Numerous accounts on Twitter and Telegram have been sharing a video they say is a report by Al Jazeera showing Nazi graffiti left by Ukrainian football fans during the kickoff game of the World Cup in Qatar on November 20. The media outlet, however, says that they didn"t make this video. Moreover, a number of clues have allowed us to establish that this is a fake news report and that the Nazi graffiti was, in fact, photoshopped.
Four photos being shared on social media of a woman having war wound makeup applied to her face and body are from a medic training exercise in 2016.
At least one of the images was posted by an Instagram user whose profile describes her as a combat medic in Ukraine. The same woman appears in three of the photos.
A Twitter user with the same handle as the Instagram user tweeted Nov. 25 that "enemy propagandists" stole her photos from the 2016 training sessions to misrepresent them.
Allegations that images showing war devastation in Ukraine were staged have been shared on social media since Russia invaded the country in February.
We've debunked multiple claims about photos, including a false one that said a teacher injured on the first day of the war was a crisis actor.
Our ruling
An Instagram post claims that photos of war wound makeup being applied to a woman are fake combat photos, implying the violence in Ukraine isn't real.
But the photos can be traced to an Instagram user who described herself as a combat medic veteran. She shared at least one of the images on Instagram in 2016. A woman with the same handle on Twitter wrote that the photos were from training sessions and were being misrepresented by "enemy propagandists."
There is no evidence the photos were staged to show an injury from the current battle in Ukraine. We rate the claim False.
UPDATE, Dec. 1, 5:30 p.m. ET: The story was updated Dec. 1 to add the response from an Instagram user received after publication of this article.
An Al Jazeera spokesperson told VERIFY in an email: "The video in question is completely fake and Al Jazeera never published this or any other material related to it."
The bankruptcy of FTX, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, has sparked an unfounded claim that its former CEO had conspired with Ukraine and Democratic politicians to launder U.S. aid money. FTX helped make crypto donations available to Ukraine; it wasn’t taking any assets from Ukraine.
FTX, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, announced on Nov. 11 it had filed for bankruptcy. Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as the company's CEO. He is a large donor to Democrats, but has also given to Republicans.
FTX partnered with a fundraising site called Aid for Ukraine, where people can donate cryptocurrency to help the country's war effort. FTX's role in the project was to facilitate the conversion of cryptocurrency into regular currency.
There's no evidence that U.S. aid money sent to Ukraine was then used to invest in FTX. Most U.S. aid doesn't go directly to the Ukrainian government, but rather through third parties like contractors or humanitarian groups.
Our ruling
An Instagram post claimed that U.S. aid money sent to Ukraine is being funneled back in the form of campaign contributions to Democrats through the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
FTX's former CEO was a large donor to Democrats, but has also given to Republicans. The company's connection to Ukraine was partnering with a fundraising site called Aid to Ukraine that allows people to donate cryptocurrency for the country's war effort. That money was then transferred to the Ukrainian government, not the other way around.
There is no evidence to support the claim. We rate this False.
Update, Nov. 16, 2022: This story was updated to include statements from the U.S. State Department, the United States Agency for International Development and Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation that were received after publication. It also clarifies the job title for Alex Bornyakov. The rating is unchanged.
Verdict: False
Visual evidence shows the Russian military left equipment behind in the area. Experts and open-source intelligence (OSINT) accounts that track the conflict said the claim was false.
Verdict: False
This image is digitally fabricated. A spokesperson for Time Magazine confirmed in an email to Check Your Fact that the image is not an authentic cover.
False. As attested by a number of experts and published authors on modern Chinese history, the claim in Kim Dotcom's tweet that modern China has initiated zero conflicts is false.
The People's Republic of China has started a number of conflicts, trained revolutionaries, and contributed to other conflicts in Asia. It appears that the "no conflicts" claim was made by Xi Jinping in 2021.
