After Russia invaded neighbouring Ukraine, a video was viewed millions of times in multiple Facebook posts that claimed it shows fighting between soldiers from the two countries. In fact, the video has circulated online since 2010. A visual analysis of the clip found it corresponds with a raid by American and Iraqi troops on a shrine in Iraq in 2004.
According to the French Ministry of the Interior, as of March 31, the number of non-Europeans among the more than 26,000 Ukrainian refugees who arrived in France is less than 5%.
Online posts claim a video shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky singing the song "Imagine" by John Lennon. This is false; the clip shows an American singer's cover of the 1971 hit.
A video that appears to show explosions in the French capital of Paris has been viewed thousands of times in misleading social media posts that claim it shows a real attack on the Eiffel Tower. The posts suggest the attack was carried out by Russian forces in response to sanctions from foreign powers following its invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. The footage, however, has been shared in a false context: it shows a fictional film created by a French director that was then shared online by Ukrainian officials in a bid to urge European authorities to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
The spring planting season in Ukraine is in jeopardy not because of the Ukrainian authorities, but because of the Russian Federation, which on February 24 unleashed a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukrainian farmers were forced to start the spring planting campaign with bullets and missiles flying above them, regions where the war is raging are unable to sow wheat, extra hands needed for spring wheat planting are busy defending Ukraine and fuel shortages plague the entire process throughout the country. Nevertheless the spring planting campaign is underway in 20 farming regions in Ukraine.
The Jewish community of Uman calls the claim that the local synagogue is being used as a military base by nationalists a lie. A rabbi specifically filmed a video in the synagogue to show that it was empty, there were no soldiers, no weapons, no military equipment in the building. Furthermore, Russian troops shelled the center of Uman on the very first day of the war, February 24, a 39-year-old man was killed, and five others were injured.
Multiple social media posts claim CNN fabricated a story about a "bomb attack" at the hotel of a journalist in Ukraine in a tweet that actually showed an old photo of a hotel in Serbia. However, CNN reported no such story and said the tweet was fake. The screenshot of the doctored tweet features the social media handle of a prankster who has previously shared fake CNN tweets.
Two photos have been shared in a report that links them to a fire at a Ukrainian nuclear power plant following a Russian attack in March 2022. However, the images -- viewed thousands of times -- have been shared in a misleading context. Both photos predate the Russian attack: one image has circulated in reports since 2011 about an oil refinery fire in Japan, while the other has circulated in reports since January 2022 about a Russian military drill.
A photo of firefighters covered in soot has been shared thousands of times in social media posts that claim it shows Ukrainian firemen working to "save lives" after the Russian invasion. Although Ukraine's firefighters have been working at the sites of Russian air strikes since Moscow began bombarding Ukrainian cities, the image actually shows firefighters in Australia.
According to a survey carried out by the IT Ukraine Association, more than 70% of Ukrainian IT specialists work in parts of Ukraine that are safe, the remaining 16% who are mostly women, work abroad. These findings were confirmed by a survey conducted by the DOU IT portal which found that 61% of IT specialists surveyed moved to a safer place, 46% moved to safer places within Ukraine, 14% went abroad.