Category Fact checks / debunkings

Vladimir Putin repeats false claim of genocide in Ukraine

Despite multiple claims of a Ukrainian genocide against ethnic Russians, there is no evidence to support it.

International bodies that include Russian representatives report that civilian deaths have plummeted since 2014.

Russia's ambassador to the U.S. relied on misleading and outdated evidence to back the claim.

Our ruling
Putin said ethnic Russians in Ukraine face genocide.

His ambassador provided misleading evidence, and international observers found no activities to support the claim. Civilian deaths have plummeted to less than 1% of what they were in 2014.

We rate this False.

February 25, 2022
"Genocide" vs Russian-speakers Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Genocide Misconceptions Narratives Putin Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine War crimes

Photo shows Syrian child, not victim of Russia’s Ukraine invasion

Social media posts claim a photo of a wounded child shows a victim of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is false; the picture is from 2018 and was taken in Syria.

February 25, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Syria Ukraine

Photo does not show Japanese ambassador staying to fight in Ukraine

Social media posts claim a photo of a man in samurai regalia shows Japan's ambassador to Ukraine, saying he chose to stay and fight invading Russian forces. This is false; the image pictures Ukraine's ambassador to Japan, who tweeted it prior to the invasion.

February 25, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings International community Japan Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Ukraine

Video does not show ‘Russian jets over Ukraine’ — it has circulated in old posts about air show rehearsal

A video of military planes flying in formation over residential buildings has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in posts that claim it shows Russian fighter jets entering neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022. The posts circulated online within hours of Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashing a full-scale ground invasion and air assault on Ukraine. The footage, however, has been shared in a false context. It has circulated since at least 2020 in social media posts about rehearsals for a Victory Day air show in Russia.

February 25, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Ukraine

This video shows an explosion in Beirut in 2020, not Russian strikes on Ukraine in 2022

After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dramatic footage of a huge explosion was viewed tens of thousands of times in social media posts that claimed it shows buildings destroyed by Russian air strikes. In fact, the video shows a deadly blast that ripped through the Lebanese capital Beirut in August 2020.

February 25, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Ukraine

Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine – Truth or Fake

Disinformation is part and parcel of the approach to war as seen in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

February 24, 2022
Coordinated disinformation Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine

FAKE: Ukraine has lost its fleet, aircraft, air defense, and control over Kharkiv

Ukrainian Armed Forces are holding back the Russian aggressor's offensive.

February 24, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine

FAKE: Ukrainian military destroyed a Russian border post in Rostov Oblast

Ukrainians did not shoot at the Russian border checkpoint.

February 24, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings Faked news reports Methods Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine

FAKE: Soldiers of the 57th separate motorized infantry brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine gave up their weapons and joined the ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’

The Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have denied this information. The Ukrainian military did not put down their weapons and did not side with the Luhansk People's Republic.

February 24, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings Faked news reports Methods Russia Ukraine

FAKE: The Joint Forces Operation (JFO) headquarters in Donbas has been practically destroyed

The information has been spread in social networks that the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas headquarters has been practically destroyed. The news source is the post of the head of the "DPR" Denis Pushilin.

However, this is fake. The adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, Anton Gerashchenko, has already refuted it.

February 24, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings Russia Ukraine