News and other programs are broadcast live on Russian television, despite claims otherwise // PolitiFact
Source published on: March 17, 2022 /
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.
Indexed on 2022-03-17 12:00 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Faked news reports, Methods, Misconceptions, and Russia
News video of shot up car was filmed in Ukraine, not West Virginia // PolitiFact
Source published on: March 17, 2022 /
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.
Indexed on 2022-03-17 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, International community, Media taken out of context, Methods, Misconceptions, Narratives, The war is a hoax, Ukraine, and USA
No, Volodymyr Zelenskyy Did Not Wear a Nazi Symbol // Snopes
Source published on: March 17, 2022 /
Conspiracy theorists and Russian apologists reached new lows in attacking the Ukrainian president in March 2022.
Indexed on 2022-03-17 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
American megachurches are offering support to Ukraine, despite claims on social media // PolitiFact
Source published on: March 16, 2022 /
Multiple megachurches around the United States have been raising funds to help Ukrainians during Russia’s invasion.
Gateway Church, another megachurch in Texas, has set up a crisis relief fund to support people in Ukraine and the surrounding region.
Saddleback Church, a megachurch located in Lake Forest, California, has an advance relief team connecting with local pastors in Ukraine and Poland who are caring for hundreds of Ukrainian refugees. The church’s website features ways people can help and has provided multiple updates on its efforts in the region.
The Rock Church, a megachurch in San Diego, California, is directing people to its partner organization, Crisis Response International, and told PolitiFact that it’s in the process of establishing a Ukraine relief fund.
Crossroads Church, an Ohio-based megachurch, partners with humanitarian and disaster relief organizations Convoy of Hope and World Vision, which both have operations on the ground in Ukraine.
Other church networks, like the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Catholic Relief Services, are collecting donations and deploying staff and resources.
We rate posts that say no megachurches are raising money for Ukraine relief False.
Indexed on 2022-03-16 12:00 // Categories: Aid to Ukraine, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, International community, Misconceptions, Private donations, Religion, Ukraine, and USA
No, the video of Ukrainian President Zelenskyy urging surrender isn’t real. It’s a deepfake // VERIFY
Source published on: March 16, 2022 /
The VERIFY team confirmed a video of Ukraine President Zelenskyy telling his people to surrender is a deepfake. It was created using images from press conferences.
Indexed on 2022-03-16 12:00 // Categories: Deep fake videos, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Media taken out of context, Methods, Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
Social Media Posts Misrepresent Victims of Hospital Bombed in Mariupol // FactCheck.org (University of Pennsylvania)
Source published on: March 16, 2022 /
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.
Indexed on 2022-03-16 12:00 // Categories: Attacks on civilians, Children, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, and War crimes
This video showing Ukrainians kneeling as a convoy passes was filmed before the current war // France 24
Source published on: March 16, 2022 /
Tens of thousands of people have watched a video posted on Facebook that allegedly shows Ukrainians kneeling as a convoy carries religious relics through the streets of Kyiv to a bunker. However, this video is actually from several years ago and shows a funeral procession for fallen soldiers in another part of Ukraine.
Indexed on 2022-03-16 12:00 // Categories: Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Religion, Russia, and Ukraine
FACT CHECK: Viral Post Claims Woman Who Accompanied Zelenskyy During Hospital Visit Died Weeks Earlier | Check Your Fact // Check Your Fact (The Daily Caller)
Source published on: March 15, 2022 /
Verdict: False
The woman pictured next to Zelenskyy is not the woman who died weeks earlier. There is no evidence the woman pictured in the post accompanying Zelenskyy has died.
Indexed on 2022-03-15 12:00 // Categories: Attacks on civilians, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Media taken out of context, Methods, Misconceptions, Ukraine, and War crimes
A pre-recorded video? The pro-Russian hoax suggesting that Volodymyr Zelensky has left Ukraine // France 24
Source published on: March 14, 2022 /
Russian media outlets, including Russia Today, are falsely claiming that the video of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to a Kyiv hospital on March 13 was recorded last month, fuelling speculation that he has fled the country.
Indexed on 2022-03-14 12:00 // Categories: Coordinated disinformation, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
No, this document doesn’t show classified Ukrainian military orders to attack the Donbas region // PolitiFact
Source published on: March 14, 2022 /
The document isn’t classified, and there are no direct statements in it about an attack on the Donbas. It makes references to a training camp on the opposite side of the country.
Our ruling
Russian officials shared a Ukrainian document on Twitter with claims that it showed secret, classified orders for a military offensive on the Donbas region in southeastern Ukraine.
