Latest fact checks & sources

The bankruptcy of FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has sparked an unfounded claim that its former CEO had conspired with Ukraine and Democratic politicians to launder U.S. aid money. FTX helped make crypto donations available to Ukraine; it wasn’t taking any assets from Ukraine.

An article shared thousands of times on social media claims FTX, a now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, funneled US aid meant for Ukraine to Democratic candidates running in the midterm elections instead. This is unproven; public records show no evidence supporting the allegation, which Kyiv, the Pentagon, FTX partners and experts have said is inaccurate.

Some users on social media are sharing images that allegedly show debris of the S-300 air defence missile that killed two people in Poland this Tuesday. But one of the images being shared is actually from projectile remains found in Dagestan in October 2020. We tell you which images to look out for in this edition of Truth or Fake.

The claim that funds were effectively “laundered” from Ukraine via FTX back into the U.S., less so to the Democratic party coffers or Biden himself, is unevidenced. Newsweek has investigated the coverage of this claim across social media and larger media outlets and could find no transaction ID, statements, or any other tangible evidence to support the idea that U.S. funding or crypto donations were washed back to the Democratic Party, through a Ukrainian investment in FTX or otherwise. The claim does not acknowledge the auditing and scrutiny that U.S. foreign aid receives to ensure that it is spent appropriately on measures relating to Ukrainian assistance.

A video viewed tens of thousands of times on social media has been falsely shared as showing Ukrainian troops attacking Russian tanks with US-made Javelin anti-tank missiles. While the missiles are among armaments sent by the United States and Western countries to Ukraine after Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the clip in fact shows footage from the video game ARMA 3.

Verdict: False Visual evidence shows the Russian military left equipment behind in the area. Experts and open-source intelligence (OSINT) accounts that track the conflict said the claim was false.

FTX, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Nov. 11 it had filed for bankruptcy. Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as the company’s CEO. He is a large donor to Democrats, but has also given to Republicans. FTX partnered with a fundraising site called Aid for Ukraine, where people can donate cryptocurrency to help the country’s war effort. FTX’s role in the project was to facilitate the conversion of cryptocurrency into regular currency. There’s no evidence that U.S. aid money sent to Ukraine was then used to invest in FTX. Most U.S. aid doesn’t go directly to the Ukrainian government, but rather through third parties like contractors or humanitarian groups. Our ruling An Instagram post claimed that U.S. aid money sent to Ukraine is being funneled back in the form of campaign contributions to Democrats through the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. FTX’s former CEO was a large donor to Democrats, but has also given to Republicans. The company’s connection to Ukraine was partnering with a fundraising site called Aid to Ukraine that allows people to donate cryptocurrency for the country’s war effort. That money was then transferred to the Ukrainian government, not the other way around. There is no evidence to support the claim. We rate this False. Update, Nov. 16, 2022: This story was updated to include statements from the U.S. State Department, the United States Agency for International Development and Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation that were received after publication. It also clarifies the job title for Alex Bornyakov. The rating is unchanged.

Claim: Ukrainian refugees are given priority. DW fact check: True

Verdict: False The U.K. has not suspended their funding to Ukraine. U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has repeatedly affirmed his support for Ukraine.

Images circulating on social media from a Ukrainian film production do not prove that Ukraine is staging the war, but neither do they prove “Russian illiteracy”. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Verdict: False This image is digitally fabricated. A spokesperson for Time Magazine confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact that the image is not an authentic cover.

We debunk false claims circulating online that Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky has written and will be releasing a book with the same title as Adolf Hitler’s infamous manifesto. Vedika Bahl has all the details in this edition of Truth or Fake.

Is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky the author of a new book entitled “Mein Kampf”, or “My Struggle”, using the same graphic design as Adolf Hitler’s manifesto? This is what many people online have been claiming to be the case since October 19, 2022. But the photos they use as proof are actually just photoshopped using old images. While the Ukrainian president is indeed preparing to release a book, it has a totally different title and cover design.

False. As attested by a number of experts and published authors on modern Chinese history, the claim in Kim Dotcom’s tweet that modern China has initiated zero conflicts is false. The People’s Republic of China has started a number of conflicts, trained revolutionaries, and contributed to other conflicts in Asia. It appears that the “no conflicts” claim was made by Xi Jinping in 2021.

We found the March 1 story on Cinch News. Other headlines on the site were suspicious ‘ “It’s time to abolish gendered days,” for example. A “Why” section confirmed Cinch is “a satirical publication.” We rate claims that this is a real news story False.

On a largely bipartisan basis, Congress has approved about $66 billion in assistance to Ukraine since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022. • Proposals supported by President Joe Biden that won the support of only Democrats in Congress allocated $482 billion on behalf of U.S. children in 2021. • One of the efforts from Democrats ‘ an expansion of the child tax credit that was included in Biden’s American Rescue Plan of 2021 ‘ paid out $92 billion to U.S. families with children, or 1.5 times the amount that the U.S. has spent so far on Ukraine. Our ruling A Citizens for Sanity ad said that Biden and Democrats “send a fortune to Ukraine but nothing for our children.” On a largely bipartisan basis, Congress has approved roughly $66 billion in assistance to Ukraine. By comparison, proposals supported by Biden and that won support of only Democrats in Congress spent $482 billion on behalf of U.S. children in 2021. The child tax credit expansion alone paid out $92 billion to U.S. families with children, or 1.5 times the amount the U.S. has spent so far on the war in Ukraine. We rate the statement Pants on Fire!

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While the Pentagon briefing of the news media highlights the most direct role American personnel have played within Ukraine, to call it “boots on the ground” is an overstatement. The team will be weapons experts with the aim of keeping tabs on the U.S.-supplied arms in an operation that does not involve American soldiers fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. The inspectors will not be near the frontline, the Pentagon said.

Since the Russian war in Ukraine began, misinformation has been spreading widely. And one of the narratives we’ve seen again and again is the idea that Ukraine has been “staging” atrocities to sway public opinion in Western media outlets. Here’s a closer look at three videos we’ve seen and debunked.

False. Jamie Raskin did not say that the U.S. should try to destroy Russia nor that America should engage in jihad against the country’s “Christian…traditional values.” Posts on Russian social media and Twitter have incorrectly taken Carlson’s words as a verbatim quote from Raskin.