Category Russian propaganda

These images from Bucha do not show ‘fake corpses’ staged by the Ukrainian army

Images published on April 3 showed the bodies of more than a dozen civilians who had been killed in Bucha, a town near Kyiv that had been occupied by the Russian army. Some of the bodies had their hands tied and some were shot in the head.Â Since then, several Russian media outlets and pro-Russian social media accounts have published a video that claimsÂ to show evidence the corpses in this video were staged. The FRANCE 24 Observers team analysed its claims.

April 4, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda Bucha Coordinated disinformation Attacks on civilians Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Context Ukraine Russia War crimes

Satellite Images Disprove Kremlin’s Claims That Bucha Massacre Was ‘Staged’

Claim: Images depicting a massacre in the Ukrainian city of Bucha were "staged."
Rating: Not True

April 4, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda Bucha Attacks on civilians Genocide vs Ukraine (2022-)Fact checks / debunkings Genocide Misconceptions Ukraine Russia War crimes

Russia’s Bucha ‘Facts’ Versus the Evidence

Open source evidence exists that appears to run counter to claims of elaborate fakes and staged productions, as well as calling into question the apparent timeline of events as depicted by Russia in recent days.

April 4, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda Bucha Attacks on civilians Genocide vs Ukraine (2022-)Fact checks / debunkings Genocide Misconceptions Ukraine Russia War crimes

Satellite images show bodies lay in Bucha for weeks, despite Russian claims.

The images rebut Russia’s claim that the killing of civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, took place after its soldiers had left town.

April 4, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda Bucha Attacks on civilians Genocide vs Ukraine (2022-)Fact checks / debunkings Genocide Misconceptions Ukraine Russia War crimes

False posts claim Canadian sniper ‘Wali’ was killed shortly after arriving in Ukraine

Multiple posts on Facebook have claimed that a sharpshooting Canadian sniper known as Wali was killed by Russian special forces 20 minutes after he arrived on the frontline in Mariupol, Ukraine as a volunteer fighter. However, this is false; the man, a former Canadian Armed Forces sniper, dispelled the rumours of his death during a video call.

March 31, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Ukraine Russia Canada International community

The Facts on ‘De-Nazifying’ Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia’s talk of “de-Nazifying” Ukraine is a non-starter in peace negotiations. We’ll explain what these claims are all about and why experts say they are misleading.

March 31, 2022

Disinformation Antisemitism Russian propaganda Incitement & hate speech Nazism Fact checks / debunkings Fascism Volodymyr Zelensky Misconceptions Ukraine Russia Hatred and bigotry

Claim that Putin beheaded bioweapon engineers, called Trump to tell him has no basis in fact

There is no evidence Putin beheaded 12 bioweapon engineers in Ukraine.

This claim comes from Real Raw News, a blog that has shown a pattern of fabricating news about politicians being executed or arrested by the military.

Though the story claims Putin told former President Donald Trump about the alleged beheading, a spokesperson for Trump said the account is baseless.

March 29, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda USA Biolabs / bio-weapons Narratives Misconceptions Ukraine Russia International community

Clip of man in body bag smoking is from the set of a music video, not ‘staged’ deaths in Ukraine

A TikTok video of a man smoking a cigarette in what appears to be a truck full of body bags has been viewed thousands of times in Facebook posts suggesting that deaths are being staged in the war in Ukraine. The claim is false; the clip shows the behind-the-scenes making of a music video for a song released by Russian rapper Husky in September 2020.

March 23, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda Media taken out of context Attacks on civilians Fact checks / debunkings Methods Narratives Misconceptions Ukraine Russia The war is a hoax War crimes

No, the infamous Canadian sniper Wali has not been killed in Ukraine

A number of viral posts on social media have claimed that a Canadian sniper, dubbed "the world's deadliest sniper", was killed within hours of arriving in Mariupol, Ukraine, where he had gone to fight. However the man, nicknamed Wali, is still alive and well. He told the FRANCE 24 Observers team that he thinks the disinformation around his death serves to dissuade foreign fighters from going to Ukraine.

March 23, 2022

Disinformation Chinese propaganda Russian propaganda Coordinated disinformation Fact checks / debunkings China Misconceptions Ukraine Russia International community

One America News runs conspiratorial segment claiming strike on Mariupol hospital was US false flag

The aftermath of the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, was captured on video and in photos showing that it was an actual attack.

A Pentagon spokesperson called OAN host Pearson Sharp's claims "ridiculous." Several independent experts who spoke to PolitiFact agreed that it was completely without merit. Russian officials have conceded the attack occurred.

Our ruling
Sharp said the attack on the Mariupol hospital had "the makings of yet another false flag operation" by the U.S.

There is no evidence that the attack was staged or a false flag carried out by the U.S. Its aftermath was documented by workers, witnesses and journalists on the ground.

We rate OAN's claim Pants on Fire!

March 22, 2022

Disinformation Russian propaganda Attacks on civilians Genocide vs Ukraine (2022-)Fact checks / debunkings USA Genocide Narratives Misconceptions Ukraine Russia The war is a hoax War crimes International community