Latest fact checks & sources

The propagandists fabricated a screenshot of a Ukrainian news article with a quote purporting to be from Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, saying that EU countries ‘owe’ Ukraine for security. In reality, Podolyak said that each country independently determines the amount of military assistance Ukraine can expect.

Telegram channels that spread this fake about Musk actually used a fragment of an interview he and Trump did in February. […] During the program, Ukraine was mentioned once – by the host of the show. The discussion was actually dedicated to criticisms of DOGE’s activities and a “constitutional crisis” in America. Elon Musk didn’t mention Ukraine even once.

A post shared on Facebook claims to show a Charlie Hebdo magazine cover of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Verdict: False There is no evidence that this image was created by the magazine. It is fake.

VERDICT: Altered. The image is a manipulated version of an authentic group photo.

Neither Euronews nor any other trustworthy source has reported such an incident.

Russia itself has not stopped attacking Ukraine’s energy and civilian infrastructure for a single day – neither after Zelenskyy’s promise to stop such attacks, nor after Putin’s conversation with Donald Trump, during which the Russian leader supposedly ordered a halt to attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities. After the alleged ‘agreement to stop strikes’, Russia continues to launch more than a hundred attack drones into Ukraine every day, targeting energy facilities, among other targets. The most massive attacks after the agreement between Putin and Trump were Russian strikes on the regions of Kropyvnytskyi, Odesa, Zaporizhzhya, Donetsk, Sumy and Kyiv regions.

No video with such content was published by the French news channel BFMTV.

This video is fake. Propagandists used the French newspaper’s branding to fabricate a story about a non-existent poll. According to recent polls, Putin is widely disliked in France – only 10% of respondents view him positively.

The Verdict: Fake. Comparing the original CNN video with the viral clip shows that AI audio was inserted to falsely portray Rubio threatening to cut Starlink to Ukraine.

The Verdict False. The viral video is a clip from a music video by a Ukrainian combat medic who goes by the call sign ‘Vitsik’ and an artist called Misha Scorpion.

Despite the unsubstantiated statements of the Russian Defen?e Ministry, Russia continued shelling Ukraine even after the US President talked on the phone with the Kremlin leader. Energy infrastructure in the Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions was shelled. In total on the night of March 18-19, 2025, 2 Iskander-M ballistic missiles and four S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles, as well as 145 Shahed strike UAVs were launched over Ukraine.

Claim: Zelenskyy started the war with Russia Claim: Zelenskyy is a dictator Claim: Zelenskyy has a 4 percent approval rating Claim: The US has spent $350bn to help Ukraine Claim: Zelenskyy said he doesn’t know where half of the money the US has given Ukraine went Claim: Zelenskyy was ‘sleeping and unavailable’ to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week in Kyiv

Verdict: False. The image has been photoshopped.

On Sept. 22, 2024, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Scranton, Pennsylvania, ammunition plant to thank its workers, with Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, who was a surrogate for vice president and then-Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. Legal experts said that doesn’t constitute “foreign election interference,” which typically includes “covert, fraudulent or deceptive acts.” Zelenskyy’s meeting with Shapiro was not a campaign event for either the governor or Harris.

The 100-year partnership agreement between Ukraine and the UK was never “secret”. The text of this document is easily available in open sources. Moreover, there is nothing in it that contradicts the agreement between Ukraine and the US on rare earth metals. Additionally, it was the US and the Trump administration, not Ukraine, that initiated the signing of the bilateral metals agreement – several weeks after the deal between Kyiv and London. Thus, neither Ukraine nor Zelenskyy “deceived” America; rather, the United States itself proposed such a deal and its terms to Ukraine.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky says Vladimir Putin has broken 25 peace agreements in the past decade

Verdict: False. There is no evidence that this outlet reported this. There is no evidence that 70,000 Ukrainian troops died in the Kursk offensive.

As discussions continue surrounding a potential ceasefire agreement in Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has come under fire for allegedly purchasing a lavish mansion in Florida. But as FRANCE 24’s Charlotte Hughes explains, this claim is false.

A video featuring people in military uniforms walking on a landscape with their hands in the air was recently shared on social media. Those sharing the video claimed that the Ukrainian army surrendered in the Kursk region of Russia. However, the PTI Fact Check investigated and found that the viral video dates back to 2022 when the Ukrainian marines surrendered in Mariupol and is unrelated to the ongoing conflict in the Kursk region.

The Verdict: Fake. The headline is fabricated. The Hull Daily Mail published a different front page on March 13.