There is absolutely no evidence that substantiates information disseminated online that Ukraine sold high precision weapons to Islamists under the guise of "surplus". Lists of military equipment that Ukraine sells abroad are published in the public domain. There are no Javelins on the list.
This is not the first time that Russia has put out disinformation about Ukrainian Armed Forces "provocations" and launched an attack immediately after releasing the disinformation. This happened on April 8 when Russia launched a missile attack on a train station in Kramatorsk. At that time several Russian media, particularly RIA Novosti published stories about the "Ukrainian terrorist attack in Kramatorsk" right before Russian missiles hit the Kramatorsk train station. Also, on the eve of the shelling of the railway station, many so-called Z-publics that support Russian aggression against Ukraine wrote that the Russian Armed Forces were firing at "a cluster of Ukrainian Army militants" and "wagons with weapons" at the Kramatorsk railway station. Later, all publications were deleted or edited, but all the evidence and screenshots can be viewed in the article by StopFake journalists "Fake: Ukrainian military struck at the Kramatorsk railway station."
Austria continues to pay for Russian gas only in Euros and strictly adheres to agreed EU sanctons, said Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. The politician called the news that Austria paid its Russian gas bill in rubles "another Russian propaganda fake".
A video has been viewed millions of times in social media posts that claim it shows Russian President Vladimir Putin angrily condemning Danish authorities for "plundering" an Indonesian tanker after it collected oil from Russia. This is false; the footage shows a ship that was blocked off the coast of Denmark in March 2022 by Greenpeace activists who were calling for a ban on the import of fossil fuels from Russia. The clip of Putin was taken from an unrelated speech he gave in March 2021, in which he accused the West of trying to "cancel" Russian culture.
In recent weeks, people have been sharing at least three videos purporting to show Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky either using cocaine or making incoherent remarks after allegedly consuming drugs. But these videos have been cut misleadingly and sometimes even digitally manipulated.
Two viral videos purported to show that Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy uses cocaine. One video appeared to show cocaine on Zelenskyy's desk as he spoke, while the other appeared to show him saying that he uses the drug routinely.
The first video was doctored; in the original, there is no white substance on Zelenskyy's desk. The second video was deceptively edited; in the original, he denied using drugs.
Our ruling
Two videos claimed to show Zelenskyy either using or admitting to using cocaine.
The first video purports to show a white powder on Zelenskyy's desk as he placed a video call to Musk. But the video was doctored to include the substance, which is not in the original.
The second video appears to show Zelenskyy talking about using cocaine regularly, but the video was deceptively edited to reorder Zelenskyy's words. In reality, Zelenskyy denied using drugs.
We rate these videos Pants on Fire!
Vladimir Putin's Ukraine War is not going according to plan, with Ukrainian forces rebuffing attempts to capture Kyiv and forcing a general Russian retreat from the north of the country. Nevertheless, there remains no end in sight to hostilities, with every indication that Moscow is preparing for a long campaign. As the Russian military begins a new offensive in eastern Ukraine, the Kremlin is accelerating efforts to indoctrinate young Russians and consolidate the pro-war consensus on the domestic front for a further generation.
An image shared in multiple social media posts in different countries purports to show a genuine tweet from CNN about child soldiers in Ukraine. The claim is false; AFP found no evidence that the tweet was ever published by CNN, and the US broadcaster said it was fabricated. The photo in the posts has circulated online since at least 2018 in reports about Ukrainian children learning battlefield skills at a summer camp, and the photographer told AFP it was "never used" by CNN.
Social media posts claim North Korea has decided to send troops to Ukraine to support Russia, citing a report by Russian state media. However, the report makes no mention of North Korea sending troops to Ukraine. There have been no official reports or statements to support the claim, as of April 26. North Korean experts told AFP it was "highly unlikely" that Pyongyang would deploy troops to Ukraine.
Photos of high-ranking Nazi officials are circulating on social media along with the allegation they show the grandfathers of leading politicians such as German chancellor Olaf Scholz. Here is why these claims are false.
