Category Misconceptions

There are no US-run biolabs in Ukraine, contrary to social media posts

There are no U.S.-run biological weapons labs operating in Ukraine.

The U.S. Defense Department and the Ukraine Ministry of Health have had a partnership since 2005 to improve public health laboratories and prevent the threat of outbreaks of infectious diseases.

That effort is part of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, which began in 1991 to reduce the threat of existing weapons of mass destruction programs in former Soviet Republics.

Our ruling
A social media user tweeted that Russia was targeting U.S.-run biolabs in its invasion of Ukraine. That account was soon suspended by Twitter.

There are no U.S.-run biolabs in Ukraine. The country is one of many former Soviet Union republics, and other countries, partnering with the Defense Department as part of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program. It's the latest claim in a series of disinformation efforts by the Russians, an expert told PolitiFact.

While the U.S. may provide funding to upgrade or build labs in other countries, the labs are run by the partnering nations and the program's goal is to prevent biological threats, not create them. We rate this claim False.

Vladimir Putin repeats false claim of genocide in Ukraine

Despite multiple claims of a Ukrainian genocide against ethnic Russians, there is no evidence to support it.

International bodies that include Russian representatives report that civilian deaths have plummeted since 2014.

Russia's ambassador to the U.S. relied on misleading and outdated evidence to back the claim.

Our ruling
Putin said ethnic Russians in Ukraine face genocide.

His ambassador provided misleading evidence, and international observers found no activities to support the claim. Civilian deaths have plummeted to less than 1% of what they were in 2014.

We rate this False.

February 25, 2022
"Genocide" vs Russian-speakers Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Genocide Misconceptions Narratives Putin Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine War crimes

Photo shows Syrian child, not victim of Russia’s Ukraine invasion

Social media posts claim a photo of a wounded child shows a victim of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. This is false; the picture is from 2018 and was taken in Syria.

February 25, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Syria Ukraine

Photo does not show Japanese ambassador staying to fight in Ukraine

Social media posts claim a photo of a man in samurai regalia shows Japan's ambassador to Ukraine, saying he chose to stay and fight invading Russian forces. This is false; the image pictures Ukraine's ambassador to Japan, who tweeted it prior to the invasion.

February 25, 2022
Fact checks / debunkings International community Japan Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Ukraine

Video does not show ‘Russian jets over Ukraine’ — it has circulated in old posts about air show rehearsal

A video of military planes flying in formation over residential buildings has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times in posts that claim it shows Russian fighter jets entering neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022. The posts circulated online within hours of Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashing a full-scale ground invasion and air assault on Ukraine. The footage, however, has been shared in a false context. It has circulated since at least 2020 in social media posts about rehearsals for a Victory Day air show in Russia.

February 25, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Ukraine

This video shows an explosion in Beirut in 2020, not Russian strikes on Ukraine in 2022

After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, dramatic footage of a huge explosion was viewed tens of thousands of times in social media posts that claimed it shows buildings destroyed by Russian air strikes. In fact, the video shows a deadly blast that ripped through the Lebanese capital Beirut in August 2020.

February 25, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings International community Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Ukraine

Russia’s hybrid war in Ukraine – Truth or Fake

Disinformation is part and parcel of the approach to war as seen in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

February 24, 2022
Coordinated disinformation Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine

Russia’s false flag attack in Ukraine – Truth or Fake

A media specialised in putting the spotlight on Russian disinformation has highlighted a false flag attack in eastern Ukraine that pro-Russian media outlets were pinning on Kyiv. Corpses likely retrieved from a morgue were used to set the scene.

February 23, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine

Ukraine crisis: A low-cost disinformation campaign aids Putin’s playbook

How then can the well-oiled Russian machine produce such "low-cost" disinformation? "Simply because, for the moment, the Russian authorities do not need to do better." [...]

What’s more, it’s not so much the quality as the quantity of disinformation that matters. "The goal is to create so many different – and sometimes even contradictory – versions of what is happening at the border that no one can really distinguish the true from the false anymore."

February 23, 2022
Coordinated disinformation Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Russia Russian propaganda Ukraine

Marjorie Taylor Greene falsely claims Ukraine was ‘No. 1 donor’ to Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign

Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign did not report receiving any donations from the Ukrainian government or Ukrainian nationals. Those donations would have been illegal.

A spokesperson for Marjorie Taylor Greene cited a 2015 Wall Street Journal graphic that has been frequently misrepresented online. The chart shows donations to the Clinton Foundation between 1999 and 2014 by the nationality of the individuals who made them; it does not say anything about donations to the foundation by foreign governments.

The Clinton Foundation said it has never received donations from Ukraine's government.

Our ruling
Greene said, "Ukraine was the No. 1 donor to Hillary Clinton when she was running for president."

Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign did not report any donations from Ukraine or Ukrainian nationals ' a move that would have broken the law. Asked for evidence to support Greene's claim, the congresswoman's spokesperson did not cite any campaign donations.

He pointed instead to a Wall Street Journal chart that mapped large individual donations between 1999 and 2014 to the Clinton Foundation, a nonprofit organization. The chart was a ranking of the top foreign donors by nationality, not contributions from foreign governments.

The Clinton Foundation said it has never received any funding from the Ukrainian government.

We rate Greene's statement False.

February 22, 2022
Corruption Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings International community Misconceptions Ukraine USA