The Russian military claimed to have used a hypersonic missile on March 18 to strike an underground warehouse in western Ukraine. Two videos have emerged on social networks claiming to show this attack, but, in fact, they have nothing to do with this event.
These images of Ukrainian farmers seizing Russian military equipment with tractors have not been verified, and several of them were digitally altered using photos that predate the 2022 conflict.
As it happens, official United Nations data suggests that the 14,000 casualty figure that Putin has used does not only refer to civilians. During Russia's 2014-2021 military operations against Ukraine, 14,500 people died in the Donbas war. Of that 14,000, 3,404 were civilians, 4,400 were Ukrainian servicemen and 6,500 were Russian militants. The figure Putin operates with, is the total number of casualties incurred in the Donbas war by both sides.
Posts shared online claim to show members of a Russian military choir being arrested for singing anti-war songs. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin has indeed cracked down on people spreading "false information" about the war in Ukraine, leading to many people's arrests, this video is not an example of that. In fact, it shows an incident from 2015 when the choir performed a song from a James Bond film.
This claim originated in an article published by a website known for sharing misinformation, including one previous false claim on Ukraine.
• Russia's president stated many reasons for the invasion. Ending child trafficking was not among them.
• According to the U.S. State Department, Russia is failing to deal with human trafficking within its own borders.
Our ruling
A post on Facebook alleged that Russia started its invasion of Ukraine to fight child trafficking.
The claim originates in an article published by a website known for fabricating stories and sources.
There is no evidence that ending child trafficking is a goal of the war in Ukraine. Russia itself is failing to deal with human trafficking within its own borders, according to a report by the U.S. State Department.
And while Putin has been very descriptive about his reasons for invading Ukraine, child trafficking has never been mentioned.
We rate the post False.
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms.
A new law in Russia threatens up to 15 years of prison time for spreading information about the war that authorities consider to be "false."
There are no parallels in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are safeguarded by the Constitution. Gabbard alleged censorship by social media companies, but experts say those claims are not supported by evidence.
Our ruling
Gabbard said, "What is happening here is not so different from what we're seeing happening in Russia, where you have got state TV and controlled messaging across the board."
Since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia ' a country with a long history of suppressing free speech and access to information ' has restricted dissenting voices, independent news reporting and public discourse on social media platforms, including with a new law threatening prison time for spreading "false" information about the war. Those measures are without parallel in the U.S., where freedom of speech, expression and the press are enshrined in the Constitution.
We rate Gabbard's claim Pants on Fire!
An employee at state-owned Channel One in Russia recently interrupted a live news broadcast to protest the war in Ukraine.
Multiple experts say there are live news broadcasts and other live events on Russian TV.
A former employee of the station said that all Channel One news is live. An expert we spoke with said that's because of the country's many time zones.
Our ruling
A Facebook post said that a Russian journalist's protest during a state TV broadcast couldn't be real because "there are no live on air television broadcasts in Russia. None. Ever."
But experts we spoke with, including journalists who have worked in Russia, said that is not true. There are many live broadcasts, including the news show that was interrupted by an employee's protest. There has been no evidence presented that shows her actions were staged as part of a Russian propaganda effort.
We rate this claim False.
Verdict: False
The video shows footage from an open-world military simulator video game. It does not depict an actual Russian helicopter being shot down.
Russian planes bombed a hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, on March 9, killing three people and injuring at least 17, including two pregnant women seen in photos shared around the world. Social media posts falsely claimed one woman “posed” as the two women. One of the women died of her injuries, along with her baby; the other gave birth to a daughter.