Social media users have been circulating a video of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, claiming that the footage shows him calling on NATO to launch preventive nuclear strikes against Russia. It turns out, however, that this footage isn't new - Zelensky made these statements back in October 2022. Moreover, the translation of his statement, originally in Ukrainian, leaves out some nuance.
A recent article talks about steps to be taken to help Ukrainian energy networks
avoid collapse in the face of relentless Russian bombardment. The author
argues that this is no less important than the supply of modern weapons.
The possibility of Ukraine becoming uninhabitable is discussed only in the
event of a complete lack of support from the West, and the total Russian
destruction of Ukraine's energy infrastructure.
The Financial Times article cited in this latest Russian fake claiming the
US is unlikely to actually send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, features several
experts, some of whom said that Ukraine may face difficulties using the
Abrams tanks. However, neither the author of the article nor the experts
featured in the story ever said that the United States could "refuse to
transfer Abrams tanks to Ukraine because of the technically complex process
of maintaining their combat readiness."
Verdict: False
There is no evidence of any such request. The Ukrainian government and independent journalists have denied the claims.
Conservative politicians and commentators claim US President Joe Biden defied his own warnings about triggering a third World War with Russia by delivering tanks to Ukraine. But the quote shared as proof has been edited to distort its meaning; Biden said in March 2022 that having "planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews" would constitute "World War III."
President Joe Biden announced on Jan. 25, 2023, that the U.S. is sending 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.
Earlier in the war, almost a year ago, Biden said, "The idea that we're going to send in offensive equipment and have planes and tanks and trains going in with American pilots and American crews, just understand … that's called 'World War III.'"
A widely shared meme shortened Biden's quote to make it appear as if he said sending tanks alone to Ukraine would cause World War III.
A meme shared in a tweet claimed that in March, Biden said, "The idea that we're going to send in tanks to Ukraine, that's called World War III." Biden announced the U.S. will be sending M1 Abrams tanks about 10 months later.
The quote is edited to leave out the full context of Biden's comments. He said the U.S. would not be sending offensive equipment and planes, tanks and trains with U.S. pilots and crews.
We rate the claim False.
A video of a flock of birds swooping over a freeway in the US state of Texas has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in online posts that falsely claim it shows a murder of crows in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in January 2023. The claim circulated online during the 11th month of Russia's war in Ukraine.
A recent Russian fake cites a Newsweek article which allegedly claims that the US is colonizing Ukraine for its titanium reserves. The Newsweek article however does not contain a single word about any such colonization. On the contrary, the article claims that Russia could launch large scale military operations against Ukraine also with the aim of seizing the country's mineral deposits.
The Washington Post has not written that the West is sending soldiers to
Ukraine. On the contrary, the article Russian media refer to focuses on
International Legion foreign fighters who voluntarily go to war - each for
his own reasons. None of the countries that are currently providing
military aid to Ukraine have expressed readiness to send troops to
participate in hostilities, nor has Ukraine ever asked that they do.
An audio recording is being circulated online as "evidence" of Ukrainian
"sabotage", however the recording first surfaced online at least in 2018
when it was widely circulated in Kazakhstan.