A strange video is spreading on Telegram and Twitter: Hospice residents in Germany are allegedly getting tattoos of Putin to take him to his death as "living voodoo dolls." The whole thing is a fake.
A video from a film production in Ukraine has been widely shared on social media. Pro-Kremlin users falsely claim the video is evidence that Ukraine is staging Russian atrocities. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
The website looks authentic, but it isn't. Fake news sites showing well-known media brand names are acting as vehicles for Russian propaganda, among other things.
Since 2018, the FRANCE 24 Observers team has been sharing tips for helping you to verify images that circulate online yourself. In this guide, we'll explain how to avoid falling into online traps - whether they involve photos or videos taken out of context or ones that have been actually doctored. We'll keep updating this guide, to keep you up to date on verification tools available for public use.
A video clip of motorists angrily dragging away demonstrators who were blocking a highway has been viewed tens of thousands of times in online posts that claim it shows Ukrainian anti-war protesters obstructing traffic in Spain. This is false: the clip was filmed in a highway in the Italian capital Rome. The group that staged the protest told AFP it showed a climate demonstration unrelated to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The video circulating on social media has been edited - a running line claiming that a large fire in Spain was allegedly caused by Ukrainian refugees was deliberately added on the screen. In reality, the running line reported on the driver, arrested for assaulting a passenger and driving under the influence.
Verdict: False
The footage was taken during a 2017 event at the University of Ghent. The event was not affiliated with NATO.
With Eastern Europe in turmoil following the invasion of Ukraine, a Facebook post shared hundreds of times claims Russian President Vladimir Putin is 'in South Africa'. The post includes a video broadcast showing Putin arriving in the country for alliance talks. However, this is misleading: the video was filmed in July 2018 ahead of the 10th summit of the BRICS group, which was hosted by South Africa.
A video of a railway track being removed has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times after it circulated in posts that claim it shows Lithuania cutting off transit with a Russian exclave after the EU sanctioned certain goods in response to Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022. Although Lithuania did follow the EU sanctions in blocking certain goods to Kaliningrad, the video has been shared in a false context. It was uploaded in a 2017 post about railway repairs in Estonia, years before Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Keyword searches found no official reports about Lithuania removing the railway track.
Thousands of Ukrainians have been killed in Russian rocket attacks since February 24. Still, Vladimir Putin claims his soldiers don't attack civilian targets. The facts show quite the opposite.