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.
The war in Ukraine is real and ongoing, despite nonsense social media posts
That’s because it trafficks in misinformation about the war that we’ve encountered before. Previous posts have falsely claimed that various photos are evidence the war is fake, that video clips prove it’s staged, that it’s scripted. None of that was accurate, and neither is the claim that there’s no war in Ukraine.
It defies more than a year of news coverage from reporters with media outlets from around the world giving dispatches from Ukraine, describing the front lines, the lives of civilians and more.
We rate this post Pants on Fire!
Tucker Carlson Says Ukraine Considered Destroying Kakhovka Dam
Carlson’s conclusion that the Ukrainian government had considered destroying the dam misrepresents what was actually written. It might also fail to consider the perceived counterintuitive nature of such a move at a potentially pivotal moment in the conflict.
Did Trapped Zoo Animals Drown After the Nova Kakhovka Dam Collapse?
Russia initially claimed that the story was false because the city in question â which has a zoo â did not, in fact, have a zoo.
Fake: Russian Military Drone Delivers Food to Kakhovka Disaster Victim
Russian media stole the video made by the Ukrainian forces. They tried to
appropriate the hard work of the Ukrainian warriors rescuing the civilian
population, which suffered as a result of the Russian terrorist attack on
the Kakhovka Hydropower Plant.
FactChecking Pence’s Presidential Announcement
Pence gave the misleading impression that the Obama administration gave Ukraine no “military resources at all” after Russia’s 2014 invasion. The U.S. provided nonlethal military aid, including training, vehicles and radar equipment.
The former vice president misleadingly accused the Biden administration of “giving Russia back a Nord Stream 2 deal,” referring to a Russian natural gas pipeline to Germany that remains inoperable and under U.S. sanctions.
FactChecking Chris Christie’s Presidential Announcement
Christie repeated the misleading claim that Barack Obama only provided “blankets” and “human rights aid” after Russia invaded regions of Ukraine in 2014. Obama’s administration also provided Ukraine with nonlethal military aid, including training, vehicles and radar equipment.
He claimed that President Joe Biden initially said that “a small incursion” by Russia into Ukraine in 2022 “probably wouldn’t be a problem.” Biden said “Russia will be held accountable” for an invasion, but the U.S. response would depend on what Russia did.
Video misrepresents US senator’s comments on Russia-Ukraine war
In a video shared online, Senator Lindsey Graham appears to tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “the Russians are dying” and that is “the best money” the US has ever spent. But the clip is edited; the full footage shows Graham did not make the statements consecutively.
“It collapsed on its own” – Five Russian media fakes about the destruction Kakhovka…
Ukraine did not destroy its own hydroelectric power station, creating a man-made disaster on its territory. Since 2022, the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant has been under Russian occupation – it was the Russian army that mined the plant’s units back in the autumn of 2022. On June 6, 2023, simultaneously with massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, the Russian army carried out a remote detonation of the Kakhovka plant.
Fake: Kakhovka Dam Explosion Captured on Video
The video currently being circulated online has nothing to do with the June
2023 terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam. The
video dates from November 2022, when Russian troops retreating from the
Kherson region severely damaged the Kakhovka dam.
Nova Kakhovka dam breach: Old image resurfaces to falsely illustrate today’s damage – Truth or Fake
An image from a November 2022 explosion in the Nova Kakhovka dam is going viral. Some users claim that it shows the precise moment Russian forces blew up the dam, while others say it shows the destruction of the dam by Ukrainian armed forces. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
No evidence Mexican cartel obtained US weapons destined for Ukraine
Social media users are claiming Mexican TV reported that anti-tank missile systems the United States sent to Ukraine ended up in the hands of a Mexican cartel. This is false; the claims are based on a mistranslation of the segment, which showed a man sporting apparent gang insignia carrying the same type of military-grade weapon used in Ukraine — but did not say the artillery was diverted from Kyiv.
Fact check: Viral video of the Kakhovka dam explosion is old
Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine. A viral video that purports to show the explosion of the dam is, in fact, of a 2022 blast.
Did Lindsey Graham Say, ‘The Russians Are Dying – It’s the Best Money We’ve Ever Spent’?
A video supposedly showed the senator from South Carolina making the statement to Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
What’s behind this fake advert calling on North Africans to fight in Ukraine to get EU citizenship
Since May 21, a number of posts online have been claiming that an advertisement posted on the British jobs website Adzuna offers proof that Western countries are recruiting mercenaries in Africa and the Middle East to go and fight in Ukraine. However, we investigated and determined that this post isn’t real.
False claim uses video game footage to illustrate ‘possibilities of Russian aviation’ – Truth or Fake
A viral video claims to show the impressive maneuvers of a Russian pilot. The video is actually an extract from a highly realistic combat simulator video game that has been continuously used in fake claims. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
UNFOUNDED: Valerii Zaluzhnyi is vacationing in Cyprus during the full-scale invasion by Russia
According to the Facebook page of the Horodenkivka City Council, Illia Yermolaev died in March 2022 while performing a combat mission. Illia was 20 years old at the time of his death. However, he did not join the army through mobilization, since January 2020 the young man served under a contract.
Claim of 1 million Ukrainian soldiers dead has no official backing
Reuters reported in April that leaked documents allegedly from U.S. intelligence agencies estimated as many as 354,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have died or been injured in the war. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the documents, and U.S. officials said some files appeared to be altered.
The Facebook video’s claim that 1 million Ukrainian soldiers have been “wiped out” is much higher than any official reported estimates. So we rate this claim False.
Ukraine: fake NYC subway ad calls homeless Americans to “join” the war – Truth or Fake
Viral photos on social media showed a fake advertisement in the New York City subway system calling for the city’s homeless to join the fight in Ukraine. Vedika Bahl explains this misinformation, in this edition of Truth or Fake.
Fact check: False claims about plans for coup in Belarus
Various Russian media outlets are spreading claims that a Polish general confirmed the West was preparing to launch a coup in Belarus. But did he? DW finds out more.
Fake: Document Says that Ukrainian General Requests Additional Burial Plots at the Zaporizhia Cemetery…
This “letter” has been forged, as evidenced by numerous gross errors in the text and vocabulary not typical of official documents. Specifically, the “letter” incorrectly states the addressee’s official position and the location of the cemetery for victims of World War II, and the surname of the secretary of the Zaporizhia city council is misspelled.