Category Narratives

Ukraine recognized downed pilot as ‘hero,’ but claims he was the ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ are unsubstantiated

Col. Oleksandr "Grey Wolf" Oksanchenko, a decorated Ukrainian pilot, was killed in combat on Feb. 25. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded him posthumously with the title of Hero of Ukraine, along with 11 other military service members. Unconfirmed reports hold that an unidentified pilot, who has come to be called the "Ghost of Kyiv," downed six Russian planes on the first day of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. We do not find evidence that this was Oksanchenko. It's uncertain how the Ghost of Kyiv tale originated, but we know that Ukraine's military reported on Feb. 24 that at least six Russian planes and two helicopters had been downed. Crediting Ukrainian military, CNN and NBC soon reported five Russian planes and one helicopter had been shot down. Russia's defense ministry denied the report, according to Reuters, and said that Ukraine's air force defenses had been "suppressed." Ukraine's official Twitter account, meanwhile, promoted the Ghost of Kyiv narrative with a video that suggested the mystery pilot could have been responsible for as many as 10 downed Russian aircraft by Feb. 26. That video, too, included footage from a video game. PolitiFact did not receive a response from Zelensky's administration about Oksanchenko and the Ghost of Kyiv claim. Finding no conclusive information tying Oksanchenko to the Ghost of Kyiv, we rate this claim False.

China repeats false claim that U.S has biolabs in Ukraine

China's government is amplifying debunked claims about non-existent U.S. biological weapons labs in Ukraine, bringing the falsehoods back into the spotlight on social media. Our ruling A spokesperson for the Chinese government said the U.S. has biolabs in Ukraine. The claim originated with the Russian government and has been previously debunked by U.S. government officials and weapons control advocates. Following Zhao's March 9 remarks, U.S. government officials strongly refuted the claims again, saying the false narrative was being used to lay the groundwork for further violence in Ukraine.

Story that claims Putin bombed a Biden-owned villa and ‘hammered’ biolabs, pedophile rings is bogus

A story that claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin bombed a villa in Ukraine owned by President Joe Biden is bogus. It was created by a misinformation website that regularly publishes made-up stories. We found no evidence that Biden has a villa in Ukraine. Claims about nefarious biolabs in Ukraine ' some supposedly "U.S. owned" ' are also fabricated, and part of disinformation efforts by Russians. It's unclear what the blog is talking about in its reference to "pedophile rings," but it claims that Putin is wiping out "child trafficking covens" in Ukraine, and we found no evidence that these exist.

This video is from a climate change protest in Austria. It doesn’t show crisis actors in Ukraine

The people under the tarps aren't crisis actors from Ukraine trying to fool people into thinking they are dead. They were part of a protest against climate change that was held in Vienna, Austria, on Feb. 4. The clip is from a Feb. 4 demonstration against climate change in Vienna. The reporter, Marvin Bergauer, is from an Austrian news channel called OE24 TV and is speaking German in the video. An English translation of the chyron on the video says "Vienna: Demo against climate policy." The people under the tarps aren't crisis actors ' from Germany, Ukraine or anywhere else ' trying to fool people into thinking that they are dead. They're protesters from Austria in a video taken before the Russian invasion of Ukraine began. We rate this False.

March 4, 2022
Disinformation Fact checks / debunkings Media taken out of context Methods Misconceptions Narratives The war is a hoax Ukraine

Evidence of Russia’s war in Ukraine is plentiful and proves it is not ‘staged’

News reports, testimonies of citizens-turned-fighters, and a swift global response all fly in the face of baseless claims that Russia's war on Ukraine is "staged." "There is little to refute directly, other than to note that thousands or millions of people would have to be in on any conspiracy to fake a war, and like the 9/11 attacks (which some people also deny) there is substantial video footage of attacks on Ukrainian cities, Russian invading forces, and throngs of refugees," Radnitz said. Nevertheless, he added, "a true believer will persist in denying all that evidence, something that is easier to do when the conflict is geographically distant and they do not personally know anyone directly affected by it." With a war raging, the world responding and both sides of the conflict experiencing its effects, the claim that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is "scripted and staged" holds no merit. We rate it Pants on Fire!

Fact-checking claims that NATO, US broke agreement against alliance expanding eastward

No legal agreement prohibits NATO from expanding eastward. Russians have argued that comments made by U.S. and other Western leaders during the negotiations over the reunification of Germany constituted a promise that NATO would not extend beyond then-East Germany. Those allegations have sparked decades of debate amongst those involved in the events, and scholars studying them. Even scholars who say they believe western powers did offer the Soviet Union assurances about NATO expansion say Owens' claim is misleading. Our ruling Owens said, "NATO (under direction from the United States) is violating previous agreements and expanding eastward." There is an ongoing historical debate over comments that Western leaders, including Baker, made during post-Cold War negotiations, and whether what they said amounted to assurances that NATO would refrain from welcoming in countries closer to modern-day Russia. But NATO as an organization made no such pledge, and the formal agreement signed at the end of those negotiations said nothing about the alliance not expanding eastward. We rate this claim Mostly False.

Fact check roundup: What’s true and what’s false about the Russian invasion of Ukraine

False and misleading information about the Russian invasion of Ukraine has spread rapidly on social media since Russian forces launched a military assault in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 24. Here’s a roundup of claims related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict analyzed by the USA TODAY Fact Check team.

February 28, 2022
Antisemitism Biolabs Disinformation Fact check websites Fact checks / debunkings Germany Misconceptions Poland Resources Russia Ukraine USA

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

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.

Russian spokesman’s statement ignores centuries of Russian attacks

Historians cite upwards of a dozen examples dating back to the 1500s in which Russia or the Soviet Union attacked another country without being militarily attacked first. • Russia may offer various justifications for why it attacked another country in these instances, but each of these examples involved militarily unprovoked actions by Russia or the Soviet Union. Our ruling Peskov said, "Russia has never attacked anyone throughout its history." Historians cite upwards of a dozen examples dating back to the 1500s in which Russia or the Soviet Union attacked another country without being militarily attacked first. Russia may offer various justifications for why it attacked another country in these instances, but contrary to Peskov's statement, each of these examples did involve militarily unprovoked actions by Russia or the Soviet Union. We rate the statement Pants on Fire.