucha was not ‘staged’ with ‘actors’
Ukraine authorities have said bodies discovered on April 2, 2022 in the small town of Bucha were civilians killed by retreating Russian forces, allegations which Moscow has denied. Several posts shared on social networks -- including from Russian authorities -- have claimed that the scene was staged by Ukrainian forces and some of the so-called bodies were filmed moving. But AFP journalists on the ground confirmed they saw dead bodies that had been left for several days; footage used to support the misleading claims does not show the bodies moving, AFP's investigation found.
Fresh round of fake videos claim the Bucha massacre was staged
Several hundred bodies of civilians were discovered in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3. Since the horrific discovery, pro-Russian accounts on Twitter have been circulating images that they say prove that these bodies were fake or that the massacre was staged by Ukrainians. But we investigated and, it turns out, these images were taken out of context.
No, the discovery of bodies in Ukraine’s Bucha was not ‘staged’ with ‘actors’
Ukraine authorities have said bodies discovered on April 2, 2022 in the small town of Bucha were civilians killed by retreating Russian forces, allegations which Moscow has denied. Several posts shared on social networks -- including from Russian authorities -- have claimed that the scene was staged by Ukrainian forces and some of the so-called bodies were filmed moving. But AFP journalists on the ground confirmed they saw dead bodies that had been left for several days; footage used to support the misleading claims does not show the bodies moving, AFP's investigation found.
This video shows a TikTok creator using a green screen, not a protester interrupting a TV show
An image of a woman apparently bursting onto a TV set has been shared hundreds of times in posts claiming she crashed a Ukrainian news broadcast to urge President Volodymyr Zelensky to "surrender". However, the picture was taken from a video made by a TikTok creator using a green screen. The original news broadcast shows no interruption from a protester.
Fact check: Atrocities in Bucha not ‘staged’
The images of civilians killed in Bucha have shocked the world. The Russian government and pro-Russian accounts claim they were staged and that some bodies were moving. Our DW fact check shows those claims are false.