Fact checks: from across the internet
Ukraine Fact Check presents fact checks on Ukraine in two different ways. Our team works to:
1. index and tag existing fact-check articles from reputable sources from across the internet;
2. compile and publish original fact check articles, based our team’s own research into a subject.
Below, you can find the fact-check articles published by other websites across the internet.
Disclaimer: Ukraine Fact Check was not involved in producing the articles listed below. The information presented in them may be incorrect, incomplete, or misleading. As with any other type of article, read with a critical eye, check sources, and seek other opinions before making up your mind on important topics.
Russian embassy shares disinformation on alleged atrocities by foreign mercenaries in Ukraine
The Russian Embassy in South Africa shared an article on X on April 9 about alleged atrocities committed by foreign mercenaries fighting for Ukraine. But this content originated from a fake news site, and the images used can be traced to other contexts.
The fake news items that make it look like Ukraine was involved in the Crocus Hall attack in Russia
The Russian government continues to insist that Ukraine played a role in the terrorist attack that took place on March 22 in Crocus City Hall in a Moscow suburb – even though the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack. And yet, rumours about Ukraine’s involvement persist online, often circulated by pro-Russian accounts that are already engaged in a war of disinformation against Ukraine.
Is this video proof that China’s army will attack NATO to defend Russia? Nope.
A video showing Chinese President Xi Jinping giving a speech to the Chinese armed forces has been going viral on social media since mid-March. The accounts that are sharing this footage say that it offers proof that China is ready to deploy its army if the United States and NATO attack Russia. But it turns out that the video was filmed six years ago.
No, Zelensky didn’t buy a mansion belonging to the British royal family
Did the Ukrainian president embezzle Western aid money to buy Highgrove House, the family residence of King Charles III? No, but pro-Russian social media accounts have been spreading that rumour. They want people in the United States and Europe to question how aid being sent to Ukraine is being used ahead of upcoming elections. However, this rumour is based on fake testimony and, what’s more, this sale is legally impossible.
No, this viral video of ‘bombings’ wasn’t actually filmed in Russia
The Ukrainians have intensified their bombing campaign on border towns in Russia in recent weeks. But a viral video said to show the aftermath of a recent Ukrainian strike on the Russian city of Belgorod actually shows nothing of the kind. The footage was filmed during protests in Kazakhstan two years ago.
This image of an explosion behind Putin’s ‘stability’ billboard is literally too good to be true
After Russian President Vladimir Putin was reelected on March 17, a photo went viral showing an explosion behind one of his campaign posters featuring the slogan ‘stability’. However, it turns out that this image was created by a Ukrainian designer.
What we know about this footage alleged to show ‘Russia moving nuclear missiles’?
People online have been widely circulating footage that they say shows the Russians transporting nuclear weapons, which some claim is in response to Sweden joining NATO. However, there is actually a different explanation for these images – which have already been taken out of context in the past. Similar videos are posted every year showing preparations for a military parade held annually in Russia on May 9.
How pro-Russian propaganda sites doctored a FRANCE 24 programme
A number of Russian Telegram channels have been sharing a caricature of French President Emmanuel Macron depicted as a rooster, claiming that it was broadcast by FRANCE 24 in a programme that aired on March 13. However, the image circulating is a doctored version of the cover of a French magazine called L’Hémicycle. The FRANCE 24 clip has also been doctored to include it.
Fake news about Kremlin critic Navalny aims to discredit him after his death
Since news broke on February 16, 2024 that Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had died while incarcerated in the Russian Arctic, there has been a resurgence of doctored images and fake news aiming to discredit Navalny and his family. We took a look at three of the most widely spread fake news items about Navalny. None of them are true.
Why pro-Russian accounts are sharing a fake video of French farmers and manure
Pro-Russian social media users have been widely circulating what looks like a Euronews report showing French farmers dumping manure outside the Ukrainian embassy. French farmers began protesting for better pay in January and the video claims that the farmers took the drastic manure action after the Ukrainian ambassador penned a letter asking them to stop their protests. But this video is fake. It’s one of a series of fake news reports aimed at making Ukraine look bad in the eyes of the West.
