There are a number of misleading elements to this tweet. Firstly, the video is not a "confession" at all. It is footage from an interview with Russian state-funded broadcaster RT. [...]
The tweet did not provide the necessary context for readers to be able to judge the significance of the footage, which only contained the opinions of a retired state senator.
The myth of Nazi-ruled Ukraine has been actively used by the pro-Kremlin outlets for years to denigrate Ukraine.
In 2015 Ukraine issued a ban on Nazi and Communist ideologies. The far-right groups had a limited presence during the Euromaidan protests and have suffered defeats in every national election since, with a united front of all radical right-wing parties in the 2019 parliamentary elections winning only 2.15% of the vote falling far short of the 5% minimum guaranteeing entry into parliament.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene parroted a Russian talking point with her claim that Ukraine is a country whose “government only exists because the Obama State Department helped to overthrow the previous regime.”
FactCheck.org presents the history of this Russian propaganda talking point, and explains why it is false.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms.
A new law in Russia threatens up to 15 years of prison time for spreading information about the war that authorities consider to be "false."
There are no parallels in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are safeguarded by the Constitution. Gabbard alleged censorship by social media companies, but experts say those claims are not supported by evidence.
Our ruling
Gabbard said, "What is happening here is not so different from what we're seeing happening in Russia, where you have got state TV and controlled messaging across the board."
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia ' a country with a long history of suppressing free speech and access to information ' has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms, including with a new law threatening prison time for spreading "false" information about the war. Those measures are without parallel in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are enshrined in the Constitution.
We rate Gabbard's claim Pants on Fire!