Category Fact checks / debunkings

FACT CHECK: Video Claims To Show Russian Soldier Exploding After Hitting Tank With Artillery Shell | Check Your Fact

A video shared on Twitter claims to show a Russian soldier exploding after hitting a tank with an artillery shell. Verdict: Misleading The explosion is edited in. There is no evidence the soldier died during this.
Read MoreFACT CHECK: Video Claims To Show Russian Soldier Exploding After Hitting Tank With Artillery Shell | Check Your Fact

What we can VERIFY about bans on cluster bombs and whether using them is a war crime

Cluster munitions that the U.S. is sending to Ukraine are banned in more than 100 countries. The use of cluster bombs can be a war crime in some cases. Countries that haven't ratified the Convention on Cluster Munitions treaty, such as the United States, Russia and Ukraine, can use cluster bombs without violating international law. However, there are some cases where the use of cluster bombs by any country could violate international law and be considered a war crime. These include attacks that indiscriminately target civilians.
Read MoreWhat we can VERIFY about bans on cluster bombs and whether using them is a war crime

No evidence that test of US nuclear missile was done to threaten Russia

Claim: Joe Biden launched unarmed nuclear bombs as a "Russia threat." Verdict: No evidence that test of US nuclear missile was done to threaten Russia. The Air Force described it as routine. News reports on the testing did not mention Russia.
Read MoreNo evidence that test of US nuclear missile was done to threaten Russia

Does the Ukrainian Military Display a ‘Nazi Cross’ on Some Vehicles or Tanks? | Snopes.com

The cross at issue in the viral video is neither a modern-era German Iron Cross nor the simple cross used as an indicator by the Ukrainian army. It is true that variants similar to the cross in the viral video had been used by the Nazis in World War II. This type of cross has a specific history in Ukraine, however, that predated its use in Nazi Germany. A guerrilla warfare campaign carried out by the Ukrainian National Army against the Red Army and other forces from 1919 to 1920 is known as the First Winter Campaign. [...] A "steel cross," as it is sometimes described in Ukraine, was the symbol of that Winter Campaign - the military award given for participation in these campaigns contained that equidistant cross. In 2019, a Ukrainian military unit that has been fighting in the Donbas region of Ukraine since 2014 - the 28th Mechanized Infantry Brigade - was renamed "Knights of the First Winter Campaign." That Brigade's insignia, approved by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, presently contains this same cross. [...] While one could debate the merits of using a symbol that has since become complicated by its use in other contexts, there is no reason to interpret such cross's use in Ukraine as a reference to Nazism.
Read MoreDoes the Ukrainian Military Display a ‘Nazi Cross’ on Some Vehicles or Tanks? | Snopes.com

No, the U.S. didn’t ‘accidentally’ send an extra $6 billion to Ukraine

No, the U.S. government did not accidentally send an extra $6 billion to Ukraine. This viral claim takes what actually happened completely out of context. The U.S. actually sent about $6 billion less than it intended in military equipment to Ukraine – not $6 billion more. That happened because the Pentagon overestimated the value of military equipment sent to the country, meaning it was worth about $6 billion less than originally estimated.
Read MoreNo, the U.S. didn’t ‘accidentally’ send an extra $6 billion to Ukraine

Ukraine Video Does Not Show Women Carrying Film Prop Stones Out of Church Hit by Russian Airstrike

This tweet, as well as others, implied that the objects the women were carrying were lightweight movie props, perhaps meant to resemble heavy pieces of concrete. However, higher-quality video of the original footage shows that the materials carried by these women were not heavy stones or concrete, but rather a "light, polystyrene-like material" that had likely been used for the church's insulation.
Read MoreUkraine Video Does Not Show Women Carrying Film Prop Stones Out of Church Hit by Russian Airstrike

Fake: Woman Jailed for 10 Years for Corresponding With Sister in Russia

Russian social media claims that a Ukrainian court sentenced a woman to 10 years imprisonment for corresponding with a sister in Russia and posting a picture criticizing a Ukrainian nationalist leader, are propagandist fakes. The woman was in fact convicted for sending Ukrainian military locations to the invading Russian army.
Read MoreFake: Woman Jailed for 10 Years for Corresponding With Sister in Russia