Russian unleashed a full-scale war against Ukraine, occupied Crimea and other territories, thus making Russian military bases located in occupied Crimea legitimate targets for the Ukrainian military. The narrative that “NATO is fighting against Russia” is one of the most widespread Kremlin fakes that Stopfake has repeatedly debunked. Ukraine is standing up to Russian aggression and fighting the Russian invading forces, and not some “collective West”.

Mykola Tyshchenko, a Ukrainian MP, has been expelled from the war-torn country’s ruling party over a trip to Thailand earlier this month. The trip came to light through an encounter that was organised with the MP by the Ukrainian embassy in Thailand. Traces of this event were later deleted online. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Russian media reports claiming the United Nations is not pleased with the West providing tanks to Ukraine are a manipulation. UN Secretary-General spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said that the processes currently observed in Russia’s war against Ukraine are not leading to peace. However, he did not express “dissatisfaction” with the supply of Western tanks to Ukraine. On the contrary, Dujarric emphasized that he meant “a just peace in accordance with the UN Charter and in accordance with international law.” This, in turn, entails the complete withdrawal of Russian troops from the entire territory of Ukraine within its 1991 internationally recognized borders.

Russian media are claiming that mass demonstrations took place in Munich against German tank supplies to Ukraine. This is a manipulation of a demonstration against something completely different. In the video from the Munich demonstration, there is not a single sign against Germany sending tanks to Ukraine. Such demonstrations, organized by the group München steht auf, are held regularly in the Bavarian capital, usually on Wednesdays. München steht auf is a group that advocates for a world without weapons, they are against vaccinations, against measures for coronavirus containment, and against the German government. The protesters are so-called Querdenkers – “dissenters.” During the coronavirus pandemic, they often disseminated fakes about COVID-19, “harmful vaccinations”, chipping, 5G radiation, and airplane vapor trails conspiracy theories.

Congress has approved about $111 billion in aid to Ukraine since the country was invaded by Russia in February 2022. During a 20-year entanglement in Afghanistan, the U.S. spent between $825 billion and $2.3 trillion, depending on the source of the estimate and what’s being included. Even taking the lower estimate of $825 billion, the U.S. would have spent $714 billion more in Afghanistan than in aid to Ukraine. We rate the claim that the amount the U.S. has spent in Ukraine is “double the U.S. expenditure for its own war in Afghanistan” False.

Germany recently said it will supply 14 Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. Soon after that, videos surfaced online purporting to show the tanks already en route to the embattled country. DW investigates.

Verdict: False There is no evidence NATO has undertaken “Operation Justice.” Check Your Fact has previously debunked claims that NATO is intervening in Ukraine.

Verdict: False There is no evidence that the Russian Navy has retreated from any body of water. The Ukrainian Navy has reported that several Russian ships remain in the Black Sea.

Russian social media channels and media are sharing a doctored video that alleges Poland will form army units of “non-traditional orientation”. We disprove these claims in this edition of Truth or Fake.

This story was fabricated. It appeared on Real Raw News, a site that regularly publishes false, fantastical stories authored by someone using a pseudonym. Real Raw News stories are authored by someone using a pseudonym and the site has a disclaimer saying it contains “humor, parody and satire,” though the author has defended his stories as truth. We found no credible news reports or other sources to corroborate the claims in this post. QAnon promotes a number of conspiracy theories that invoke pedophilia and a Democratic cabal. QAnon adherents were present during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. These ideas also infiltrated political discourse as recently as the 2022 midterm elections. We rate this claim Pants on Fire!

CLAIM: Mexico is planning to soon eliminate visa requirements for Russian nationals seeking to enter the country. AP’S ASSESSMENT: Missing context. Mexico’s ambassador to Russia says discussions between the two nations about mutually dropping visa requirements have been ongoing for years, but no agreement has been finalized. Eduardo Villegas Megías, Mexico’s ambassador to Russia, says there’s been no movement in the talks as Mexico remains neutral in Russia’s war in Ukraine.

A doctored image is being circulated online. According to the Stuttgart Airport press service, the monitor featured in the doctored image only broadcasts commercial advertisements or periodic notifications to passengers about security checks and operational changes.

Did a Polish news channel really broadcast a weather map showing Poland expanding into Ukrainian territory? Or the TV report on how the Polish army was creating an LGBT paramilitary unit? Both of these video reports do feature the logo of a Polish public broadcaster. But there are a lot of clues that make it pretty clear that these ‘reports’ are fake.

The Washington Post has not written that the West is sending soldiers to Ukraine. On the contrary, the article Russian media refer to focuses on International Legion foreign fighters who voluntarily go to war – each for his own reasons. None of the countries that are currently providing military aid to Ukraine have expressed readiness to send troops to participate in hostilities, nor has Ukraine ever asked that they do.

A doctored video is circulating online making an outrageous linguistic claim against Ukrainians. StopFake analyzed the video and found it to be doctored. Russian propagandists edited a false claim into the ticker of a legitimate news story from Ukrainian television.

An audio recording is being circulated online as “evidence” of Ukrainian “sabotage”, however the recording first surfaced online at least in 2018 when it was widely circulated in Kazakhstan.

The document being circulated online purported to be a Ukrainian draft notice is a fake. This document does not bear any similarity to an official Ukrainian draft notice, it contains the wrong category names and does not contain pertinent information that is part of a genuine draft notice. The term military commissariat is repeatedly used in the fake document. However, as of 2021 Ukrainian enlistment centers are called Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Centers. An analysis of the seal used in the document in question also shows that it was doctored and is not the seal of the Bila Tserkva Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center.

Russian media are claiming that water levels in Ukraine’s main river, the Dnipro, have fallen because Ukraine is draining the river in order to deploy troops to the left bank. In fact, the drop in the Dnipro water level is not connected to any Ukrainian activities, but is the result of Russian shelling which damaged the shut-off valves at the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station.

Purported images of Polish state television have circulated on Twitter showing a national map of Poland’s borders, but overpowering much of Ukraine’s territory. The channel itself and the country’s secretary of state have slammed this as the “Russian propaganda machine” trying to destroy Ukraine’s positive relationship with Warsaw. We take a closer look in this edition of Truth or Fake, with Vedika Bahl.

Russian media and Telegram accounts have been sharing an edited anti-Ukraine poster, allegedly located in the middle of a Parisian metro station. Pro-Russian channels claims the poster shows French people telling Ukrainian refugees that they’ve overstayed their welcome. We debunk these claims in this edition of Truth or Fake.