Latest fact checks & sources

Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr and other prominent conservatives are sharing a video that claims to show E! News reporting that the US’s humanitarian agency paid millions of dollars to celebrities including Angelina Jolie and Ben Stiller to visit Ukraine and help boost President Volodymyr Zelensky’s popularity amid the country’s war with Russia. But the clip is not an authentic report, a spokesperson for the entertainment news channel told AFP, and Stiller has publicly rejected the allegations as false.

Much of the money the U.S. has dedicated for Ukraine aid is spent in the U.S. on domestic weapons manufacturers and U.S. military and government operations. Direct military support to Ukraine totaled about $70 billion out of the $175 billion Congress has appropriated. The money isn’t being laundered, it’s being spent as Congress intended.

The claim that the LA Fire Department (LAFD) was impacted in its ability to fight the recent wildfires due to its donations to Ukraine was also promoted by writer and entrepreneur John LeFevre (archived here), who linked donations to Ukraine to current resource shortages. In March 2022, during the early stages of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, fire departments across California, including Los Angeles County, donated some surplus equipment sitting in storage, including hoses, nozzles, helmets, gloves, boots, and other personal protective gear, as well as medical supplies. The donation did not include any critical equipment or heavy machinery. There is no suggestion that the previous donations to Ukraine have impacted this particular situation.

As Ukraine braces for colder months, a well-coordinated and adaptive humanitarian response will be fundamental to help save lives. Here are 5 facts you need to know about the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine:

Advertising campaign calling for “stand with Ukraine,” which was allegedly initiated by the Ukrainian government, is fake. The corporation that installed the billboard shown in the video denied the existence of such an advertisement.

The New York Times article does indeed contain a prediction that Russia may outpace European countries and the United States in terms of economic growth this year. However, this forecast does not belong to the NYT economic columnist Patricia Cohen, as the Russian media claim, but to the Central Bank of the Russian Federation. Also, Russian media cover only a part of the article – the part about the resilience of the Russian economy to Western sanctions. Instead, the main idea of the publication, which is to prove that the Russian economy is currently working to wage war in Ukraine, remains unaddressed by propagandists. Russian publications also ignore the problems in the consumer sector that Russians are currently facing.

This video has never been shown on Ukrainian television. To create a fake video, its authors used the real story of the American news program CBS Mornings and replaced its audio track.

None of the ally states, except aggressive Russia, have any territorial claims to Ukraine. Experts suggest rebuilding post-war Ukraine using the experience of the Second World War aftermath.

Such statements are not true. There are no sanctions for communicating with residents of temporarily occupied territories. There are some obstacles such as problems with communication and the safety of people who are under occupation. But they are a direct consequence of Russia’s armed aggression in Ukraine and the violent seizure of Ukrainian territories by the Russian military.

Romania has not made any statements that it is going to evacuate Ukrainian citizens from the Gaza Strip in the first place. Evacuation of citizens of all nationalities from the Gaza Strip is currently impossible.

The French media La Montagne did not publish an article entitled “Sanctions against Russia led to a bedbug epidemic in Paris.” Most likely, a screenshot of this publication was created in a photo editor. Mass appearances of bedbugs are not related to anti-Russian sanctions, but to the insects adapting to insecticides, climate change and people beginning to travel more in crowded transport.

The document on the video is fake. It does not match the official sample of the drafting paper. The graphs are incorrectly indicated and the text is full of errors. Most likely, this video was created as a provocation.

Russian propaganda, using the CNN article, made a manipulative generalization that Poles in general do not want to see Ukrainians in their country anymore. The original source does not talk about the mood in Poland in general, but only covers a rally of the far-right Confederation party, known for its anti-Ukrainian rhetoric. In the parliamentary elections, this party received the lowest result, and a national poll in September 2023 showed that 65% of Poles support the reception of refugees from Ukraine.

Russian propagandist Margarita Simonyan admitted in her TV program that this video was created by the Russia Today team, and that they will continue to produce similar content.

The photo used by Russian propaganda to spread disinformation was edited in Photoshop. In fact, the image shows a rally in Israel in support of Ukraine that took place in the summer of 2022. In the original photo, the protester is holding a poster that reads “Russia is a terrorist state,” and there is no poster with words about Israel in the background.

Francis Fukuyama did not make such statements in an interview with Radio Svoboda. This conclusion was made by the Russian media. In reality, the American philosopher noted that the only way for Russia to leave the occupied territories is Ukraine’s victory. He also said that “the issue that Ukraine will face in the future is the possibility that not 100 percent can be liberated”. Yet he specified that all discussions about territorial concessions during future negotiations are speculative, and only the Ukrainians themselves should answer these questions and make decisions.

Biden was not referring to investments in “killing Ukrainians” or the American military-industrial complex, as the Russian media wrote. The president was talking about investing in the security and stability of the democratic world. Biden noted that when terrorists do not pay the price for their terror, and dictators do not pay for their aggression, they cause even more chaos, death and destruction, triggering a chain of unpunished cruelty around the world. The American President emphasized that there is a direct link between Ukraine’s victory in the Russian war and the well-being of American citizens. Biden emphasized that if we do not stop dictator Putin and his ilk now, after Ukraine and Israel, they will move on to other countries – the NATO countries, including the United States.

In response to the viral photos, the representative also raised questions about their authenticity, pointing out that labels on the products appeared to be printed on paper and merely taped onto the goods. […] In a twist to the viral post, Facebook users have taken the investigation a step further. They’ve tried to identify the specific store and pointed out that it is currently out of service.

Unverified reports about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s health have been circulating online, driven by social media. The Kremlin denied Russian President Vladimir Putin was ill. Photos released by Russian media show Putin at meetings and public events in the days after this supposed health emergency. The claim started on Telegram, a platform known for facilitating the spread of misinformation about Russia. The account that made the claim has shared other dubious reports about Putin’s health in the past. Based on available information, we rate the claim that Putin recently suffered a heart attack False.

A video in a recent Facebook post cobbles together quotes from an Oct. 19 address by President Joe Biden as evidence that the commander in chief has confirmed World War III is underway. President Joe Biden urged aid for Israel and Ukraine in a recent primetime address; he didn’t declare World War III. We rate claims Biden confirmed World War III on live TV – or anywhere – False.