A viral photo of a helicopter airlifting a tractor predates Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. An Indian tractor manufacturer posted it on Twitter in November 2020.
The helicopter in the photo is labeled "Indian Air Force." India is not a member of NATO.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms.
A new law in Russia threatens up to 15 years of prison time for spreading information about the war that authorities consider to be "false."
There are no parallels in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are safeguarded by the Constitution. Gabbard alleged censorship by social media companies, but experts say those claims are not supported by evidence.
Our ruling
Gabbard said, "What is happening here is not so different from what we're seeing happening in Russia, where you have got state TV and controlled messaging across the board."
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia ' a country with a long history of suppressing free speech and access to information ' has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms, including with a new law threatening prison time for spreading "false" information about the war. Those measures are without parallel in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are enshrined in the Constitution.
We rate Gabbard's claim Pants on Fire!
An employee at state-owned Channel One in Russia recently interrupted a live news broadcast to protest the war in Ukraine.
Multiple experts say there are live news broadcasts and other live events on Russian TV.
A former employee of the station said that all Channel One news is live. An expert we spoke with said that's because of the country's many time zones.
Our ruling
A Facebook post said that a Russian journalist's protest during a state TV broadcast couldn't be real because "there are no live on air television broadcasts in Russia. None. Ever."
But experts we spoke with, including journalists who have worked in Russia, said that is not true. There are many live broadcasts, including the news show that was interrupted by an employee's protest. There has been no evidence presented that shows her actions were staged as part of a Russian propaganda effort.
We rate this claim False.
Verdict: False
The video shows footage from an open-world military simulator video game. It does not depict an actual Russian helicopter being shot down.
Social media posts feature a picture of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holding a soccer jersey that has a swastika in place of a number. But AFP found that the posts used a digitally manipulated image superimposing the Nazi symbol on a photo taken from the leader's Instagram account.
An image comparing what appears to be an Italian television network's coverage of the war in Ukraine to a shot from a movie has spread online in posts claiming the media is lying about Russia's invasion. But the network's parent company rejected the claim, a word is missing from the TGCOM24 logo used in the posts, and AFP found no evidence of the footage being broadcast on the channel.
Russian planes bombed a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, killing three people and injuring at least 17, including two pregnant women seen in photos shared around the world. Social media posts falsely claimed one woman “posed” as the two women. One of the women died of her injuries, along with her baby; the other gave birth to a daughter.
The VERIFY team confirmed a video of Ukraine President Zelenskyy telling his people to surrender is a deepfake. It was created using images from press conferences.
Multiple megachurches around the United States have been raising funds to help Ukrainians during Russia's invasion.
Gateway Church, another megachurch in Texas, has set up a crisis relief fund to support people in Ukraine and the surrounding region.
Saddleback Church, a megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, has an advance relief team connecting with local pastors in Ukraine and Poland who are caring for hundreds of Ukrainian refugees. The church's website features ways people can help and has provided multiple updates on its efforts in the region.
The Rock Church, a megachurch in San Diego, California, is directing people to its partner organization, Crisis Response International, and told PolitiFact that it's in the process of establishing a Ukraine relief fund.
Crossroads Church, an Ohio-based megachurch, partners with humanitarian and disaster relief organizations Convoy of Hope and World Vision, which both have operations on the ground in Ukraine.
Other church networks, like the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Catholic Relief Services, are collecting donations and deploying staff and resources.
We rate posts that say no megachurches are raising money for Ukraine relief False.
Verdict: False
The woman pictured next to Zelenskyy is not the woman who died weeks earlier. There is no evidence the woman pictured in the post accompanying Zelenskyy has died.