Latest fact checks & sources

The Kyiv club did not plan to hold a “Makhachkala on fire” party to celebrate the gas station explosion in the Russian city of Makhachkala. There is no such poster on the club’s website and in its social media. The club representatives refuted the information spread on social networks.

Ukraine has not asked Interpol to help track down Ukrainians who are evading mobilization. There is a more compelling reason for Ukraine to work with Interpol: to bring suspected collaborators who fled Ukraine to justice.

The information about 10,000 Poles allegedly dying in Russia’s war against Ukraine is baseless. The publication in Myśl Polska, which is cited by the Russian media, does not exist. This was announced by the media’s editorial board.

The Azov brigade commander of the Ukrainian National Guard Denys Prokopenko with a call name Redys was not captured again. After the false information spread, the Azov press service published his photo and dedicated it to the National Ukrainian Flag Day.

The photo on the billboard is fake. Moreover, the picture used captures a traffic stop in Denmark’s capital Copenhagen, and not in France. French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking at the Crimea platform on August 23, once again emphasized that France does not recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territories.

The US Air Force in Europe and Africa commander James Hecker did not call F-16 useless for Ukraine. The general noted that American fighter jets will provide additional capabilities to the Armed Forces on the battlefield, but will not be a panacea in the fight against the invaders.

Claim: “There has been zero response from local, regional or federal officials” to aid people affected by the Maui, Hawaii, wildfires. Verdict: ‘Zero response’ for Maui, Hawaii claim is false; government aid came hours after wildfire started

Ukraine has no plans to lower the conscription age to 20 years. Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Secretary Oleksiy Danilov publicly stated that no changes in mobilization should be expected.

Deportation of men liable for military service to Ukraine has no legal basis, and Ukrainian diplomatic missions cannot do so. This narrative is another Russian disinformation.

No, the U.S. government did not accidentally send an extra $6 billion to Ukraine. This viral claim takes what actually happened completely out of context. The U.S. actually sent about $6 billion less than it intended in military equipment to Ukraine – not $6 billion more. That happened because the Pentagon overestimated the value of military equipment sent to the country, meaning it was worth about $6 billion less than originally estimated.

The cross at issue in the viral video is neither a modern-era German Iron Cross nor the simple cross used as an indicator by the Ukrainian army. It is true that variants similar to the cross in the viral video had been used by the Nazis in World War II. This type of cross has a specific history in Ukraine, however, that predated its use in Nazi Germany. A guerrilla warfare campaign carried out by the Ukrainian National Army against the Red Army and other forces from 1919 to 1920 is known as the First Winter Campaign. […] A “steel cross,” as it is sometimes described in Ukraine, was the symbol of that Winter Campaign – the military award given for participation in these campaigns contained that equidistant cross. In 2019, a Ukrainian military unit that has been fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine since 2014 – the 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade – was renamed “Knights of the First Winter Campaign.” That Brigade’s insignia, approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, presently contains this same cross. […] While one could debate the merits of using a symbol that has since become complicated by its use in other contexts, there is no reason to interpret such cross’s use in Ukraine as a reference to Nazism.

Claim: Joe Biden launched unarmed nuclear bombs as a “Russia threat.” Verdict: No evidence that test of US nuclear missile was done to threaten Russia. The Air Force described it as routine. News reports on the testing did not mention Russia.

A video shared on Facebook claims 45,000 Ukrainian troops reached Melitopol, Ukraine. Verdict: False Ukraine’s offensive has not yet reached the city.

Cluster munitions that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine are banned in more than 100 countries. The use of cluster bombs can be a war crime in some cases. Countries that haven’t ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions treaty, such as the United States, Russia and Ukraine, can use cluster bombs without violating international law. However, there are some cases where the use of cluster bombs by any country could violate international law and be considered a war crime. These include attacks that indiscriminately target civilians.

A video shared on Twitter claims to show a Russian soldier exploding after hitting a tank with an artillery shell. Verdict: Misleading The explosion is edited in. There is no evidence the soldier died during this.

Verdict: False The image shows leftover pet food in the Belgorod region, not dead Russian troops.

A post shared on social media purportedly shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dancing. Verdict: False The claim is inaccurate. The video is not of Zelenskyy.

The above photograph does not show Zelenskyy’s home. Using Google’s reverse-image search tool, we found the same photograph on a number of real estate websites showing luxury properties in France and Monaco. Given that the author of the original tweet pulled the photo from real estate profiles of a house in France, without providing any evidence of its ownership, we rate this photograph as “Miscaptioned.”

A video shared on Twitter claims Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said he did not know who blew up the Kerch Bridge. Verdict: False Zelenskyy was discussing Ukraine obtaining the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), not the attack on the Kerch Bridge.

Russian social media claims that a Ukrainian court sentenced a woman to 10 years imprisonment for corresponding with a sister in Russia and posting a picture criticizing a Ukrainian nationalist leader, are propagandist fakes. The woman was in fact convicted for sending Ukrainian military locations to the invading Russian army.