Latest fact checks & sources

The actress Agniya Mishchenko-Brodskaya denied allegations that she was beaten because of Russophobia and she was outraged that the Russian media had published her statement without her permission, distorting its meaning.

The commemorative coins honoring Volodymyr Zelenskyy were created for sale by a private company called the White House Gift Shop, not the U.S. government. Social media users are falsely claiming that the Biden White House created special coins honoring Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Despite what the posts suggest, the commemorative coins were created by a private company, not President Joe Biden’s White House. The nonprofit White House Historical Association ‘ which runs two retail shops located near the White House in Washington, including one at the White House Visitor Center ‘ confirmed to PolitiFact that its stores are not selling the commemorative Zelenskyy coins. There is no mention of the coins on the White House’s official government website, either. We rate this Facebook post False.

A video spreading across social media of Zelensky with cocaine on his desk is, of course, fake, the latest in a smear campaign against him.

Social media posts shared multiple times claim a bar in Jerusalem called “Putin Pub” was renamed “Zelenskiy Pub” — using an alternative spelling of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s surname — following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late-February 2022. However, the image shared alongside the posts was doctored to add the Ukrainian president’s surname in place of where the Russian president’s surname had been. One of the bar’s operators told AFP on March 9 they had taken down the sign that said “Putin”. On March 10, the bar was renamed “Generation Pub”.

A photo of a child throwing a stone at a tank has been shared repeatedly in Chinese-language posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Weibo alongside a claim it shows the Ukrainian resistance against Russia’s invasion. This is false: the photo was taken by an AFP journalist in 2002 and actually shows a Palestinian child throwing a stone at an Israeli tank.

Nine out of ten Ukrainians believe in Ukraine’s victory in the war with Russia. 98% of all Ukrainians support the Ukrainian Armed Forces in their fight against the Russian invaders.

Accusations that the OSCE provided Ukrainian Armed Forces with coordinates of military targets obtained through its video cameras are unfounded. StopFake found obvious inconsistencies in Russian media stories on the subject. For one, the video footage offered as “material evidence” was taken in a different area long before the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In addition, the OSCE cameras in question were incapable of recording video at long distances; for this purpose UAVs would have been used.

Verdict: False The cover is digitally fabricated. A Time Magazine spokesperson confirmed the outlet did not publish such a cover. [Note: This article is dated April 2022. Zelensky was featured on the 26 Dec., 2022 cover of Time Magazine, as its ‘Person of the Year’]

This unfounded claim originated on a website known for publishing misinformation. Putin has freed 35,000 children in Ukraine, a country he’s invaded, or anywhere else. There are no credible sources nor news reports to support this. Searching for evidence that Putin saved thousands of children, we only found articles reporting that Russian police jailed several children for leaving flowers at Ukraine’s embassy in Moscow. We rate this post Pants on Fire!

An image of Russians forming the number 55 to celebrate the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin rocketing into space has been mischaracterized to wrongly claim that it shows Ukrainian students celebrating Hitler’s birthday. Anyone confusing this shape for a swastika is mistaken. While the the numbers are made with straight lines like a swastika ‘ lacking the curve that’s often used to write the number five ‘ the angles are off. The two ends of both fives point in the same direction, whereas each end of a swastika points in a different direction. But what’s more, this photo wasn’t taken in Lviv in 2022. It was shot in Penza, Russia, in 2016, to celebrate the 55th anniversary of Cosmonautics Day. The “55” can be seen at the 47 mark, and it’s followed by an image of Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet pilot who became the first person to orbit the earth on April 12, 1961. We rate this post Pants on Fire!

Russian President Vladimir Putin was not responsible for the nationalization of the Russian centralized bank, which took place in 1917. • The Rothschild family banking business has had an office in Russia since the 1990s, but it has no oversight over the country’s currency or monetary policies, which are controlled by the Bank of Russia. • The Rothschild family long has been the target of conspiracy theories, and their wealth is believed to be responsible for inspiring the anti-Semitic trope that Jewish people “control” the world’s money. Our ruling A Facebook post says Putin “ended the Rothschild’s control over Russia by nationalizing the Russian centralized bank.” Putin did not nationalize the Russian centralized bank; that occurred in 1917. Evidence does not support the claim that the Rothschild family had control over Russia. The family’s banking business has had an office in Russia since the 1990s ‘ though it recently suspended operations ‘ but it has no oversight over the country’s currency or monetary policies, which are controlled by the Bank of Russia. We rate this claim False.

