A social media post claims that an accompanying video shows a belly dance performed by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. We check the veracity of the claim in this video.
[Verdict: False. The video is a deep fake.]
In a commentary to Ukrinform, the representative of Rivne Regional State Administration confirmed that the above 'announcement' was another fake story.
By spreading fake narratives, Russian propagandists pursue two objectives at once. Firstly, they make attempts to sow panic within Ukraine against the background of the adoption of a decision on the draft bill on mobilization.
Secondly, they try to discredit Ukraine's military and political leadership before international partners, as if the Ukrainian authorities were conscripting citizens against the law, allegedly shutting them out even in routine matters.
Posts on social media shared the video suggesting migrants were fleeing so as not to be sent to the warfront. A post on social media platform X reads, "Putin threatened to send all illegal Chinese immigrants to the front lines in Ukraine. Airports saw a sudden rush of flights back to China." Screenshots from the video were also shared on Facebook.
The video, however, can be traced back to at least Dec. 30, 2023, when it was posted on Douyin, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok, as showing people traveling from Russia for New Year. The same user says in the description of a different video of the same location that it shows Heihe river port in China.
Did Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at the inauguration of Javier Milei as Argentina's new president, that Russian President Vladimir Putin knew something "special" about him? No, that's not true: Orban and Zelenskyy exchanged a few words in front of cameras during the ceremony, as shown by footage shared by major international media. Their conversation, though, cannot be heard. According to the Hungarian Prime Minister's press office and a post on X by Zelenskyy, the two leaders discussed European affairs. [...]
The video is dubbed: The words spoken in the TikTok audio don't match the movement of Orban's lips as shown in the footage.
Claim: A video shows President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, belly dancing at an event.
Fact: The footage has been digitally altered. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy's face has been superimposed onto the dancer's face using Deepfake technology.
German satirical magazine Titanic did not publish a Christmas-themed cover depicting the severed legs of four Ukrainian soldiers hanging over a fireplace, and an image of this circulating online is fake, the editor-in-chief of the publication said to Reuters. [...]
VERDICT: False. No such cover was published by German satirical magazine Titanic.
The claim: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was killed in Ukraine on Jan. 3.
Our rating: False
Austin is alive. [...] Austin resumed his full duties as secretary of defense on Jan. 5 and released a statement on Jan. 6. The report comes from a publication that routinely publishes fabricated stories.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis argued against further US funding for Ukraine by saying that "tens of billions of dollars" have been used "to pay salaries for Ukrainian government bureaucrats," and that US taxpayers have "paid pensions for Ukrainian retirees."
Facts First: This needs context. [...]
The money, which is disbursed through the World Bank, has gone to pay "wages for hospital workers, government employees, and teachers as well as social assistance for the elderly and vulnerable." [...] It has also been provided to the Ukrainian government to "supply emergency services for internally displaced persons."
Making a point about spending on national security, Haley said that the US supporting Ukraine, Israel and securing the southern border would cost "less than 20% of Biden's green subsidies."
Facts First: This math from Haley is largely true.
A clip of a man belly dancing in a red costume has been digitally altered to make it appear as if the dancer is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to the man who is featured in the original clip and experts who said the altered version shows signs of being a deepfake.
