Fact checks: from across the internet
Ukraine Fact Check presents fact checks on Ukraine in two different ways. Our team works to:
1. index and tag existing fact-check articles from reputable sources from across the internet;
2. compile and publish original fact check articles, based our team’s own research into a subject.
Below, you can find the fact-check articles published by other websites across the internet.
Disclaimer: Ukraine Fact Check was not involved in producing the articles listed below. The information presented in them may be incorrect, incomplete, or misleading. As with any other type of article, read with a critical eye, check sources, and seek other opinions before making up your mind on important topics.
Russian media campaign falsely claims Bucha deaths are fakes // AP
Source published on: April 6, 2022 /
As gruesome videos and photos of bodies emerge from the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, Kremlin-backed media are denouncing them as an elaborate hoax — a narrative that journalists in Ukraine have shown to be false.
Denouncing news as fake or spreading false reports to sow confusion and undermine its adversaries are tactics that Moscow has used for years and refined with the advent of social media in places like Syria.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 07:01 // Categories: Attacks on civilians, Bucha, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Genocide, Genocide vs Ukraine (2022-), Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, and War crimes
Fact check: Atrocities in Bucha not ‘staged’ // DW
Source published on: April 5, 2022 /
The images of civilians killed in Bucha have shocked the world. The Russian government and pro-Russian accounts claim they were staged and that some bodies were moving. Our DW fact check shows those claims are false.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 06:59 // Categories: Attacks on civilians, Bucha, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Genocide, Genocide vs Ukraine (2022-), Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, and War crimes
Satellite images show bodies lay in Bucha for weeks, despite Russian claims. // New York Times
Source published on: April 4, 2022 /
The images rebut Russia’s claim that the killing of civilians in Bucha, near Kyiv, took place after its soldiers had left town.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 06:56 // Categories: Attacks on civilians, Bucha, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Genocide, Genocide vs Ukraine (2022-), Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, and War crimes
The Top Myths about US Aid to Ukraine // Hudson Institute
Source published on: September 13, 2023 /
As Congress debates additional support for Ukraine, the anti-Ukraine echo chamber will peddle myths and half-truths, including these four:
Myth: Washington is writing Kyiv “blank checks” that Americans cannot afford.
Myth: There is not enough oversight of US aid to Ukraine.
Myth: America is exponentially the largest donor to Ukraine.
Myth: Russia is a distraction. The US must focus on China.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:35 // Categories: Aid oversight, Aid to Ukraine, China, Disinformation, European Union, Fact checks / debunkings, International community, Misconceptions, Russia, Ukraine, and USA
Did Russia’s Defense Minister Admit Russia Won’t Win in Ukraine? // Newsweek
Source published on: September 14, 2023 /
Misleading Material. Although Shoigu appeared to shrug off or dismiss the question of whether Russia will win, the clip of him shared on social media is edited. In the unedited version, the Russian defense minister goes on to say “We have no other option.”
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:31 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russia, and Ukraine
No, the US did not send Ukraine $6 billion by mistake // AP
Source published on: September 13, 2023 /
The U.S. did not accidentally send Ukraine $6 billion in military aid, as some online have alleged. This claim misinterprets a Pentagon announcement in June that the agency had overestimated the value of weapons it sent to Ukraine.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:29 // Categories: Aid oversight, Aid to Ukraine, Corruption, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Military aid, Misconceptions, Ukraine, and USA
Estonia Denies Link to Russian Airport Drone Strike // Newsweek
Source published on: August 30, 2023 /
There was no reasoning provided for the claims shared online beyond the distance between Estonia’s border and Pskov.
However, the Estonian government has firmly denied the claims. A statement sent to Newsweek from a spokesman for the Government Office of the Republic of Estonia said: “This is false information.”
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:26 // Categories: Disinformation, Escalation / WWIII, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, NATO, Russia, and Russian propaganda
Is Zelensky Refusing to Hold Ukraine Election Unless U.S. Pays? // Newsweek
Source published on: August 29, 2023 /
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was quoted saying that U.S. contributions were needed for voting.