The video which allegedly shows an attack on a humanitarian convoy, in fact shows an attack on the Russian military. This is clear from the distinguishing letter “Z” painted on vehicles, soldiers in Russian camouflage and the weapons they carry.

The Vatican allegedly paying Russia for gas in rubles turned out to be Twitter joke, the person who posted it, ended up apologizing for it. Even though the post was a joke, Russian media and social media users rushed to republish it as real news.

There is no evidence that the Russian army actually shot down a Ukrainian transport plane in the Odesa region. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, the Pentagon and local media all refuted these Russian reports.

The Kremlin continues to insulate the Russian population from the outside world in terms of access to reliable information, including an increasingly threatening stance towards Wikipedia. Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor claimed that Wikipedia had become the source of “a new line of constant attacks on Russians” and that its articles promoted “an exclusively anti-Russian interpretation of events”. The future of Wikipedia in Russia is up in the air, but as of yet, the online encyclopaedia still remains accessible.

The tweet was fabricated and did not originate with CNN. The photo in the post was taken in 2017. It was published in a March 30, 2022, story by CNN about the Azov Battalion of the Ukraine military. In that story, the photo caption says it was taken outside Kyiv on July 14, 2017, and shows “a student at a paramilitary camp for children call(ing) the rank to attention.” The AP confirmed with the photographer, Alex Masi, that it was taken at a “summer camp from 2016-17, where kids learn about the realities of war.” CNN did not tweet about “brave children” in Ukraine signing up to fight Russia, and we rate the claim Pants on Fire!

The full version of an Al Jazeera television story shows the Ukrainian military to be actively involved in the evacuating people from liberated Irpin, to the capital Kyiv. The military are not using medical vehicles for their own transportation, they are simply accompanying injured civilians who are being taken to hospital. Russian media, however, showed only a snippet of the complete Al Jazeera three-minute story, thereby concealing the full scale of the ongoing evacuation and the devastation Russian troops had inflicted on Irpin, and used the snippet taken out of context to accuse Ukraine’s military of an imaginary war crime.

International organizations confirm that it is Russia, and not Ukraine, that is blocking some 90 ships carrying foodstuffs in the Black Sea. There have also been at least three recorded cases of Russia bombing merchant ships carrying goods from Black Sea ports. Russian media continue to accuse Ukraine of being “aggressive” not only towards Russia, but also towards the entire civilized world. Since February 24, 2022, state media have actively promoted the claim that Ukrainian authorities are allegedly “forcibly detaining” “some 70 foreign merchant ships” in ports to “blackmail the whole world”. Russian media also claim that Ukraine has “deliberately mined” the Black Sea to “create Russophobe provocations”.

There’s no credible evidence that Ukraine was behind the April 8 attack at the Kramatorsk train station. A video used to bolster this claim is fake ‘ it did not come from the BBC. The claim has largely been spread by pro-Kremlin accounts following reports of civilian casualties and contradict earlier Russian posts that initially took credit for the bombing. The Tochka-U missile used in the attack, and the serial number on it, isn’t proof that it came from the Ukrainian army. Several news reports, legitimate photos and videos show that Russia has used these missile systems recently. Our ruling Facebook posts claim that Ukraine was responsible for the Kramatorsk train station bombing. A video used to bolster this rumor is fake. Although the video has a BBC logo, it was not produced by the news organization. There’s no credible evidence that Ukraine was behind the attack. The Tochka missile used in the attack, and the serial number on it, isn’t proof that it came from the Ukrainian army. Several news reports, legitimate photos and videos show that Russia has used these missile systems recently. The rumors that Ukraine attacked the train station have largely been spread by pro-Kremlin social media accounts. We rate this claim False.

Atrocities committed by the Russian military in Bucha, Kyiv region are confirmed not only by Ukrainian authorities but also by governments of other countries and international organizations. Out of 519 cases of reported chemical weapons use in Syria, 349 have been “credibly confirmed”.