Latest fact checks & sources

Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, told us in an email that “Trump’s citation of $350 billion is double what Congress has appropriated.” Since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Congress has passed five spending bills to provide support to Ukraine, totaling about $174.2 billion, as we’ve explained before in fact-checking this and other claims Trump has made about Ukraine and Zelenskky. Each of those five measures passed with bipartisan support. […] As for Trump’s claim that Europe provided its aid to Ukraine in the “form of a loan, they get their money back,” that’s an exaggeration. Only a portion of European aid is in the form of loans.

A viral video is circulating on social media in which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is allegedly caught on camera calling JD Vance a “bitch” during Friday’s unprecedented diplomatic row at the White House. Also, how many times has Zelensky thanked the United States for its support? We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

There is no evidence that such a meal has actually appeared in Ukraine. The original source of this claim is the Telegram channel of Yulia Vityazeva, the former host of the Russian propaganda programme Solovyov Live. In addition, there is no mention of this dish in any credible source, and the name of the restaurant remains unknown. Furthermore, digital analysis of the image’s flaws suggests that it was most likely artificially generated or altered. All of this suggests that the information is false.

A screenshot from a bookmaker’s website that is being circulated online has been edited.

There is no such word in the dictionary. The screenshot that is being shared online was edited.

This information is fake, as the Wall Street Journal never published such an article, and the screenshot circulating online is a fake.

UNITED24 did not report such information, and neither did any other credible source.

[T]he audio of the available recording of the meeting was not clear enough to prove without doubt what Zelenskyy said, other than that it began with an “s” sound. In other words, it’s possible the Ukrainian president said “suka” – Ukrainian for “b****” – or a term including the word, but it’s also possible that he said something completely different.

Claim: On Feb. 28, 2025, before a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with Democrats who convinced him to reject a deal that would allow the U.S. to exploit minerals in Ukraine in exchange for U.S. support in Ukraine’s war with Russia. Rating: Mixture. What’s True: Zelenskyy did meet with Democratic U.S. senators … What’s False: … but that meeting also included at least three Republican senators. Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, emphatically rejected claims that the Democrats of the U.S. Senate delegation had dissuaded Zelenskyy from taking the minerals deal. Further, Zelenskyy confirmed to reporters two days after the meeting that his country was ready to accept the deal.

Claim: Ukraine was caught faking combat scenes to ask for more money from the US. Fact: This video does not show Ukrainian soldiers creating fake combat scenes. It’s a behind-the-scenes shot from a music video.

UNITED24 did not report such information, and neither did any other credible source.

The New York Times never published this video, and its real existence has not been confirmed online, despite the claim that it was shown in New York city centre. The footage shown in the video does not match the indicated text prompt, which alludes to editing. In addition, the video first appeared on a pro-Russian Telegram channel and was shared exclusively though propaganda sources, which confirms its fake origin.

The New York Times never published this video, and its real existence has not been confirmed online, despite the claim that it was shown in New York city centre. The footage shown in the video does not match the indicated text prompt, which alludes to editing. In addition, the video first appeared on a pro-Russian Telegram channel and was shared exclusively though propaganda sources, which confirms its fake origin.

A fabricated audio clip is going viral on social media, in which Donald Trump Jr. allegedly voices his support for Russia on his “Triggered with Don Jr.” podcast. In the clip, US President Donald Trump’s son appears to say that “the US should have sent weapons to Russia, not Ukraine”. We debunk these claims in this edition of Truth or Fake.

A post shared on X claims to show Russians ambushing American fighters in Ukraine. Verdict: False The video originates from an airsoft creator. There is no indication it was taken in Ukraine.

– Vance: Zelenskyy has not said, “Thank you” to the United States for its support of Ukraine. – Vance: Zelenskyy “went to Pennsylvania and campaigned for the opposition in October.” – Trump: “We gave you $350 billion.”

A video with millions of engagements on X purports to show a New York Post video reporting that the US government’s humanitarian agency paid Time $4 million to feature Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on its magazine cover as its 2022 Person of the Year. But the supposed report is fake, and the claims it makes are inaccurate, according to the New York Post and Time.

WHAT WAS CLAIMED: Volodymyr Zelenskiy has blocked access to Trump’s Truth Social across Ukraine. OUR VERDICT: False. Truth Social has never been available in Ukraine.

Audio purportedly of Donald Trump Jr using his podcast to say the United States should have sent weapons to Russia instead of Ukraine is spreading widely online, with an official Democratic National Committee account among those that shared and deleted it. But the clip is fake, spokesmen for the US president’s son and video platform Rumble told AFP. A media forensics expert said the quote — which is not in the original episode — appears to be the product of artificial intelligence technology. […] “The audio in question, which was amplified by the official X account of the DNC, along with countless other major anti-Trump accounts, is 100 percent fake,” a Trump Jr spokesman told AFP in a February 26 statement. “It appears to be an AI-generated deep fake.”

Russia’s war against Ukraine is not only a military confrontation, but Moscow is also deliberately targetting the Ukrainian president with disinformation and narratives that seek to discredit him. In early February 2025, posts on social media falsely claimed that Volodymyr Zelensky had purchased a property known as the Eagle’s Nest in Berchtesgaden in the southern German state of Bavaria. However, the site — which was closely associated with the Nazis during World War II and is a popular tourist destination even today — is still owned by the state authorities. Furthermore, the false claims seem to have originated from a Russian disinformation network.