Latest fact checks & sources

Chinese social media users have repeatedly shared a doctored clip of Russian President Vladimir Putin giving a speech with false subtitles that claim he said he will not step down from power until “the problem in Ukraine is settled”. However, the video contains clips taken from two different addresses and audio from one of the speeches. The Chinese and English language subtitles are false translations of the speech. As of February 17, 2023, AFP has found no official reports about Putin making such an announcement.

This week saw the release of a wide-ranging investigation into the lucrative disinformation industry, published by a media consortium led by the French NGO Forbidden Stories. At the centre of the story is a shadowy Israeli group nicknamed “Team Jorge” who claims it has influenced 33 elections worldwide with a potent combination of phone hacking and thousands of fake profiles. FRANCE 24’s Technology Editor Peter O’Brien dives into the systems they use to wage disinformation “black ops”.

Unverified. At least one of the photos shared regularly online about Vladimir Solovyov’s son is misleading and of somebody else; the Irish model Tommy Solovyov. But there is also no definitive evidence to show that his actual son is currently based in London modeling or elsewhere. Another photo frequently shared online indicates that he has modeled or is modeling; however, that agency is based in Russia.

Adrenochrome features heavily in QAnon conspiracy theories, which purport the baseless idea that a global cabal of pedophiles is harvesting the chemical from the blood of children to stay young and healthy. That’s false, and so is the claim that Putin foiled a shipment of it. We found no credible news reports or other sources to corroborate the claims in this post. Real Raw News has a disclaimer saying it contains “humor, parody and satire,” though the author has defended his stories as truth. The website also regularly publishes false, fantastical stories authored by someone using a pseudonym. We rate this baseless post Pants on Fire!

In the battle for influence running parallel to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the Kremlin has consistently taken aim at NATO. DW asked experts how the propaganda machine works.

President Joe Biden announced on Jan. 25 that the U.S. would provide Ukraine with 31 tanks. After the announcement, a meme on social media misquoted Biden’s remarks from March 2022, suggesting he said that sending tanks to Ukraine would cause World War III. Biden said sending weapons “with American pilots and American crews” would cause a world war.

A recent article talks about steps to be taken to help Ukrainian energy networks avoid collapse in the face of relentless Russian bombardment. The author argues that this is no less important than the supply of modern weapons. The possibility of Ukraine becoming uninhabitable is discussed only in the event of a complete lack of support from the West, and the total Russian destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.

Preparations for the spring sowing campaign in Ukraine are in full swing. Despite the Russian invasion, mined fields and the temporary occupation of some regions, Ukraine is preparing to sow enough grain to not only meet the country’s annual needs, but to also to allow grain and foodstuffs exports to foreign markets.

Bill Gates did not say that in the coming years Ukraine will be the greatest danger for the world. In an interview with the German newspaper Handelsblatt, the well-known philanthropist stressed that war is a “terrible tragedy” for the country where hostilities are taking place, but the echoes of this war also reverberate throughout the world. In particular, African countries are now receiving less attention because European budgets are being reallocated to other needs brought on by the pandemic, the war, and the energy crisis.

Social media users have been circulating a video of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming that the footage shows him calling on NATO to launch preventive nuclear strikes against Russia. It turns out, however, that this footage isn’t new – Zelensky made these statements back in October 2022. Moreover, the translation of his statement, originally in Ukrainian, leaves out some nuance.

Unverified. The figures quoted in Twitter come from a Turkish website that does not link to its sources, nor does it provide any other authenticated evidence. The claim that it received its data from Israeli security services is also highly dubious. While we cannot verify the actual number of soldiers killed on either side of the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the estimates quoted in the tweet and the article do not match anywhere near the figures cited by Western intelligence services and senior officials.

The FRANCE 24 Observers team have conducted an investigation since November 2022 and have spotted a variety of fake anti-Ukraine ads throughout the globe – a product of Russian disinformation and propaganda. Find out more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

The Financial Times article cited in this latest Russian fake claiming the US is unlikely to actually send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, features several experts, some of whom said that Ukraine may face difficulties using the Abrams tanks. However, neither the author of the article nor the experts featured in the story ever said that the United States could “refuse to transfer Abrams tanks to Ukraine because of the technically complex process of maintaining their combat readiness.”

Russian social media users are claiming that while expressing condolences about the tragic earthquake that struck Turkey, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy also reminded Ankara that he hopes Turkey will continue to provide assistance to Ukraine. President Zelensky never posted such a tweet, this post is a fake. On the contrary, the Ukrainian President offered help to Turkey and said that Ukrainian rescuers and equipment were being sent to participate in the rescue efforts.

Online articles and social media posts claim almost 2,700 NATO soldiers and military trainers have died during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is false; the military alliance has not deployed personnel to Ukraine and an official confirmed to AFP that none have been killed in the conflict.

A speech made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been quickly misinterpreted by many, in a video circulating on Twitter where he allegedly asks for pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Russia. Zelensky was referring to economic “strikes”, not nuclear strikes. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Russian media claims that draft notices are being issued to Ukrainians in the UK and Poland are not true. According to Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers Regulation #1487, Ukrainian diplomatic missions are obliged to inform Ukrainian citizens of military service age about conscription campaigns and to facilitate their return to Ukraine in times of mobilization or war. No one is authorized to serve draft notices abroad, not even diplomatic workers. The video being circulated online, in which a Telegram user claims several of his acquaintances received draft notices in their places of employment in Poland is a blatant lie. Another fake vein, in which a letter allegedly urging Ukrainians currently living in the UK to report to the Ukrainian embassy seemingly for military service, is also a forgery.

The photograph circulated by Russian media and pro-Kremlin social media users as proof of anti-Ukrainian advertising in Poland, is an example of basic photoshop manipulation. There are scores of identical photos on the web which containe different advertisements on the billboards. Using the Mediamodifier website, your image can be inserted on this billboard with the same background, completely free of charge.

As Western countries pledged to step up deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, social media users in Thailand shared a fabricated quote that the European Union’s most senior diplomat Josep Borrell called to “keep using Ukrainians as our bait” in order to defeat Russia and “avenge Napoleon and Hitler”. While Borrell mentioned Napoleon and Hitler in a speech about the war in Ukraine, he was speaking in the context of Russia’s past military victories and did not say they should be “avenged”.

The tweet suggests that all 19 million books have been banned, which the details of this story do not clarify. It may also imply incorrectly that only books by Russian authors or about Russia are being removed. Although books such as these may well be removed, the tweet does not summarize the details of this story, or lack thereof, correctly.