The FRANCE 24 Observers team have conducted an investigation since November 2022 and have spotted a variety of fake anti-Ukraine ads throughout the globe - a product of Russian disinformation and propaganda. Find out more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
The photograph circulated by Russian media and pro-Kremlin social media
users as proof of anti-Ukrainian advertising in Poland, is an example of
basic photoshop manipulation. There are scores of identical photos on the
web which containe different advertisements on the billboards. Using the
Mediamodifier website, your image can be inserted on this billboard with
the same background, completely free of charge.
Russian media claims that draft notices are being issued to Ukrainians in
the UK and Poland are not true. According to Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers
Regulation #1487, Ukrainian diplomatic missions are obliged to inform
Ukrainian citizens of military service age about conscription campaigns and
to facilitate their return to Ukraine in times of mobilization or war. No
one is authorized to serve draft notices abroad, not even diplomatic
workers. The video being circulated online, in which a Telegram user claims
several of his acquaintances received draft notices in their places of
employment in Poland is a blatant lie. Another fake vein, in which a letter
allegedly urging Ukrainians currently living in the UK to report to the
Ukrainian embassy seemingly for military service, is also a forgery.
A speech made by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been quickly misinterpreted by many, in a video circulating on Twitter where he allegedly asks for pre-emptive nuclear strikes against Russia. Zelensky was referring to economic "strikes", not nuclear strikes. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
Online articles and social media posts claim almost 2,700 NATO soldiers and military trainers have died during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is false; the military alliance has not deployed personnel to Ukraine and an official confirmed to AFP that none have been killed in the conflict.
The tweet suggests that all 19 million books have been banned, which the details of this story do not clarify. It may also imply incorrectly that only books by Russian authors or about Russia are being removed. Although books such as these may well be removed, the tweet does not summarize the details of this story, or lack thereof, correctly.
As Western countries pledged to step up deliveries of weapons to Ukraine, social media users in Thailand shared a fabricated quote that the European Union's most senior diplomat Josep Borrell called to "keep using Ukrainians as our bait" in order to defeat Russia and "avenge Napoleon and Hitler". While Borrell mentioned Napoleon and Hitler in a speech about the war in Ukraine, he was speaking in the context of Russia's past military victories and did not say they should be "avenged".
False. The tenuous link between Hunter Biden, Rosemont Seneca, Metabiota, and the Ukrainian government notwithstanding, the "letter" from the Ukrainian government has been debunked.
The letter, which was circulated on Russian social media in 2022, was littered with mistakes that indicated it was translated to Ukrainian from Russian.
There are no NATO troops or trainers in Ukraine, and no NATO personnel have been killed in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022, NATO said.
The U.S. has sent troops to countries surrounding Ukraine that are NATO members, but the U.S. has not sent troops into Ukraine.
The Pentagon announced in December that Ukrainian troops would travel to a U.S. base in Grafenwöhr, Germany for military training from soldiers from the U.S. Army Europe and Africa Command's 7th Army Training Command.
It's unclear how many Russian or Ukrainian soldiers have been killed or wounded so far.
U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in January that Russia alone has had more than 100,000 killed or wounded.
We rate the claim that in Ukraine, 2,458 NATO soldiers and 234 NATO military trainers have died, some of whom are from the U.S., Pants on Fire!
Verdict: False
There is no evidence of any such request. The Ukrainian government and independent journalists have denied the claims.