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.
Fake: Ukrainian Minister Urges to Forbid Russian and Belarusian Tennis Players to Win Matches…
Dmytro Kuleba never made such statements. In his comment to Express media, Kuleba noted that the Russian and Belarusian tennis player being admitted to Wimbledon will be a victory for Russian propaganda and a sign of collapsing West.
Fake: Kyiv Bans Easter By Not Allowing People in The Churches
Easter holidays were not canceled either in Kyiv nor anywhere else in Ukraine. It will be possible to attend a services before 12 midnight or after 5 am. Those who decide to stay for the night service, will not be able to leave the churches until the end of the curfew.
Did Vladimir Putin really defy his arrest order to travel to South Africa? In short, nope
Did Vladimir Putin recently go to South Africa, defying the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court? That’s the claim made by at least two videos that have been shared thousands of times on TikTok and Facebook since late March. This footage, however, is old and doesn’t in any way prove that Putin has recently travelled to South Africa.
Ukraine: How a film clip fuelled false claims the war is staged – Truth or Fake
Lights, camera, action! A viral video of soldiers falling to the ground from explosions – with cameras present – has fuelled accusations the war in Ukraine is staged. But it’s simply behind-the-scenes footage of a Ukrainian short film. We spoke exclusively to the producer and director in this edition of Truth or Fake with Vedika Bahl.
Digitized images are from a video game; they’re not from Ukraine war footage
A recent Facebook post suggests that the video featured in it shows footage of the war in Ukraine but the video in question is from a video game.
Searching for the post’s video description turns up a YouTube post from about a year earlier. It has the same description, but identifies the video as being from “Arma 3,” a military simulation game.
We rate claims that this clip shows real footage from the war in Ukraine False.
FACT CHECK: Did The Leaked Pentagon Documents Show Ukraine Suffered 71,000 Dead? | Check Your Fact
Verdict: False
The claim is based on an altered document. The original document shows that the United States allegedly estimated Ukraine has suffered around 15,500 to 17,000 deaths, not 71,000.
No, this video doesn’t show Ukrainians setting fire to an Orthodox church
Did Ukrainians really set a Russian Orthodox church on fire? A video purporting to show just that has been circulating online since April 5, 2023. However, it turns out that this video was filmed in Russia more than ten years ago and shows an accidental fire.
Fake: Photo and Video Recording to Be Banned At Ukrainian Cemeteries
There is no such law draft on the Ukrainian parliament’s website, nor is there any information about this initiative. The screenshot of the Ukrinform website is fake, as the informational agency did not publish this news either.
No, Ukrainians did not set fire to an Orthodox Church – Truth or Fake
In Ukraine, fake news continues to fuel the information war. In recent days, a video purporting to show a Ukrainian Orthodox church on fire has appeared on social media, with captions accusing “radical Ukrainians” of arson. The claims fit neatly into a Russian narrative that accuses Ukrainians of persecuting followers of the Moscow Patriarchate wing of the Church. But as we explain in this edition, the video is bogus.
Fake: US Permits Ukraine to Strike Russia’s New Territories
This information is fake. The White House did not permit Ukraine to strike Russian territory. On the contrary, the White House’s National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby stated that the US does not ‘enable or encourage’ the Ukrainian Forces to strike outside Ukraine and will only assist the Ukrainian Forces in liberating their territories. Moreover, there are no new Russian territories, only the Ukrainian territories illegally occupied and annexed by Russia.
Fake: Ukraine Stages Aspirational Videos to Raise Morale Among the Military
A video circulating online shows the filming of the short feature film ‘Hope’. The behind-the-scenes videos were taken from the TikTok account of the director Artem Kocharyan, who currently lives in Latvia. The film is based on the real story of his Ukraine acquaintance – a pregnant girl who lost her family due to the Russian aggression.
Fake: “Radicals” burn down Moscow Patriarchate Orthodox Church in Mykolaiv province
Russian media are circulating a video purporting to show the torching of an
Orthodox Church belonging to the Moscow Patriarchate in the Mykolaiv region
by Ukrainian “radicals”. The video was actually taken in Russia ten years
ago, in 2013.
Is This Real Footage of Ukrainians Burning Russian-Affiliated Orthodox Church?
Miscaptioned.
Context: The video being shared was posted on YouTube around 10 years ago and is reportedly of a church being burned in Russia.
Does Video Show Russia’s Ministry of Defense on Fire?
Although there was a fire at the Ministry of Defense in Moscow, it was restricted to one small section on the third floor of the building.
The fire was said to have spread around 60 square meters. According to news reports it was put out shortly after it was reported.
Posts use old video to falsely claim Russian president visited South Africa in March 2023
After the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant last month for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a video re-emerged on social media claiming to show him arriving in South Africa for an official visit. But this is false: the video was filmed in July 2018 ahead of the 10th summit of the BRICS group, which South Africa hosted. AFP Fact Check previously debunked a similar claim about the video a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Is This a Real Recruitment Poster to US Welfare Recipients for the International Legion of Ukraine?
[T]he poster is not legitimate. Not only is it riddled with suspicious errors, the Embassy of Ukraine in the USA has denied authorship of, or support for, the poster. For these reasons, we rate the claim as “False.”
Fact check: Posts make unsupported claims about Zelenskyy’s finances
The claim: Zelenskyy has a Florida home, $1.2 billion in overseas account, 15 homes, 3 planes and $11 million in monthly income.
Our rating: False
No, Vladimir Putin has not become president of the United Nations
Russia is taking its turn in a rotating leadership position within the U.N. That doesn’t mean Putin is now president of the organization.
Why fake anti-Zelensky graffiti is showing up all over the world – The Observers
Did graffiti depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a black hole “sucking up European money” really appear on the streets of a Paris suburb? What about graffiti showing the president as an insect or as excrement? According to images circulating online, graffiti like this has been popping up on the streets of several European cities. But in fact, none of them ever existed. We took a closer look to prove that they are fake.
Geolocation proves video showing soldiers harassing Russian-speaking woman is staged – Truth or Fake
A video shared by everyone from prominent Russian media to official Kremlin social media accounts purports to show Ukrainian soldiers harassing a woman and her child. But open source communities’ debunking of the video has prompted an unusual backtrack from some of the pro-Russian lobby. We take a closer look in this edition of Truth or Fake.