Did Volodymyr Zelensky just belly dance? Sorry, no: it’s a deepfake
Does Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky actually have a secret talent for belly dancing? That’s what a number of accounts on Twitter and TikTok are saying, with video to prove it. However, it turns out that the viral video is actually a deepfake that’s been circulated by pro-Russian accounts in an attempt to discredit the Ukrainian president.
FAKE: The mayor of Riga promised to close the Riga Russian Theater
Mārtiņš Staķis did not promise to close the Mikhail Chekhov Russian Drama Theater in Riga.
FAKE: In Ukraine, women with a chemical education are being recruited for the war to prepare ‘provocations’
The Russian media quotes a Kremlin protege of the people’s militia in the so-called “LPR” that women who have an education in chemistry, biology or veterinary medicine are allegedly being recruited for the war in Ukraine. The publication adds that in this way Ukraine is preparing for “provocations” with chemical weapons.
This is a fake. There is no convincing evidence that women are being recruited into the Armed Forces of Ukraine to prepare “provocations” with chemical weapons.
FAKE: Military from AFU threatened with a gun a woman with a child because she spoke Russian
Russian media and Telegram channels are distributing a video in which Ukrainian soldiers allegedly stopped a woman with a child because she did not give way to them. As evidence, they provide a segment from the video recorder in the woman’s car. The soldiers then allegedly started yelling at the woman, cursing her, threatening her with guns and shooting in the air because she was speaking to them in Russian.
In fact, this video is staged, it was filmed in the occupied territory of the Donetsk region, where there are no Ukrainian troops.
FAKE: Only ‘pure-blooded Ukrainians’ can donate blood – photo of the announcement
An alleged announcement from the online service “Doc.ua” is being spread online that from March 1, 2023, the reception of donated blood will be carried out only when the donor is a “pure-blooded Ukrainian”. Foreign citizens are prohibited from being donors.
However, the service did not provide such announcements. In Ukraine, ethnicity is not included in the list of criteria for a potential blood donor.
FAKE: Soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to create same-sex unions more often – Zaluzhnyi
A screenshot of the news, which was allegedly published on the Dialog.ua website, is being spread online. It says that Valerii Zaluzhnyi allegedly reported that the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine began to create same-sex unions more often.
However, this is a fake. Zaluzhnyi did not make such statements, and there is no such publication on the Dialog.ua website.
Fake Ukrainian Assassination Attempt on Tucker Carlson Reaches Millions on X
The creators of the disinformation claiming Ukraine plotted to assassinate Tucker Carlson did not intend for it to be used inside Russia: they designed it specifically to target U.S. audiences. That is evident from the fact that no major Russian state-controlled news outlets reported the “breaking news” about the alleged plot despite their weeks-long fixation on every minor detail of Carlson’s visit to Moscow.
How Russian flag hoisting signals influence operations in Nigeria
The #EndBadGovernance protest in Nigeria held in August 2024 took a new turn on its third day as some young Nigerians, particularly in the northern part of the country, were seen displaying the Russian flag, a move condemned by the federal government as âtreasonable.â
Picture of Tel Aviv ‘up in flames’ is from Moscow terror attack
A picture circulating on social media alongside claims it shows Tel Aviv “lit up in flames” is actually from the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack in Moscow, Russia, earlier this year.
Posts Misrepresent Federal Response, Funding for Hurricane Helene Victims
In a misleading Oct. 3 Instagram post, conservative commentator Benny Johnson wrote, “We can send BILLIONS to Ukraine but Americans who have lost everything only get $750 dollars?!” The Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided more than $210 million in immediate assistance to communities affected by Hurricane Helene, which the Department of Homeland Security secretary has described as the start of “a multibillion-dollar, multiyear recovery.” The $750 payment is an initial payment survivors may receive while FEMA determines eligibility for its many other offerings within the Individual Assistance Program.