Latest fact checks & sources

Fact checks by the New York Times.

FactCheck.org is a nonprofit website that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics by providing original research on misinformation and hoaxes.

PolitiFact is a fact-checking website that rates the accuracy of claims by elected officials and others on its Truth-O-Meter.

Database of fact checks and debunkings by USA Today.

Database of fact checks and debunkings by the news agency Reuters.

Database of fact checks and debunkings by The Associated Press (AP).

The photo used in the Kennedy campaign ad is from a picture used to help illustrate designs for online stores. The same retouched photo has been used by multiple online outlets. While Newsweek was unable to find the location of the store, it does appear to have been shot in Russia or a Russian-speaking region. However, there is no suggestion the choice of the photo was deliberate and is far likelier to have been an oversight of the RFK Jr. campaign team. Other photos the campaign has used for its merchandise were also shot in other locations around the world.

Tweets claim a video shows a crowd joyfully reacting to the Wagner Group’s short-lived mutiny in Russia. But the clip is old; it first circulated on Telegram in February 2023 and shows a private concert that a Russian online retailer organized for its staff.

The Ukrainian Constitution does not allow for elections when martial law is imposed.

Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenary force launched a brief rebellion in Russia in June 2023.

BBC article: Introduction to the Wagner Group, in the wake of their failed coup attempt against Putin (24 June, 2023)

An introduction to the Wagner Group, with many links to high-quality sources.

NPR summarizes the status of the Wagner Group, a few days after their coup attempt against Putin (24 June, 2023).

The world held its breath as Wagner forces advanced on Moscow and their leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, seemed to challenge President Vladimir Putin. Many videos claim to show clashes between both sides, but not all are real.

An man posing as “Paul Kochadie” fooled over 400,000 followers on his Douyin account (TikTok’s equivalent in China) by using artificial intelligence to pretend to be a Russian soldier on the Ukrainian frontline. This man, who sent “daily” updates about the war in Ukraine, was neither Russian nor a soldier, but instead a resident of Henan, China. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

The relatives of the deceased Ukrainian soldier were not booed. The video where screams could be heard was taken at a protest near the Resurrection Church in the city of Krasyliv. The memorial service for the deceased Ukrainian soldier was held in the same city, but in the Holy Trinity Church of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The UN report on the detention of civilians during Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine focuses mainly on the atrocities committed by the Russian military on the territory of Ukraine. The report documents more than 900 cases of arbitrary detention of civilians, including children and the elderly. The “vast majority” of these cases were committed by the Russian Federation. Moreover, executions committed by Russian troops are equated with a war crime. No such executions have been recorded on the Ukrainian side.

In the aftermath of the armed rebellion attempt by Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Wagner mercenary group against the Russian army command on Saturday June 24, people began sharing images online purporting to show the two sides fighting. But at least two of these videos were taken from the video game Arma 3 – and it’s not the first time this military video game has been used to spread misinformation.

Some users on social media are sharing extremely realistic video game footage, claiming that it’s real-life images coming out of the Wagner group rebellion this weekend. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Russian aggression is aimed at Ukraine, not the so-called “collective West.” And since this war has nothing to do with the West, the damage to the Ukrainian economy and the destruction of Ukrainian infrastructure is solely Russia’s responsibility, having launched an unprovoked, large-scale invasion of Ukraine.