In Ukraine, fake news continues to fuel the information war. In recent days, a video purporting to show a Ukrainian Orthodox church on fire has appeared on social media, with captions accusing "radical Ukrainians" of arson. The claims fit neatly into a Russian narrative that accuses Ukrainians of persecuting followers of the Moscow Patriarchate wing of the Church. But as we explain in this edition, the video is bogus.
This information is fake. The White House did not permit Ukraine to strike Russian territory. On the contrary, the White House's National Security Council strategic communications coordinator John Kirby stated that the US does not 'enable or encourage' the Ukrainian Forces to strike outside Ukraine and will only assist the Ukrainian Forces in liberating their territories. Moreover, there are no new Russian territories, only the Ukrainian territories illegally occupied and annexed by Russia.
After the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant last month for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a video re-emerged on social media claiming to show him arriving in South Africa for an official visit. But this is false: the video was filmed in July 2018 ahead of the 10th summit of the BRICS group, which South Africa hosted. AFP Fact Check previously debunked a similar claim about the video a few months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
Russia is taking its turn in a rotating leadership position within the U.N. That doesn't mean Putin is now president of the organization.
Did graffiti depicting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as a black hole "sucking up European money" really appear on the streets of a Paris suburb? What about graffiti showing the president as an insect or as excrement? According to images circulating online, graffiti like this has been popping up on the streets of several European cities. But in fact, none of them ever existed. We took a closer look to prove that they are fake.
A strange image has gone viral. Did Vladimir Putin really get down on one knee and kiss the hand of Xi Jinping? No. The picture, which was allegedly taken during the Chinese leader's recent trip to Russia, is fake.
The video is another propaganda staging. The man allegedly being 'beaten' on the back with a stick does not have a Brazilian Portuguese accent, as it should be if he were really from Brazil. StopFake confirmed that the man spoke European Portuguese, which was evidently not his native language. Another important argument is the fact that the Brazilians, who are indeed among the volunteers, do not serve in the 128th brigade of the Ukrainian Forces. Like other foreign volunteers who came to defend Ukraine, Brazilians serve only as part of the Armed Forces International Legion.
The UK Ministry of Defence says depleted uranium is a standard component of
modern armaments and is not a nuclear weapon, and calls Russian statements
on the issue "deliberate disinformation". The British army has been using
depleted uranium in its armor-piercing shells for decades, and independent
scientific research has shown that depleted uranium impact on human health
and the environment is minimal.
Poland providing Ukraine with MiG-29 fighter jets does not in any way contribute to the "destruction of Ukraine's Armed Forces". On the contrary, Poland and Slovakia's decision to transfer several dozen fighter jets to the Ukrainian military will only strengthen Ukraine's combat readiness for the expected counteroffensive. Poland is one of Ukraine's main partners in providing military assistance and training Ukrainian soldiers. Warsaw was one of the first countries to announce it would send German Leopard 2 tanks, as well as MiG-29 jets to Ukraine.
A U.S. Army combat team recently completed its European deployment as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve, a series of military exercises in support of NATO. The brigade has returned to Fort Hood, Texas, and its equipment will follow. But social media posts falsely claim the equipment shown in a video is "arriving in Europe" to aid Ukraine.