As it happens, official United Nations data suggests that the 14,000 casualty figure that Putin has used does not only refer to civilians. During Russia’s 2014-2021 military operations against Ukraine, 14,500 people died in the Donbas war. Of that 14,000, 3,404 were civilians, 4,400 were Ukrainian servicemen and 6,500 were Russian militants. The figure Putin operates with, is the total number of casualties incurred in the Donbas war by both sides.

Posts shared online claim to show members of a Russian military choir being arrested for singing anti-war songs. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has indeed cracked down on people spreading “false information” about the war in Ukraine, leading to many people’s arrests, this video is not an example of that. In fact, it shows an incident from 2015 when the choir performed a song from a James Bond film.

Clinton has not been indicted on any charges stemming from alleged spying on Trump. This claim is another dramatic oversimplification of a recent legal filing by Special Counsel John Durham.

This claim originated in an article published by a website known for sharing misinformation, including one previous false claim on Ukraine. • Russia’s president stated many reasons for the invasion. Ending child trafficking was not among them. • According to the U.S. State Department, Russia is failing to deal with human trafficking within its own borders. Our ruling A post on Facebook alleged that Russia started its invasion of Ukraine to fight child trafficking. The claim originates in an article published by a website known for fabricating stories and sources. There is no evidence that ending child trafficking is a goal of the war in Ukraine. Russia itself is failing to deal with human trafficking within its own borders, according to a report by the U.S. State Department. And while Putin has been very descriptive about his reasons for invading Ukraine, child trafficking has never been mentioned. We rate the post False.

A viral photo of a helicopter airlifting a tractor predates Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. An Indian tractor manufacturer posted it on Twitter in November 2020. The helicopter in the photo is labeled “Indian Air Force.” India is not a member of NATO.

Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms. A new law in Russia threatens up to 15 years of prison time for spreading information about the war that authorities consider to be “false.” There are no parallels in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are safeguarded by the Constitution. Gabbard alleged censorship by social media companies, but experts say those claims are not supported by evidence. Our ruling Gabbard said, “What is happening here is not so different from what we’re seeing happening in Russia, where you have got state TV and controlled messaging across the board.” Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia ‘ a country with a long history of suppressing free speech and access to information ‘ has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms, including with a new law threatening prison time for spreading “false” information about the war. Those measures are without parallel in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are enshrined in the Constitution. We rate Gabbard’s claim Pants on Fire!

Social media posts claim that the avenue outside the Russian consulate in Montreal was renamed for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a show of support for the country after it was invaded by Russia. This is false; the Avenue Zelensky sign pictured in the posts was installed during the filming of a satirical television program, and the city told AFP that the name of the street remains unchanged.

Social media posts claim Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations said during a General Assembly session that former US president Donald Trump was “overthrown.” But diplomat Vassily Nebenzia’s full remarks make clear he was referring to the revolution that toppled Ukraine’s president in February 2014, not Trump’s 2020 electoral defeat.

Conspiracy theorists and Russian apologists reached new lows in attacking the Ukrainian president in March 2022.

An employee at state-owned Channel One in Russia recently interrupted a live news broadcast to protest the war in Ukraine. Multiple experts say there are live news broadcasts and other live events on Russian TV. A former employee of the station said that all Channel One news is live. An expert we spoke with said that’s because of the country’s many time zones. Our ruling A Facebook post said that a Russian journalist’s protest during a state TV broadcast couldn’t be real because “there are no live on air television broadcasts in Russia. None. Ever.” But experts we spoke with, including journalists who have worked in Russia, said that is not true. There are many live broadcasts, including the news show that was interrupted by an employee’s protest. There has been no evidence presented that shows her actions were staged as part of a Russian propaganda effort. We rate this claim False.

A West Virginia State Police captain confirmed that the Uber’s window decal was an expired inspection sticker from the state. But that doesn’t mean that the car itself wasn’t in Ukraine. The video showing the car was recorded in Irpin, Ukraine, according to Reuters, which owns the video. It’s not uncommon for cars to be exported from the U.S. to other countries, including Ukraine. Our ruling A Facebook post claimed that “a West Virginia inspection sticker on an Uber” proves the car was not in Ukraine. A West Virginia State Police Captain confirmed that the decal on the car was an expired sticker from the state. However, this doesn’t mean that the car wasn’t in Ukraine ‘ a spokesperson for Reuters, which owns the video, confirmed that the video was filmed there. It’s not uncommon for cars to be exported from the U.S. to other countries, including Ukraine. We rate this claim False.

Verdict: False The video shows footage from an open-world military simulator video game. It does not depict an actual Russian helicopter being shot down.

Online posts claim the Statue of Liberty in New York City was adorned with a Ukrainian flag as a sign of solidarity following the Russian invasion. But a reverse image search found that the photo shows a replica Statue of Liberty located in Colmar, France, that was also photographed on March 2, 2022 by AFP.

Social media posts feature a picture of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holding a soccer jersey that has a swastika in place of a number. But AFP found that the posts used a digitally manipulated image superimposing the Nazi symbol on a photo taken from the leader’s Instagram account.

An image comparing what appears to be an Italian television network’s coverage of the war in Ukraine to a shot from a movie has spread online in posts claiming the media is lying about Russia’s invasion. But the network’s parent company rejected the claim, a word is missing from the TGCOM24 logo used in the posts, and AFP found no evidence of the footage being broadcast on the channel.

Facebook posts published in Ethiopia and Nigeria have claimed that Africans trying to flee the war in Ukraine have been mistreated and racially discriminated against based on images showing black men with visible injuries being held in captivity. There have been widespread reports about the mistreatment of Africans trying to leave the country, but these images were taken at a refugee camp in Melilla, a Spanish enclave on the north coast of Morocco – not in Ukraine.

Russian planes bombed a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, killing three people and injuring at least 17, including two pregnant women seen in photos shared around the world. Social media posts falsely claimed one woman “posed” as the two women. One of the women died of her injuries, along with her baby; the other gave birth to a daughter.

Tens of thousands of people have watched a video posted on Facebook that allegedly shows Ukrainians kneeling as a convoy carries religious relics through the streets of Kyiv to a bunker. However, this video is actually from several years ago and shows a funeral procession for fallen soldiers in another part of Ukraine.

The VERIFY team confirmed a video of Ukraine President Zelenskyy telling his people to surrender is a deepfake. It was created using images from press conferences.

Multiple megachurches around the United States have been raising funds to help Ukrainians during Russia’s invasion. Gateway Church, another megachurch in Texas, has set up a crisis relief fund to support people in Ukraine and the surrounding region. Saddleback Church, a megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, has an advance relief team connecting with local pastors in Ukraine and Poland who are caring for hundreds of Ukrainian refugees. The church’s website features ways people can help and has provided multiple updates on its efforts in the region. The Rock Church, a megachurch in San Diego, California, is directing people to its partner organization, Crisis Response International, and told PolitiFact that it’s in the process of establishing a Ukraine relief fund. Crossroads Church, an Ohio-based megachurch, partners with humanitarian and disaster relief organizations Convoy of Hope and World Vision, which both have operations on the ground in Ukraine. Other church networks, like the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Catholic Relief Services, are collecting donations and deploying staff and resources. We rate posts that say no megachurches are raising money for Ukraine relief False.