Category Misconceptions

“It collapsed on its own” – Five Russian media fakes about the destruction Kakhovka…

Ukraine did not destroy its own hydroelectric power station, creating a man-made disaster on its territory. Since 2022, the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant has been under Russian occupation - it was the Russian army that mined the plant's units back in the autumn of 2022. On June 6, 2023, simultaneously with massive missile attacks on Ukrainian cities, the Russian army carried out a remote detonation of the Kakhovka plant.

Fake: Kakhovka Dam Explosion Captured on Video

The video currently being circulated online has nothing to do with the June
2023 terrorist attack on the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant dam. The
video dates from November 2022, when Russian troops retreating from the
Kherson region severely damaged the Kakhovka dam.

Nova Kakhovka dam breach: Old image resurfaces to falsely illustrate today’s damage – Truth or Fake

An image from a November 2022 explosion in the Nova Kakhovka dam is going viral. Some users claim that it shows the precise moment Russian forces blew up the dam, while others say it shows the destruction of the dam by Ukrainian armed forces. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

June 6, 2023
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Ukraine

No evidence Mexican cartel obtained US weapons destined for Ukraine

Social media users are claiming Mexican TV reported that anti-tank missile systems the United States sent to Ukraine ended up in the hands of a Mexican cartel. This is false; the claims are based on a mistranslation of the segment, which showed a man sporting apparent gang insignia carrying the same type of military-grade weapon used in Ukraine -- but did not say the artillery was diverted from Kyiv.

Fact check: Viral video of the Kakhovka dam explosion is old

Russia and Ukraine have blamed each other for the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine. A viral video that purports to show the explosion of the dam is, in fact, of a 2022 blast.

June 6, 2023
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Ukraine

This is the ‘America First’ case for supporting Ukraine

The lesson of the 20th century is that putting “America First” requires us to project strength and deter our enemies from launching wars of aggression — so that U.S. troops to don’t have to fight and die in another global conflagration. The invasion in Ukraine was a failure of deterrence. Only by helping Ukraine win can we prevent further deterrence failures.

If we help Ukraine prevail, we can rewrite the narrative of U.S. weakness; restore deterrence with China; strike a blow against the Sino-Russian alliance; decimate the Russian threat to Europe; increase burden-sharing with our allies; improve our military preparedness for other adversaries; stop a global nuclear arms race; dissuade other nuclear states from launching wars of aggression; and make World War III less likely.

The “America First” conclusion: Helping Ukraine is a supreme national interest.

May 30, 2023
Aid to Ukraine China Escalation / WWIII European Union Germany International community Misconceptions NATO Ukraine USA

What’s behind this fake advert calling on North Africans to fight in Ukraine to get EU citizenship

Since May 21, a number of posts online have been claiming that an advertisement posted on the British jobs website Adzuna offers proof that Western countries are recruiting mercenaries in Africa and the Middle East to go and fight in Ukraine. However, we investigated and determined that this post isn't real.

False claim uses video game footage to illustrate ‘possibilities of Russian aviation’ – Truth or Fake

A viral video claims to show the impressive maneuvers of a Russian pilot. The video is actually an extract from a highly realistic combat simulator video game that has been continuously used in fake claims. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

May 30, 2023
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Misconceptions Russia Ukraine

Claim of 1 million Ukrainian soldiers dead has no official backing

Reuters reported in April that leaked documents allegedly from U.S. intelligence agencies estimated as many as 354,000 Ukrainian and Russian soldiers have died or been injured in the war. Reuters has not been able to independently verify the documents, and U.S. officials said some files appeared to be altered.

The Facebook video's claim that 1 million Ukrainian soldiers have been "wiped out" is much higher than any official reported estimates. So we rate this claim False.

May 26, 2023
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Russia Ukraine

Ukraine: fake NYC subway ad calls homeless Americans to “join” the war – Truth or Fake

Viral photos on social media showed a fake advertisement in the New York City subway system calling for the city's homeless to join the fight in Ukraine. Vedika Bahl explains this misinformation, in this edition of Truth or Fake.

May 26, 2023
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings International community Misconceptions Ukraine USA