Archives Sources

Fake: Uman Synagogue Houses Ukrainian Nationalist Military Base

The Jewish community of Uman calls the claim that the local synagogue is being used as a military base by nationalists a lie. A rabbi specifically filmed a video in the synagogue to show that it was empty, there were no soldiers, no weapons, no military equipment in the building. Furthermore, Russian troops shelled the center of Uman on the very first day of the war, February 24, a 39-year-old man was killed, and five others were injured.

Fictional video shared in posts falsely claiming ‘Eiffel Tower was bombed’

A video that appears to show explosions in the French capital of Paris has been viewed thousands of times in misleading social media posts that claim it shows a real attack on the Eiffel Tower. The posts suggest the attack was carried out by Russian forces in response to sanctions from foreign powers following its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The footage, however, has been shared in a false context: it shows a fictional film created by a French director that was then shared online by Ukrainian officials in a bid to urge European authorities to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Fake CNN tweet shared in posts accusing broadcaster of fabricating ‘Ukraine bomb’ story

Multiple social media posts claim CNN fabricated a story about a "bomb attack" at the hotel of a journalist in Ukraine in a tweet that actually showed an old photo of a hotel in Serbia. However, CNN reported no such story and said the tweet was fake. The screenshot of the doctored tweet features the social media handle of a prankster who has previously shared fake CNN tweets.

False posts claim Canadian sniper ‘Wali’ was killed shortly after arriving in Ukraine

Multiple posts on Facebook have claimed that a sharpshooting Canadian sniper known as Wali was killed by Russian special forces 20 minutes after he arrived on the frontline in Mariupol, Ukraine as a volunteer fighter. However, this is false; the man, a former Canadian Armed Forces sniper, dispelled the rumours of his death during a video call.

Fake: Majority of IT Specialists Left Ukraine

According to a survey carried out by the IT Ukraine Association, more than 70% of Ukrainian IT specialists work in parts of Ukraine that are safe, the remaining 16% who are mostly women, work abroad. These findings were confirmed by a survey conducted by the DOU IT portal which found that 61% of IT specialists surveyed moved to a safer place, 46% moved to safer places within Ukraine, 14% went abroad.

Old photos circulate after Russian forces attack Ukrainian nuclear power plant

Two photos have been shared in a report that links them to a fire at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant following a Russian attack in March 2022. However, the images -- viewed thousands of times -- have been shared in a misleading context. Both photos predate the Russian attack: one image has circulated in reports since 2011 about an oil refinery fire in Japan, while the other has circulated in reports since January 2022 about a Russian military drill.

This photo shows firefighters in Australia, not Ukraine

A photo of firefighters covered in soot has been shared thousands of times in social media posts that claim it shows Ukrainian firemen working to "save lives" after the Russian invasion. Although Ukraine's firefighters have been working at the sites of Russian air strikes since Moscow began bombarding Ukrainian cities, the image actually shows firefighters in Australia.

Claim that Putin beheaded bioweapon engineers, called Trump to tell him has no basis in fact

There is no evidence Putin beheaded 12 bioweapon engineers in Ukraine.

This claim comes from Real Raw News, a blog that has shown a pattern of fabricating news about politicians being executed or arrested by the military.

Though the story claims Putin told former President Donald Trump about the alleged beheading, a spokesperson for Trump said the account is baseless.

Trending now

Fact Check Roundup: Trump’s Zelensky claims and more