This is wrong. There is no proof that the document is classified, and there are no direct statements in it about an attack on the Donbas. The document makes references to a training camp on the opposite side of the country.
We rate claims about a document showing a planned military offensive in the Donbas False.
Indexed on 2022-03-14 12:00 // Categories: “Genocide” vs Russian-speakers, Disinformation, Escalation / WWIII, Fact checks / debunkings, Misconceptions, Narratives, Putin, Russia, Russian propaganda, and Ukraine
Ukraine recognized downed pilot as ‘hero,’ but claims he was the ‘Ghost of Kyiv’ are unsubstantiated // PolitiFact
Source published on: March 14, 2022 /
Col. Oleksandr “Grey Wolf” Oksanchenko, a decorated Ukrainian pilot, was killed in combat on Feb. 25.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded him posthumously with the title of Hero of Ukraine, along with 11 other military service members.
Unconfirmed reports hold that an unidentified pilot, who has come to be called the “Ghost of Kyiv,” downed six Russian planes on the first day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We do not find evidence that this was Oksanchenko.
It’s uncertain how the Ghost of Kyiv tale originated, but we know that Ukraine’s military reported on Feb. 24 that at least six Russian planes and two helicopters had been downed. Crediting Ukrainian military, CNN and NBC soon reported five Russian planes and one helicopter had been shot down. Russia’s defense ministry denied the report, according to Reuters, and said that Ukraine’s air force defenses had been “suppressed.”
Ukraine’s official Twitter account, meanwhile, promoted the Ghost of Kyiv narrative with a video that suggested the mystery pilot could have been responsible for as many as 10 downed Russian aircraft by Feb. 26. That video, too, included footage from a video game.
PolitiFact did not receive a response from Zelensky’s administration about Oksanchenko and the Ghost of Kyiv claim.
Finding no conclusive information tying Oksanchenko to the Ghost of Kyiv, we rate this claim False.
Indexed on 2022-03-14 12:00 // Categories: Biolabs, China, Chinese propaganda, Coordinated disinformation, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, International community, Misconceptions, Narratives, Ukraine, and USA
FactChecking Claims About the Conflict in Ukraine // FactCheck.org (University of Pennsylvania)
Source published on: March 11, 2022 /
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, following months of military buildup and, as we’ve written, repeated denials by Russian officials that their country planned to invade.
As is often the case with major news events, we have seen several false and misleading claims made on social media and by politicians related to the conflict.
Indexed on 2022-03-11 12:00 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact check websites, Fact checks / debunkings, Fact-checking tools, Misconceptions, Resources, and Russian propaganda
Ukraine: Russian troops flying Soviet flag, symbol of ‘re-establishing Russian domination’ // France 24
Source published on: March 11, 2022 /
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, thousands of images showing Russian soldiers and vehicles have emerged online. Some of these images shocked viewers when they saw the flag of the Soviet Union waving on some Russian military equipment. For residents of Ukraine, a former part of the Soviet Union, the flag may represent “an expression of a desire to repress them”, according to a post-Soviet politics specialist who spoke to the FRANCE 24 Observers team.
Indexed on 2022-03-11 12:00 // Categories: Context, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, and USSR (Soviet Union)
China repeats false claim that U.S has biolabs in Ukraine // PolitiFact
Source published on: March 10, 2022 /
China’s government is amplifying debunked claims about non-existent U.S. biological weapons labs in Ukraine, bringing the falsehoods back into the spotlight on social media.
Our ruling
A spokesperson for the Chinese government said the U.S. has biolabs in Ukraine.
The claim originated with the Russian government and has been previously debunked by U.S. government officials and weapons control advocates. Following Zhao’s March 9 remarks, U.S. government officials strongly refuted the claims again, saying the false narrative was being used to lay the groundwork for further violence in Ukraine.
Indexed on 2022-03-10 12:00 // Categories: Biolabs, China, Chinese propaganda, Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, International community, Misconceptions, Narratives, Russia, Russian propaganda, Ukraine, and USA
FACT CHECK: Does This Video Show Volodymyr Zelenskyy And His Wife Singing ‘Endless Love’ By Lionel Richie? | Check Your Fact // Check Your Fact (The Daily Caller)
Source published on: March 10, 2022 /
Verdict: False
The video features Boyce Avenue member Alejandro Manzano and English musician Connie Talbot. The music video does not feature Zelenskyy or mention Ukraine at any point.
Indexed on 2022-03-10 12:00 // Categories: Disinformation, Fact checks / debunkings, Media taken out of context, Methods, Misconceptions, and Ukraine