One of the most contested elements of this story is the timeline of events, which was presented differently by Ukrainian and Russian authorities. But while Ukraine’s version has overall been confirmed by international media – even though it did present some contradictions –, Russia’s claims have been debunked. The Kremlin, in fact, stated that bodies were not there when its troops left Bucha, but instead they were actors placed by Ukrainians to stage the massacre and blame Russia for it. This theory has been proved to be completely false by several international media, among which the New York Times, which analyzed satellite videos and images from before and after the liberation of Bucha, showing that corpses were already there when the town was under Russian control.

Ukraine authorities have said bodies discovered on April 2, 2022 in the small town of Bucha were civilians killed by retreating Russian forces, allegations which Moscow has denied. Several posts shared on social networks — including from Russian authorities — have claimed that the scene was staged by Ukrainian forces and some of the so-called bodies were filmed moving. But AFP journalists on the ground confirmed they saw dead bodies that had been left for several days; footage used to support the misleading claims does not show the bodies moving, AFP’s investigation found.

Several hundred bodies of civilians were discovered in Bucha, Ukraine on April 3. Since the horrific discovery, pro-Russian accounts on Twitter have been circulating images that they say prove that these bodies were fake or that the massacre was staged by Ukrainians. But we investigated and, it turns out, these images were taken out of context.

Images of vehicles in the United Kingdom queuing at petrol stations are circulating in Kenya as proof that fuel scarcity in the East African nation is not unique. Tweets sharing the claim downplay the Kenyan government’s role in the crisis, noting that the same scene is playing out in the UK. However, the pictures used as proof are old and the UK is not experiencing fuel shortages like Kenya.

Ukraine authorities have said bodies discovered on April 2, 2022 in the small town of Bucha were civilians killed by retreating Russian forces, allegations which Moscow has denied. Several posts shared on social networks — including from Russian authorities — have claimed that the scene was staged by Ukrainian forces and some of the so-called bodies were filmed moving. But AFP journalists on the ground confirmed they saw dead bodies that had been left for several days; footage used to support the misleading claims does not show the bodies moving, AFP’s investigation found.

An image of a woman apparently bursting onto a TV set has been shared hundreds of times in posts claiming she crashed a Ukrainian news broadcast to urge President Volodymyr Zelensky to “surrender”. However, the picture was taken from a video made by a TikTok creator using a green screen. The original news broadcast shows no interruption from a protester.

The images of civilians killed in Bucha have shocked the world. The Russian government and pro-Russian accounts claim they were staged and that some bodies were moving. Our DW fact check shows those claims are false.

A satellite image of Bucha in Ukraine appears to show bodies lying in the street nearly two weeks before the Russians left the town. The image from 19 March, first reported by the New York Times and confirmed by the BBC, directly contradicts Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s claim that footage of bodies in Bucha, that has emerged in recent days, was “staged” after the Russians withdrew.

Lt. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr., commander of NATO’s Allied Land Command, has not been captured by Russian forces in Mariupol, the Allied Land Command confirmed. Cloutier posted photos from a recent event in Turkey to his LinkedIn profile, where he disputed the internet rumors alleging that he had been captured.

Former US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul never said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s circle is involved in “schemes” to supply weapons to Ukraine. The Russian publication alleging this took McFaul’s words out of context and distorted his meaning entirely.

A photo of a couple embracing while draped in both the Russian and Ukrainian flags has circulated online after Moscow’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbour alongside a claim it shows “love during [the] war”. The image — which was shared repeatedly in posts linking it to the war in Ukraine — has circulated in reports since 2019 about a couple embracing at a concert in Poland.

The images rebut Russia’s claim that the killing of civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, took place after its soldiers had left town.

Journalists who were able to reach Bucha after the departure of the Russian troops witnessed streets lined with abandoned corpses, some of which showed signs of summary executions, such as hands tied behind their backs, and clearly visible bullet holes marking their bodies. These pitiless reports led Ukrainian authorities and international analysts to accuse Russia of war crimes, but as soon as disturbing videos and pictures of the massacre started spreading online, Russian authorities denied the allegations, claiming that the pictures were a “provocation” and “a staged performance” organized by Ukrainian forces “for the Western media”. As already happened after the bombing of the pediatric hospital in Mariupol, Russia started a massive disinformation campaign in order to deny the massacre through the exploitation of conspiracy theories circulating online.

Open source evidence exists that appears to run counter to claims of elaborate fakes and staged productions, as well as calling into question the apparent timeline of events as depicted by Russia in recent days.

Claim: Images depicting a massacre in the Ukrainian city of Bucha were “staged.” Rating: Not True

Images published on April 3 showed the bodies of more than a dozen civilians who had been killed in Bucha, a town near Kyiv that had been occupied by the Russian army. Some of the bodies had their hands tied and some were shot in the head. Since then, several Russian media outlets and pro-Russian social media accounts have published a video that claims to show evidence the corpses in this video were staged. The FRANCE 24 Observers team analysed its claims.

The Russian Ministry of Defense and other top Russian officials claimed that a video of a car driving through Ukraine showed two crisis actors playing the role of dead Ukrainians in a staged massacre. On Telegram and Twitter, they claimed that the video showed one person moving their arm, and another person seen in the car’s mirror sitting up. The video does not show a person raising an arm as the car drives by; it shows a mark floating across the car’s windshield ‘ perhaps a drop of water or a speck of dirt. The video does not show someone sitting up after the car drives by; it shows a stationary corpse through the lens of the car’s passenger-side mirror, which has distorting effects. Our ruling The Russian Ministry of Defense said a video taken from a car driving through Bucha, Ukraine, shows a corpse “moving his arm,” and then “in the rear view mirror the ‘corpse’ sits down.” Both claims misrepresent what the video in question shows. The video shows a mark floating across the car’s windshield ‘ perhaps a drop of water or a speck of dirt ‘ which Russia officials falsely portrayed as of a corpse “moving his arm.” Similarly, what Russian officials falsely claimed was a corpse sitting up was actually a dead person whose body appeared distorted due to the shape of the car’s passenger-side mirror. We rate this claim False.

Jim Jatras cannot be called a useful idiot because he is seemingly an intelligent man with not an insignificant career behind him as a policy adviser and lobbyist. This former State Department employee is today a Russian propaganda mouthpiece, who along with other so-called “experts”, appears constantly on RT and Sputnik. Jatras dutifully echoes Kremlin disinformation narratives, and he most certainly does not represent “the position of the United States” as Kremlin English language mouthpieces RT and Sputnik claim. The crimes that Russian troops committed in the towns and cities around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv have been documented not only by Ukrainian authorities, but also by international media and human rights organizations.

Multiple social media posts shared online in March 2022 claimed that “only vaccinated Ukrainian citizens” were eligible for an emergency government payment to aid workers impacted by the Russian invasion. This is false; as of April 4, 2022, neither Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky nor the ministry in charge of the scheme has said immunisation for Covid-19 or any other disease is a requirement to receive the benefit.

Footage of a building collapsing after it was pummelled by missiles has been viewed thousands of times in social media posts that claim it shows a Russian strike on the Ukrainian defence ministry. However, the video shows Israeli strikes on a tower in Gaza in May 2021.