Category International community

Misleading claims on US border guards deploying to Europe spread online

Social media posts claim US President Joe Biden's administration is leaving the country's southern border exposed by asking guards protecting it to deploy to Europe to assist Americans fleeing Ukraine. But US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says the claim incorrectly conflates different branches of the agency, and that the personnel in question are not primarily tasked with guarding against illegal border crossings and smuggling.

March 10, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings International community President Biden Ukraine USA

Photo shows British paratrooper, not Ukrainian soldier

Social media posts shared after Russia invaded Ukraine claim a photo shows one of Kyiv's soldiers crying. But the picture was taken years earlier and shows a British paratrooper at a ceremony at which he received the beret of his brother, who was killed in Afghanistan.

March 9, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia UK Ukraine

Fabricated news alert falsely claims Russian president told South Africa’s ANC to keep out of its affairs

A purported screengrab posted on Facebook in South Africa and shared hundreds of times purports to show a news item published by local media house News24 according to which Russian President Vladimir Putin told the ruling African National Congress (ANC) to stop meddling in its affairs. But this is false; News24 denied the report belonged to them while the Russian embassy in South Africa dismissed the claim of a warning from Putin.

March 9, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Faked news reports International community Methods Misconceptions Putin Russia South Africa

Doctored images do not show ‘Ukrainian protesters expressing support for Myanmar’

Following Russia's invasion of neighbouring Ukraine, images purporting to show Ukrainians rallying in support of people in coup-hit Myanmar have been shared hundreds of times on Facebook. Although there have been genuine reports of people in Myanmar publicly expressing support for Ukrainians, the images have been doctored. The original photos were taken during rallies held in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv before Russia's invasion of the pro-Western country.

March 9, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings International community Misconceptions Myanmar Russia Ukraine

Megachurches in U.S. Are Supporting Ukraine Relief, Contrary to Social Media Posts

Several megachurches in the U.S. are actively raising funds to support Ukrainians in light of the Russian invasion. But social media posts have falsely claimed that “we haven’t seen a single American mega church offer anything to the Ukrainians.”

March 9, 2022
Aid to Ukraine Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Private donations USA

Old, Mislabeled Video Circulating Amid Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

A video from 2019 showing Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been circulating recently with the false claim that it shows Putin meeting with the South Korean president.

March 9, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions North Korea Putin Russia South Korea

Story that claims Putin bombed a Biden-owned villa and ‘hammered’ biolabs, pedophile rings is bogus

A story that claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin bombed a villa in Ukraine owned by President Joe Biden is bogus. It was created by a misinformation website that regularly publishes made-up stories. We found no evidence that Biden has a villa in Ukraine.

Claims about nefarious biolabs in Ukraine ' some supposedly "U.S. owned" ' are also fabricated, and part of disinformation efforts by Russians.

It's unclear what the blog is talking about in its reference to "pedophile rings," but it claims that Putin is wiping out "child trafficking covens" in Ukraine, and we found no evidence that these exist.

Internet hoaxers falsely identify US comic Sam Hyde as ‘Ghost of Kyiv’

Social media users are sharing an image of what appears to be US comic Sam Hyde in a fighter jet cockpit as proof that he is the mythical 'Ghost of Kyiv' responsible for shooting down numerous Russian jets amid the country's invasion of Ukraine. This is false: while the existence of the viral 'Ghost of Kyiv' is unsubstantiated, AFP Fact Check found that an image of a US pilot has been edited to add Hyde's face. This claim has nevertheless been taken seriously by some social media users who are not familiar with the US comic. It is part of a long-running hoax linking the comedian to tragic events worldwide.

March 8, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods Ukraine USA

CNN report about Russian warplanes in Venezuela is from 2018 and unrelated to Ukraine war

A Facebook post shared thousands of times in Nigeria claims that Russia has sent two nuclear bombers to Venezuela, landing them in what it describes as the 'US backyard'. The claim, however, is misleading; while the events mentioned in a CNN report included in the post did take place, they happened in 2018 and have nothing to do with Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Old footage of a Canadian train ferrying armoured vehicles unrelated to war in Ukraine

A video of a long train transporting military vehicles has been shared on Facebook alongside a claim that the footage shows the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sending tanks and equipment to Ukraine in support of its war against Russia. But this is false; the video has been circulating online since at least 2012 and shows a Canadian train operating in North America.

March 8, 2022
Canada Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods NATO Ukraine