Latest fact checks & sources

Information about the destruction of the Odesa Transfiguration Cathedral appeared in the Wikipedia article about the church shortly after it became clear which buildings were damaged by the Russian attack on Odesa during the night of July 23. Ukrainian Wikipedia administrator Anatoliy Lutsyuk explains that the editing history of Wikipedia uses UTC time, which currently is three hours ahead of Kyiv time.

It is illegal under Ukraine’s constitution to hold elections while martial law is in effect. These rules predate President Zelensky’s time in power. This Foreign Policy article gives a detailed overview of why holding elections in wartime Ukraine would be not just illegal, but would also put millions of civilians at risk while lining up under Russian missiles. An election today would also disenfranchise many of the millions of Ukrainians who are displaced, abroad as refugees, under Russian occupation, or prisoners in Russia.

“We all have a role to play in stopping the spread of harmful misinformation online, which can result in people being left uninformed, unprotected & vulnerable. Before you share content online, pause to verify facts by asking basic questions.”

Ukrainian legislation has prohibited organ transplants of servicemen who died during hostilities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions since 2019. A new draft law under review is designed to clarify previously adopted norms, broadening the ban on organ removal from servicemen who died in the line of duty anywhere in Ukraine, where hostilities are taking place.

The Ukrainian government has repeatedly emphasized that it is not going to cede its territory to Russia for peace. For Ukraine, there is only one acceptable way to end the Russian war: the undisputed victory of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the de-occupation of all Ukrainian lands.

Apart from the fact that the video has been bizarrely edited, it does not mention Zelensky, only someone named Vladimir, and is attributed to an Instagram account with no web presence. Elijah Wood does not have a public Instagram account and the video being shared of him online, allegedly asking Zelensky to seek treatment, is the only recording available. The video appears to have been spread as a Russian propaganda effort and to promote a dubious documentary that falsely credits Tom Cruise as its star. Although Newsweek is yet to hear from Wood’s representatives for comment, we are confident that the video and claims surrounding it are, respectively, inauthentic and false.

A video circulating online purports to show Ukrainians in a packed pub celebrating the country’s recent attack on the Kerch bridge linking Russia to annexed Crimea. But the footage is being misrepresented; it shows Wigan Athletic football fans chanting: “Will Grigg’s on fire!” in 2016 about the English club’s then-striker.

Claim: Country music star couple Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood once recorded a video to ask people to donate money to help Ukraine’s relief efforts following Russia’s invasion of the country. Rating: True

These reports are a complete fabrication. Evacuation from the border areas of Sumy region has not yet begun. The local authorities are still compiling lists of those willing to move to safer regions, after which free transfers and accommodation will be organized for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Sumy Regional Military Administration emphasizes that there will be no emergency or forced evacuation. If someone decides to refuse to be evacuated, it is enough to write a request.

The U.S. did not accidentally send $6.2 billion to Ukraine. An overestimation of the cost of some military hardware meant that $6.2 billion was not spent in the transfer of U.S. stocks to Ukraine. While the DOD has said that this can now be used toward future stock drawdowns authorized by the president, that does not mean $6.2 billion has been sent accidentally, and all that implies, to Ukraine.

A project by Finnish academic Pekka Kallioniemi: “#vatniksoup is a Twitter thread series (and a hashtag!) where I’ll introduce pro-Russian actors and propagandists from around the world, be they so-called “independent journalists”, politicians, military personnel or just regular grifters looking to get some easy money. The series also has introductions and deeper insights on how online propaganda and disinformation works and is spread. For example, I’ll talk about troll farms, social media manipulation and Russia’s online information operations.”

The Russian team did not win all the gold medals at the international student physics competition. In reality, Russian students won only five gold medals out of a total o of thirty-seven.

Russian media and Telegram channels’ claims that the Pope has allegedly called on Ukrainian authorities to dismiss the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra abbot is baseless. As of today, none of the Vatican’s official resources have published anything about this.

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 tweet by Churchill offers no evidence that the image of a luxury property she shared belonged to Zelensky. Social media users were quick to point out that the image was taken from a real estate website for a property that was on sale for $5.5 million. It appears to be the latest unfounded accusation that Zelensky has faced that he has amassed properties around the world.

Did a viral video show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy performing a belly dance on camera? No, that’s not true: The footage portrays a different person, a professional belly dance instructor from Argentina, and Zelenskyy’s face seems to have been superimposed on that person’s body.

A French auction house representative told StopFake that a billboard advertising the sale of Ukrainian icons from the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves is fake, and no such an auction is planned. The Osenat website has no auctions scheduled for October 1. Claims that the West is exporting and selling Ukrainian artworks are Russian disinformation.

Ukraine’s President did not make any statements about the war in Ukraine being started by the United States. Volodymyr Zelensky once again emphasised that Ukraine decides on operations to de-occupy its territories from Russian invaders.

According to social media users, tourists were leaving Crimea in the aftermath of an attack on a significant bridge.

Opinion polls show that 53% of Odesa residents support Ukraine joining NATO, and only 18% oppose it. A recent poll conducted by the International Republican Institute does not show that 47% are against Ukraine joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization,