French Decree No. 2025-1030 - the document Russian outlets point to as proof of Paris allegedly greenlighting a private military company for Ukraine - does nothing of the sort. Instead, it outlines rules for civilian economic operators conducting training and technical missions as part of international military cooperation, with no connection to PMC deployment.
President Donald Trump claimed on social media on Sunday that "UKRAINE 'LEADERSHIP' HAS EXPRESSED ZERO GRATITUDE FOR OUR EFFORTS" in relation to the war there.
Trump's claim is not even close to accurate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed gratitude to the United States on dozens of occasions - 78 examples are listed below - since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of his country in early 2022. And Zelensky has repeatedly expressed gratitude to Trump personally since Trump was elected again last fall.
Did President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy invest $500 million or $1.5 billion "of his own money" in "a ski resort in Western Ukraine"? No, that's not true: Social media posts misattribute publicly known investment amounts about such a project. Talking to Lead Stories, the project's developer denied not only Zelenskyy's participation but also the presence of any direct government funding. Investment firm BlackRock, named in social media posts as one of the key investors, denied any involvement, too. Lead Stories found no credible sources linking Zelenskyy's personal money to the Ukrainian ski resort project.
Claim: Images authentically show dogs with blue fur near the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine.
Rating: True.
Context: Dr. Jennifer Betz, medical director for the Dogs of Chernobyl program, said there is a "0% chance that the blue color is related to radiation."
Claim by Viral social media post: Zelenskyy is Faking Blackouts to Secure More European Aid
StopFake rating: Outages across Ukrainian cities stem from voltage fluctuations and emergency shutdowns triggered by Russia's systematic strikes on the country's civilian energy infrastructure.
StopFake
Fake: Charlie Hebdo Mocked Macron's Ukraine Policy and Pokrovsk ...
Claim by Viral social media post: Charlie Hebdo Mocked Macron's Ukraine Policy and Pokrovsk Fighting
StopFake rating: The covers are entirely fabricated; the French magazine has never published the cartoons in question.
Claim by Viral social media post:
Bloomberg Published an Infographic Showing How Zelensky "Looted" France
StopFake rating:
Bloomberg did not post such an infographic.
The video of a Ukrainian soldier, circulating on social media, is AI-generated. It contains several flaws indicating the use of artificial intelligence. The original source of the video is a TikTok account that has posted a number of similar AI-generated videos.
Claim on x.com:
These are real videos of Ukrainian soldiers surrendering in the town of Pokrovsk.
Lead Stories rating: AI Generated
Claim by Viral social media post:
Ukrainian Gang Stole Chairs from Spanish Restaurants
StopFake rating:
The story is true. Yet none of the media publications mention the nationality of the perpetrators. [No indication that they are Ukrainian.]