BBC News debunks several disinformation narratives making the rounds on Twitter - amplified in particular by paid "blue check" accounts:
- Weapons for Ukraine not used in French riots
- No evidence of 'baby factories' in Ukraine
- Kramatorsk missile not Ukrainian
- Zelensky has not cancelled elections
While Congress has allocated $113 billion worth of spending toward Ukraine, analysis of that spending shows that a significant proportion will not go directly to Kyiv.
Analysis by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, which tracks U.S. spending in Ukraine, has suggested the total direct spend to be around $77 billion.
The U.S. committed about $78 billion in humanitarian, financial and military assistance to Ukraine from January 2022 to February 2023, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German-based research organization that tracks nations' support of Ukraine, reported.
The U.S. total included $47 billion in military aid. That figure ranked highest among all nations and 14th as a percentage of gross domestic product.
A Pew Research Center poll in June of U.S. adults age 18 and older found that 31% of respondents said the U.S. is providing the right amount of aid to Ukraine, 28% said too much and 16% said not enough.
The Pentagon did not say that it mistakenly sent Ukraine $6.2 billion in cash.
We rate the Facebook post False.
A representative for Kennedy Jr. told Newsweek via email that "the candidate misspoke."
They added: "What he meant was that spending on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars totaled $8 trillion. He apologizes for the misstatement."
Whatever Kennedy Jr.'s intended message was, the lack of detail does appear to have caused some to believe that the U.S. has spent $8 trillion on Ukraine which is, quite clearly, not correct.
An U.S. podcast host misrepresented a Mexican TV newscast by saying that a Javelin the United States sent to Ukraine ended in the hands of a Mexican cartel.
That's not what the Spanish-speaking anchor said.
Experts also say the supposed cartel member is carrying an AT4, not a Javelin.
A TikTok video claimed to show a cartel member in Mexico carrying a Javelin that the U.S. sent to Ukraine.
We found no evidence that a Mexican cartel obtained U.S. weapons destined for Ukraine. Experts told PolitiFact that the man in the video is carrying what appears to be an AT4 weapon, not a Javelin.
We rate this claim False.
The lesson of the 20th century is that putting “America First” requires us to project strength and deter our enemies from launching wars of aggression — so that U.S. troops to don’t have to fight and die in another global conflagration. The invasion in Ukraine was a failure of deterrence. Only by helping Ukraine win can we prevent further deterrence failures.
If we help Ukraine prevail, we can rewrite the narrative of U.S. weakness; restore deterrence with China; strike a blow against the Sino-Russian alliance; decimate the Russian threat to Europe; increase burden-sharing with our allies; improve our military preparedness for other adversaries; stop a global nuclear arms race; dissuade other nuclear states from launching wars of aggression; and make World War III less likely.
The “America First” conclusion: Helping Ukraine is a supreme national interest.
Because the video predates Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and because it was filmed in Afghanistan, we rate the version claiming that it shows a build-up of NATO forces in Ukraine "Miscaptioned."
A video compilation that has been circulating since May 3 claims to show that - despite the war - the party is in full swing in Kyiv's nightclubs, taking advantage of foreign donations to Ukraine's war effort. Most of these images date from before the war, however, and some of the establishments where they were filmed have been closed since the conflict began in February 2022.
False. Congress has only approved $113 billion for spending in Ukraine. Researchers tracking spending suggest that only around $77 billion has gone directly to Ukraine, a combination of financial, military and other forms of aid.
It's not clear where the $200 billion figure has come from. A Fox News report in February 2023 attributed it to a Ukrainian government statement that Newsweek could not find. Another estimate broadcast on Tucker Carlson Tonight the same month was presented without evidence and upon inspection appears dubious.
This claim is inaccurate. The Defense Threat Reduction Agency, a U.S. Defense Department arm that works to deter attacks and emerging threats, in November 2019 awarded a contract for non-COVID-19 training support in Ukraine, the agency said.
An agency spokesperson said the contract's description was modified in 2020, months after the virus emerged, to focus on COVID-19 research. The Defense Department typically modifies contracts over time to address emerging needs.
The Defense Department did not pay for COVID-19 research in Ukraine before the virus emerged. We rate this claim False.
