Pro-Russia Accounts Spread Obviously Fake Zelensky Cocaine Video
A video spreading across social media of Zelensky with cocaine on his desk is, of course, fake, the latest in a smear campaign against him.
Category Ukraine
Read MorePro-Russia Accounts Spread Obviously Fake Zelensky Cocaine Video
Doctored photo shared alongside claims that ‘Putin Pub in Jerusalem renamed after Zelensky’
Social media posts shared multiple times claim a bar in Jerusalem called "Putin Pub" was renamed "Zelenskiy Pub" -- using an alternative spelling of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky's surname -- following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late-February 2022. However, the image shared alongside the posts was doctored to add the Ukrainian president's surname in place of where the Russian president's surname had been. One of the bar's operators told AFP on March 9 they had taken down the sign that said "Putin". On March 10, the bar was renamed "Generation Pub".
AFP photo from West Bank falsely shared as ‘Ukrainian child throwing stones at Russian tank’
A photo of a child throwing a stone at a tank has been shared repeatedly in Chinese-language posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Weibo alongside a claim it shows the Ukrainian resistance against Russia's invasion. This is false: the photo was taken by an AFP journalist in 2002 and actually shows a Palestinian child throwing a stone at an Israeli tank.
No, this isn’t a picture of Ukrainian students celebrating Hitler’s birthday
An image of Russians forming the number 55 to celebrate the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin rocketing into space has been mischaracterized to wrongly claim that it shows Ukrainian students celebrating Hitler's birthday.
Anyone confusing this shape for a swastika is mistaken. While the the numbers are made with straight lines like a swastika ' lacking the curve that's often used to write the number five ' the angles are off. The two ends of both fives point in the same direction, whereas each end of a swastika points in a different direction.
But what's more, this photo wasn't taken in Lviv in 2022. It was shot in Penza, Russia, in 2016, to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Cosmonautics Day.
The "55" can be seen at the 47 mark, and it's followed by an image of Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet pilot who became the first person to orbit the earth on April 12, 1961.
We rate this post Pants on Fire!
No, Putin didn’t free 35,000 children from Ukraine
This unfounded claim originated on a website known for publishing misinformation.
Putin has freed 35,000 children in Ukraine, a country he's invaded, or anywhere else. There are no credible sources nor news reports to support this.
Searching for evidence that Putin saved thousands of children, we only found articles reporting that Russian police jailed several children for leaving flowers at Ukraine's embassy in Moscow.
We rate this post Pants on Fire!
FACT CHECK: Did Time Magazine Feature Volodymyr Zelenskyy On Its Cover? | Check Your Fact
Verdict: False
The cover is digitally fabricated. A Time Magazine spokesperson confirmed the outlet did not publish such a cover.
[Note: This article is dated April 2022. Zelensky was featured on the 26 Dec., 2022 cover of Time Magazine, as its 'Person of the Year']
Fake: “Armed Forces of Ukraine Used OSCE Video Camera Data for Artillery Fire Correction”
Accusations that the OSCE provided Ukrainian Armed Forces with coordinates of military targets obtained through its video cameras are unfounded. StopFake found obvious inconsistencies in Russian media stories on the subject. For one, the video footage offered as "material evidence" was taken in a different area long before the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In addition, the OSCE cameras in question were incapable of recording video at long distances; for this purpose UAVs would have been used.
Fake: Majority of Ukrainians Waiting for Russia to Rescue Them
Nine out of ten Ukrainians believe in Ukraine's victory in the war with Russia. 98% of all Ukrainians support the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their fight against the Russian invaders.
CNN did not tweet about children in Ukraine signing up to fight in the war
The tweet was fabricated and did not originate with CNN.
The photo in the post was taken in 2017. It was published in a March 30, 2022, story by CNN about the Azov Battalion of the Ukraine military. In that story, the photo caption says it was taken outside Kyiv on July 14, 2017, and shows "a student at a paramilitary camp for children call(ing) the rank to attention."
The AP confirmed with the photographer, Alex Masi, that it was taken at a "summer camp from 2016-17, where kids learn about the realities of war."
CNN did not tweet about "brave children" in Ukraine signing up to fight Russia, and we rate the claim Pants on Fire!
Pro-Kremlin Disinformation Outlets Referenced By Hundreds Of Wikipedia Articles
The Kremlin continues to insulate the Russian population from the outside world in terms of access to reliable information, including an increasingly threatening stance towards Wikipedia. Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that Wikipedia had become the source of "a new line of constant attacks on Russians" and that its articles promoted "an exclusively anti-Russian interpretation of events". The future of Wikipedia in Russia is up in the air, but as of yet, the online encyclopaedia still remains accessible.