Category The war is a hoax

Iconic photo is from Ukraine war, not Russia gas explosion

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.

Fact-check: What really happened in Bucha?

Ukrainian officials have accused Russia of a massacre in Bucha but Kremlin-backed media are denouncing it as a hoax. DW checked both claims and found enough evidence to prove the Russian side wrong.

Russia pushes false crisis actor claims about video from Bucha, Ukraine

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.

Donated Canadian equipment sparks inaccurate claims on Ukraine fire coverage

A screenshot of CNN footage has been shared on social media alongside the claim that the channel falsified coverage of a fire in Ukraine, with the name "Edmonton" on a firefighter's jacket cited as evidence. But the footage shows the aftermath of strikes in the city of Lviv, and the jacket was donated by a Canadian non-profit, the organization and Edmonton Fire Rescue Services say.

Clip of man in body bag smoking is from the set of a music video, not ‘staged’ deaths in Ukraine

A TikTok video of a man smoking a cigarette in what appears to be a truck full of body bags has been viewed thousands of times in Facebook posts suggesting that deaths are being staged in the war in Ukraine. The claim is false; the clip shows the behind-the-scenes making of a music video for a song released by Russian rapper Husky in September 2020.

One America News runs conspiratorial segment claiming strike on Mariupol hospital was US false flag

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!

News video of shot up car was filmed in Ukraine, not West Virginia

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.

Production footage from sci-fi film falsely shared as ‘video of staged Russian attack in Ukraine’

As the civilian death toll mounted in Ukraine following Russia's invasion, a video has been viewed tens of thousands of times in social media posts that claim it shows a "staged scene of the Russian military bombing of Ukrainian civilians". But the clip in fact shows production footage for a science fiction film released years before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the movie's director told AFP. The scene was shot in the United Kingdom - not Ukraine.

Video of ‘fake Ukraine casualties’ shows filming for a TV show about a pandemic

Footage of a man and woman having fake blood applied has been viewed thousands of times in posts claiming it shows Ukraine "faking" civilian casualties following the Russian invasion. In fact, the clip was filmed in 2020 on the set of a series called "Contamin".

Fake CNN screenshot misleads on war in Ukraine

Social media posts claim US broadcaster CNN misrepresented an image of a 2015 explosion as being from the 2022 war in Ukraine. But the image shows an explosion in Kyiv and was released by the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on February 24, 2022, and the channel said the alleged screenshot of a CNN report featured in the posts is fake.