During a Russia-24 news segment, broadcasters claimed Ukraine was using mannequins to exaggerate the civilian death toll. The clip they shared is from a TV show set.
Olena Kurilo, a teacher, was injured on Feb. 24, 2022, when a Russian missile strike hit her apartment complex in Chuhuiv, Ukraine.
Her photograph was taken by at least three journalists that day and she was interviewed on video.
Photos in news reports that day show the apartment complex is not the building damaged by a 2018 gas explosion in Russia.
Our ruling
A social media user claims a photo of a Ukrainian woman that went viral after her apartment building was attacked on the first day of Russia's invasion is actually from a 2018 gas explosion in Russia.
At least three photojournalists took photos of the woman on Feb. 24 and she was interviewed on camera. Multiple news reports confirmed the attack on the apartment building that day, and images show the building is not the same one damaged in the Russia gas explosion. We rate this claim False.
Some people have interpreted a tweet about Tucker Carlson and Ukraine to mean that he suggested the country staged dead bodies. But he didn't say that.
Russia has said without evidence that "fake dead bodies" were "staged" in Bucha after its troops left the town. Carlson, meanwhile, has been criticized for echoing Russian talking points. On March 9, for example, Carlson said a Russian claim that Ukraine has bioweapon labs was "totally and completely true," but there's no evidence that's the case, PolitiFact reported.
But this talking point, about staged bodies, wasn't one Carlson made.
We rate claims that he said the words that appeared in Wash's tweet False.
The Russian Ministry of Defense and other top Russian officials claimed that a video of a car driving through Ukraine showed two crisis actors playing the role of dead Ukrainians in a staged massacre. On Telegram and Twitter, they claimed that the video showed one person moving their arm, and another person seen in the car's mirror sitting up.
The video does not show a person raising an arm as the car drives by; it shows a mark floating across the car's windshield ' perhaps a drop of water or a speck of dirt.
The video does not show someone sitting up after the car drives by; it shows a stationary corpse through the lens of the car's passenger-side mirror, which has distorting effects.
Our ruling
The Russian Ministry of Defense said a video taken from a car driving through Bucha, Ukraine, shows a corpse "moving his arm," and then "in the rear view mirror the 'corpse' sits down."
Both claims misrepresent what the video in question shows.
The video shows a mark floating across the car's windshield ' perhaps a drop of water or a speck of dirt ' which Russia officials falsely portrayed as of a corpse "moving his arm."
Similarly, what Russian officials falsely claimed was a corpse sitting up was actually a dead person whose body appeared distorted due to the shape of the car's passenger-side mirror.
We rate this claim False.
The aftermath of the attack on a maternity hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, was captured on video and in photos showing that it was an actual attack.
A Pentagon spokesperson called OAN host Pearson Sharp's claims "ridiculous." Several independent experts who spoke to PolitiFact agreed that it was completely without merit. Russian officials have conceded the attack occurred.
Our ruling
Sharp said the attack on the Mariupol hospital had "the makings of yet another false flag operation" by the U.S.
There is no evidence that the attack was staged or a false flag carried out by the U.S. Its aftermath was documented by workers, witnesses and journalists on the ground.
We rate OAN's claim Pants on Fire!
A West Virginia State Police captain confirmed that the Uber's window decal was an expired inspection sticker from the state. But that doesn't mean that the car itself wasn't in Ukraine.
The video showing the car was recorded in Irpin, Ukraine, according to Reuters, which owns the video.
It's not uncommon for cars to be exported from the U.S. to other countries, including Ukraine.
Our ruling
A Facebook post claimed that "a West Virginia inspection sticker on an Uber" proves the car was not in Ukraine.
A West Virginia State Police Captain confirmed that the decal on the car was an expired sticker from the state. However, this doesn't mean that the car wasn't in Ukraine ' a spokesperson for Reuters, which owns the video, confirmed that the video was filmed there.
It's not uncommon for cars to be exported from the U.S. to other countries, including Ukraine.
We rate this claim False.
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!
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.
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.