Currently, Ukrainian law forbids holding elections during wartime.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:23 // Categories: Aid to Ukraine, Democracy, Disinformation, Elections, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Ukraine, and USA
Is Ukraine Aid Being Spent on Hiring Sex Workers for Soldiers? // Newsweek
Source published on: August 18, 2023 /
Kyiv is not spending money hiring sex workers for injured soldiers, as the post on X claims.
The post quotes part of a BBC article about a rehabilitative service for Ukrainian soldiers run by a support organization called Veteran Hub. It does not employ sex workers and there is no evidence that funding provided to Ukraine or Ukrainian government spending has been used in this way.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:19 // Categories: Aid to Ukraine, Corruption, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Ukraine, and USA
Did Tokyo Billboard Show ‘Stop War, Stop Zelensky’? // Newsweek
Source published on: July 31, 2023 /
False. The video of the anti-Zelensky billboard in Shibuya, Japan, is fake. It was edited from a popular clip that’s been on YouTube for more than two years and viewed more than eight million times. There is no evidence that any such billboard has been displayed in Shibuya, one of the busiest and most popular neighborhoods in Tokyo, Japan.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:16 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
Is Ukraine Photo of Organ Harvesting Victims’ ‘Mass Grave’? // Newsweek
Source published on: July 31, 2023 /
The photo in the tweet is not of an organ harvesting site in Kharkiv, but an exhumation in Lyman, Ukraine, from October 2022.
The photo depicts the uncovering of a mass grave in Lyman about a week after Ukrainian troops reclaimed the formerly Russian-occupied city. It has nothing to do with the material the tweet describes.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:14 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
RFK Jr. Claims U.S. Pushed Ukraine to War With Russia // Newsweek
Source published on: July 28, 2023 /
No evidence was provided to support the claim Johnson blocked a peace agreement, and the claim that Russia withdrew its forces from Kyiv due to an agreement with Zelensky is widely disputed by political and military experts.
Newsweek has put each of the claims it investigated to RFK Jr.’s spokespeople via email. There has been no response as of the time of publication.
Unless RFK Jr. can provide substantive proof to support some of his arguments, the claims the Democratic hopeful made on Fox News simply do not match the facts.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:07 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
Does Video Show ‘Mass Surrender’ of Ukrainian Troops? // Newsweek
Source published on: July 28, 2023 /
While footage and claims from Wagner should be treated cautiously, it stands to reason that had the video depicted a mass surrender, then Prigozhin or his representatives would have heralded that fact and not a prisoner exchange.
In short, based on footage from the Wagner Group and other news sources, Newsweek can confirm the aerial footage is not of a Ukrainian mass surrender.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 05:02 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
Did Elijah Wood Tell Zelensky via Instagram to Go to Rehab? // Newsweek
Source published on: July 21, 2023 /
Apart from the fact that the video has been bizarrely edited, it does not mention Zelensky, only someone named Vladimir, and is attributed to an Instagram account with no web presence.
Elijah Wood does not have a public Instagram account and the video being shared of him online, allegedly asking Zelensky to seek treatment, is the only recording available. The video appears to have been spread as a Russian propaganda effort and to promote a dubious documentary that falsely credits Tom Cruise as its star.
Although Newsweek is yet to hear from Wood’s representatives for comment, we are confident that the video and claims surrounding it are, respectively, inauthentic and false.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 04:51 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Media taken out of context, Misconceptions, Russian propaganda, Substance abuse, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy
Joe Rogan Claims U.S. Accidentally Sent $6.2 Billion to Ukraine // Newsweek
Source published on: July 20, 2023 /
The U.S. did not accidentally send $6.2 billion to Ukraine. An overestimation of the cost of some military hardware meant that $6.2 billion was not spent in the transfer of U.S. stocks to Ukraine.
While the DOD has said that this can now be used toward future stock drawdowns authorized by the president, that does not mean $6.2 billion has been sent accidentally, and all that implies, to Ukraine.
Indexed on 2023-09-18 04:47 // Categories: Aid oversight, Aid to Ukraine, Corruption, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, and USA