A Facebook post claims a video shows fighting in Ukraine. This is misleading; most of the footage was shot in Syria and released by Kurdish forces, while part of the clip is taken from CNN coverage of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

A video has been viewed tens of thousands of times on Facebook alongside a claim it shows Russia bombing Ukraine. The video was shared shortly after Russian forces invaded the neighbouring country. But the video has been shared in a false context: it is actually an animation clip that has circulated online since at least October 2021.

Russian state media says the missile can destroy an area the size of Texas or France, not the world. We could not find more objective reports detailing the same destructive power. “Individual warheads would strike distinct targets within a very limited ballistic ‘footprint,’ or many warheads from the same missile would strike the same target, increasing the likelihood of destroying that target completely,” according to a 2021 report from EurAsian Times. The weapon is believed to be able to evade missile defense systems and its deployment is expected around 2022, said a March 1 Congressional Research Service report. We rate the claim that a Russian nuclear weapon dubbed Satan 2 is “capable of destroying everything breathing in the world” False.

Social media posts claim CNN lied to the public by tweeting that a man was the first US casualty in Ukraine after previously featuring the same photo in a post about his execution in Afghanistan. This is false; the network says the tweets are not from its official accounts, and the man pictured is a YouTube video game commentator who continues to livestream on the platform.

As Russia pressed on with its invasion of Ukraine, a video clip was viewed thousands of times in Facebook and YouTube posts that claimed it showed live footage of the fighting. In reality, the footage was taken from a combat video game called ARMA 3.

On Twitter, videos from February 25 showing a military tank running over a car in the Obolon district of Ukraine’s capital city Kyiv have garnered over ten million views. But contrary to what some users claim, this is not a Russian tank deliberately running over a civilian. There are many indications that the incident actually involved a Ukrainian tank.

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.

British website The Telegraph is reporting that Russia is using mobile crematoriums in Ukraine in bid to hide its losses. But the accompanying video footage of a crematorium actually dates from 2013. It was posted by a Russian incinerator construction company and is not footage from the ground. The use of mobile crematoriums by Russians during the current war in Ukraine is yet to be verified. We tell you more in this edition.

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.

The viral image of children waving off troops dates back to 2016. It does not depict the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia. Our ruling Social media posts claim that a viral image, which shows two young children holding hands and saluting troops, was captured in Ukraine in 2022. But the photo traces back to 2016. We rate these posts False.

Social media posts feature an alleged CNN tweet that claims American actor Steven Seagal took up arms alongside Russian special forces in Ukraine. But CNN said the tweet — which includes an image of Seagal in fatigues and carrying a weapon — is fake, and his representatives also rejected the claim, saying the actor wants peace for both countries.

5 fakes of the war in Ukraine including: #1. “Celebrating the war”. Video claims to show Russian soldiers dancing before heading to the frontline in Ukraine. In reality, dancing was in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. #2. “Russian jets launching attacks” – False. Video is from video game “Arma-3”. #3. “Formation of jets over an urban areas” – Not from war in Ukraine. Video is from a 2020 Moscow air show. #4. “German news shows hundreds of Russian soldiers allegedly parachuting over the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv” – False. Old video from Russia (2016).

There is no evidence of Vesela Hora being shelled by the Ukrainian army

This claim has been shared in several waves in at least three countries, but it is nothing more than an attempt at inducing panic

Ukraine haven’t trespassed Russian border and didn’t send commandos or APS’s across the border

Putin claims: “Does Ukraine need to be denazified” – false, “Is Russia’s attack a defense case under the UN Charter?” – false, “Was there a ‘genocide” in Ukraine?” – false. Russia has so far failed to provide any evidence in their claims.

Many posts on social media claiming to pertain to the current conflict in Ukraine are in fact videos and photos of different events in other regions that happened several years ago. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.

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.

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.

Social media posts claim a photo of a wounded child shows a victim of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is false; the picture is from 2018 and was taken in Syria.