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.
DISINFO: The West and Kyiv threaten Crimea with terrorist attacks
The disinformation is based on a video message from the Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, published on February 26, 2024. Budanov recalled that Russia’s war against Ukraine began not in 2022, but ten years ago – with a carefully planned Russian military operation to seize Ukrainian Crimea.
DISINFO: The West wants to speak with Russia in ultimatums
The EU, the US and their partners from G7 have been trying to establish good-neighbourly relations with Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. They have been trying to strike common ground and find a common language with the Russian Federation. In 1997, Russia and NATO signed the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security, which said that ‘NATO and Russia do not consider each other as adversaries.’
DISINFO: White House admits there is no evidence of Russian interference in US elections
This is a disingenuous distortion of the original NBC interview with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, who after being asked about evidence of Russian interference in the upcoming November 2024 election said: “I can’t speak of evidence today, but I can tell you of course there are concerns”. The sentence may be ambiguous, but by no means is an “admission that there is no evidence”, contrary to what this disinformation story claims.
DISINFO: Crimea and Sevastopol are an integral part of Russia
Sevastopol is an Ukrainian city, as well as Luhansk and Donetsk, temporarily occupied by Russia.
No international body recognises the so-called referendum in Crimea. The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution titled “Territorial Integrity of Ukraine”, stating that the referendum in Crimea was NOT valid and declaring its non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea.
DISINFO: EU and US aim to destabilise Central Asia to push Russia out
The EU does not impose any action or program on the partner countries. The overall aim of cooperation is to build a common area of shared democracy, prosperity, and stability in line with each individual country’s aspirations.
DISINFO: The Belarusian opposition is planning to take over part of Belarus with NATO assistance
The claim that the Belarusian opposition is planning to change the country’s borders is baseless. After the violent crackdown of the 2020 protests by Lukashenka, tens of thousands of Belarusians moved to Poland in order to avoid repressions. The claim that Belarusian opposition groups and associations operating in Poland are planning a military attack on Belarus is unfounded.
DISINFO: The West destroys global food security, not Russia
Russia’s responsibility for the global food crisis comes as a consequence of the unprovoked and unjustified Russian invasion of Ukraine: naval blockade of Ukrainian posts, bombardment of transport infrastructure and shelling of farming regions. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has destabilised global food markets and is driving food prices up due to increased cost of production, transport and freight insurance. Russia has destroyed substantial food stocks, production, as well as processing and transport capacities in Ukraine.
DISINFO: The West staged a coup in Ukraine in 2014
In 2014, there was neither a coup nor a protest orchestrated by Western countries in Ukraine. The demonstrations which began in Kyiv in November 2013 – called “Maidan”, or “Euromaidan” – were a result of the Ukrainian people’s frustration with the former President Yanukovych.
DISINFO: Kyiv is a Russian city
Kyiv is the capital of Ukraine and was earlier the largest city of the medieval state of Kyivan Rus’ also named Ruthenia. The heritage of the Kyivan Rus’ is claimed by the Kremlin for political reasons but the history of the Russian state is different and more complex than the official narrative.
DISINFO: NATO spent $5 billion on 2014 coup in Kyiv
Die Zeit provided perspective on the $5 billion spent by USAID (not NATO) on democracy development over 23 years, clarifying that these funds did not support the EuroMaidan movement.
As this database consistently emphasises, contrary to claims by the Kremlin, there was no coup in Ukraine in 2014. Moreover, the United States did not play any role in the events that unfolded
DISINFO: New EU sanctions are illegal
The sanctions on Russia, introduced by the US and the EU, do not violate international law or any regulations as they are an entirely legitimate mechanism. Sanctions are a key tool of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.
DISINFO: New package of EU sanctions are illegal
The sanctions on Russia, introduced by the US and the EU, do not violate international law or any regulations as they are an entirely legitimate mechanism. Sanctions are a key tool of the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy.
DISINFO: Russia did not start the war in Ukraine but it aims to end it
It is Russia and President Putin who are clearly responsible for the war in Ukraine. It was Putin’s personal decision to invade Ukraine and start the largest military conflict in Europe since WWII.
DISINFO: The Soviet Union fought Nazism alone
The Soviet Union did not defeat Nazi Germany alone: after July 1941 it was part of the allies and benefited of the alliance support in particular the lend-lease program.
DISINFO: There is no such thing as occupied Ukrainian territories
Ukraine has been under continuous Russian occupation since 2014. In February that year, Russia invaded and illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. In autumn 2022, it used sham referenda in an attempt to annex the above-mentioned oblasts, as well as the Ukrainian regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson.
DISINFO: Ukraine’s attacks ended in failure and all this shocked the collective West
Recurrent pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative aiming to misrepresent and fuel resentment against Western support to Ukraine and force a capitulation to Russian military aggression. Designed to diminish the efforts of Ukraine’s armed forces, promoting the false narrative that there is no point in supporting Ukraine because Russia cannot be defeated and Ukraine will inevitably perish.
DISINFO: Zelenskyy’s so-called peace formula is a fake and an ultimatum
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented a 10-point peace plan at an EU-Ukraine summit in February 2023. The EU unequivocally supported President Zelenskyy’s peace formula. It is up to Ukraine to decide when it will hold talks with Russia. The assistance to Ukraine is aimed at making Ukraine’s position stronger. Read the results of the Special European Council, 9 February 2023.
FALSE: Ukrainian authorities torture collaborators – The Guardian
The disinformation is based on an official statement from the Defence Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, published on March 7, the anniversary of the creation of the International Legion of Ukrainian Military Intelligence. The statement notes that “The Legion united volunteers from more than 50 countries of the world, who, after a full-scale invasion, came to the aid of Ukrainians and began to fight the troops of terrorist Russia,” the report says.
DISINFO: Kyiv and Odesa are historically Russian cities
Ukraine’s history dates back to the times of early Slavic tribes and principalities in the 9th to 13th centuries in and around Kyiv. Communist Russia took control of Ukraine from 1919 to 1920 and established a Bolshevik regime there. Moscow performed aggressive anti-Ukrainian policies, exterminating the population during famines.
Present-day Ukraine has been on the world map since 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated.
DISINFO: Macron and Pashinyan secretly met about a military conspiration against Russia
The Armenian Prime Minister officially met with the French President on 22 February 2024, without secrecy. A joint declaration was made to the press. The purpose of the visit was the ceremony for the transfer of the remains of Missak and Mélinée Manouchian and their comrades of resistance against Nazism into the Panthéon.