There is no doubt that Ukraine’s peaceful civilian population was subjected to extreme violence and brutality by the Russian military. Numerous local residents’ testimonies from Kyiv area towns that have been under Russian military occupation for a month confirm this. Some of them have already been documented by the international human rights organization Human Rights Watch.

Social media users have been circulating two photos showing a Ukrainian airplane that they say smacked into a street sign because it was flying low to avoid Russian radar. In reality, this incident happened during a training exercise back in August 2020 and has nothing to do with the war in Ukraine.

According to the French Ministry of the Interior, as of March 31, the number of non-Europeans among the more than 26,000 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in France is less than 5%.

After Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine, a video was viewed millions of times in multiple Facebook posts that claimed it shows fighting between soldiers from the two countries. In fact, the video has circulated online since 2010. A visual analysis of the clip found it corresponds with a raid by American and Iraqi troops on a shrine in Iraq in 2004.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia’s talk of “de-Nazifying” Ukraine is a non-starter in peace negotiations. We’ll explain what these claims are all about and why experts say they are misleading.

The spring planting season in Ukraine is in jeopardy not because of the Ukrainian authorities, but because of the Russian Federation, which on February 24 unleashed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian farmers were forced to start the spring planting campaign with bullets and missiles flying above them, regions where the war is raging are unable to sow wheat, extra hands needed for spring wheat planting are busy defending Ukraine and fuel shortages plague the entire process throughout the country. Nevertheless the spring planting campaign is underway in 20 farming regions in Ukraine.

The Jewish community of Uman calls the claim that the local synagogue is being used as a military base by nationalists a lie. A rabbi specifically filmed a video in the synagogue to show that it was empty, there were no soldiers, no weapons, no military equipment in the building. Furthermore, Russian troops shelled the center of Uman on the very first day of the war, February 24, a 39-year-old man was killed, and five others were injured.

Online posts claim a video shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky singing the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. This is false; the clip shows an American singer’s cover of the 1971 hit.

A video that appears to show explosions in the French capital of Paris has been viewed thousands of times in misleading social media posts that claim it shows a real attack on the Eiffel Tower. The posts suggest the attack was carried out by Russian forces in response to sanctions from foreign powers following its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The footage, however, has been shared in a false context: it shows a fictional film created by a French director that was then shared online by Ukrainian officials in a bid to urge European authorities to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Multiple social media posts claim CNN fabricated a story about a “bomb attack” at the hotel of a journalist in Ukraine in a tweet that actually showed an old photo of a hotel in Serbia. However, CNN reported no such story and said the tweet was fake. The screenshot of the doctored tweet features the social media handle of a prankster who has previously shared fake CNN tweets.

Multiple posts on Facebook have claimed that a sharpshooting Canadian sniper known as Wali was killed by Russian special forces 20 minutes after he arrived on the frontline in Mariupol, Ukraine as a volunteer fighter. However, this is false; the man, a former Canadian Armed Forces sniper, dispelled the rumours of his death during a video call.

A recent Facebook post falsely claims that CNN footage from the war in Ukraine was faked, citing a firefighter’s jacket bearing the name of a Canadian city. But the footage was shot in Ukraine. The jacket was donated by a Canadian organization.

According to a survey carried out by the IT Ukraine Association, more than 70% of Ukrainian IT specialists work in parts of Ukraine that are safe, the remaining 16% who are mostly women, work abroad. These findings were confirmed by a survey conducted by the DOU IT portal which found that 61% of IT specialists surveyed moved to a safer place, 46% moved to safer places within Ukraine, 14% went abroad.

Two photos have been shared in a report that links them to a fire at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant following a Russian attack in March 2022. However, the images — viewed thousands of times — have been shared in a misleading context. Both photos predate the Russian attack: one image has circulated in reports since 2011 about an oil refinery fire in Japan, while the other has circulated in reports since January 2022 about a Russian military drill.

A photo of firefighters covered in soot has been shared thousands of times in social media posts that claim it shows Ukrainian firemen working to “save lives” after the Russian invasion. Although Ukraine’s firefighters have been working at the sites of Russian air strikes since Moscow began bombarding Ukrainian cities, the image actually shows firefighters in Australia.

There is no evidence Putin beheaded 12 bioweapon engineers in Ukraine. This claim comes from Real Raw News, a blog that has shown a pattern of fabricating news about politicians being executed or arrested by the military. Though the story claims Putin told former President Donald Trump about the alleged beheading, a spokesperson for Trump said the account is baseless.

The Space Foundation removed Yuri Gagarin’s name from an upcoming fundraising event after it received derogatory and anti-Russia comments on its social media accounts. The organization did not revoke any formal honors from the cosmonaut. Exhibits related to Gagarin are still on display at the foundation’s gallery in Colorado, and his accomplishments will still be celebrated at the annual event, the group said. Our ruling A Facebook post claims, “the Space Foundation has erased the honors previously bestowed on Yuri Gagarin, the first man to ever be in space. His name was stripped ‘in light of current events.'” This is misleading. The Space Foundation removed Gagarin’s name from an event after it received derogatory and anti-Russian comments on its social media accounts due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But the organization did not revoke any formal honors from the cosmonaut. Gagarin’s exhibits are still on display at the foundation and his accomplishments will still be celebrated at the event. The post contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression. We rate it Mostly False.

A screenshot of CNN footage has been shared on social media alongside the claim that the channel falsified coverage of a fire in Ukraine, with the name “Edmonton” on a firefighter’s jacket cited as evidence. But the footage shows the aftermath of strikes in the city of Lviv, and the jacket was donated by a Canadian non-profit, the organization and Edmonton Fire Rescue Services say.

Social media posts claim that American news channel CNN reported that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is causing cases of myocarditis, or inflammation of the heart. But the posts feature an altered image from a satire website with comments suggesting it was true, and the media company said the apparent newscast is a fake.

An email was sent on March 7 instructing some U.N. staff members not to use the words “war” or “invasion” when discussing the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The message came from a regional office without clearance and is not considered official U.N. policy, organization officials told PolitiFact. U.N. leaders including Secretary General António Guterres and Rosemary DiCarlo, the organization’s under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs, used the words in tweets before and after the email was sent. Our ruling A Facebook post claims that the U.N. sent an email instructing staff not to use the words “invasion” or “war” when referring to Ukraine. The email is real and instructed some U.N. staff members not to use the terms. But it came from a regional U.N. office and officials say that it did not reflect the organization’s official policy. Top U.N. leaders have used the words on social media before and around the time the email was sent. For a statement that’s partially accurate but leaves out important details, we rate this Half True.