Fact checks

What is wrong with a well-known photo depicting the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars? If you search "deportation of Crimean Tatars” on Google, one of the top results is a photo widely believed to show the events of 1944. In reality, the image has nothing to do with the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people. Screenshot of a publication from the website vyshneve-rada.gov.ua Screenshot of a fresh publication from May 18, 2025 A reverse image search reveals over 400 uses of this photo — most often in publications about the Crimean Tatar genocide. It has appeared on little-known websites,…

Russian propagandists have forged an announcement about an exam at Kyiv Polytechnic Institute Pro-Kremlin Telegram channels are circulating a photo allegedly from the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute." The image shows an announcement listing the members of an examination board, which supposedly includes a representative of a territorial recruitment and social support center. The image is fake. First, the "announcement" states that the decision on the composition of this board was made at a meeting of the university's academic council on May 2, 2025. This is not true, as according to the university's official schedule,…

Russian propagandists have fabricated cover of German magazine Titanic Russian propagandists are circulating on social media a fake cover of the German political satire magazine Titanic, featuring a caricature of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Pope Leo XIV. The image depicts the newly elected pontiff seemingly frightened by a phone call from the Ukrainian leader, with the caption: "The New Pope. Same Old Extortionist." This is a fake. There is no such cover on Titanic's official website or its social media channels. The falsified cover claims to be from the May issue and bears the code A 4352. However, the…

Russia seeks to discredit 'Coalition of the Willing' leaders over their support for Ukraine Russian Telegram channels and bots on the social media platform X are circulating a cropped photo taken inside the train carriage used by the leaders of the "Coalition of the Willing" — Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, and Friedrich Merz — during their visit to Kyiv on May 10. The image allegedly shows traces of narcotics and what is being claimed as a "cocaine spoon" supposedly belonging to the German chancellor. This claim is false. The item being touted as a "cocaine spoon" by propagandists is, in…

Propagandists doctored footage allegedly showing Soviet soldier portraits on LED screens in the German capital Russian state-controlled media, Telegram channels, and bots on social media platform X are circulating a video claiming to show LED billboards in various well-known locations across Berlin displaying portraits of Soviet soldiers who fought in World War II, along with the caption in Russian and German: "80 years later, they are back in Berlin." This is a fabrication. The video originated from the Russian propaganda outlet Russia Today, and Russian bots are disseminating a version bearing the outlet's logo across social media. Ströer, a German…

Propagandists fabricated photos and announcements as part of disinformation campaign Russian propaganda Telegram channels are circulating a photo of an announcement supposedly posted in the stairwell of a residential building in Ukraine. In the notice, a supposed "building manager" asks neighbors to stop playing "Victory Day" songs, "threatening" to call the police and the military enlistment office. This is fake. The false announcement was created by Russians themselves as part of a disinformation effort in the lead-up to May 9. The text was clearly generated using machine translation, as it contains grammatical errors that are not typical of native Ukrainian…

Russian propagandists are circulating a video on social media bearing the Euronews logo. It claims that, supposedly according to data from the social media analytics platform Social Blade, at least 74% of internet users in Ukraine watched a film about the 25-year rule of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin. This is fake. Euronews did not publish this video on its website or social media. Social Blade is a website that tracks statistics and analytics for social media platforms. The propaganda film about Putin was broadcast on Russian state TV channels and websites, as well as on the platforms RuTube and VKontakte, which Social Blade does…

Propagandists continue to push the narrative that Ukraine is being "looted" by its Western allies Russian media outlets and propaganda Telegram channels are spreading claims that all cultural valuables are allegedly being temporarily taken from Kharkiv to Poland under the pretext of "introducing Europe to the region's history." According to propagandists, this is supposedly how local authorities are preparing to "surrender" the city to the Russian army, which is planning an offensive on Kharkiv. As "evidence," they cite a photo showing Valeriia Dziuba, deputy head of the Kharkiv Regional Council, alongside Marek Lemiesz and Kamil Kulinski of Poland's National Institute…

Russian propagandists fabricated a video of an invented incident, falsely attributed to USA Today Russian Telegram channels are circulating a video featuring the logo of the U.S. media outlet USA Today. The video claims that U.S. police allegedly detained a Ukrainian national attempting to set fire to a McDonald's office in Chicago. The supposed motive is the company's rumored return to the Russian market. This is a fake. USA Today has not published this video, neither on its official website nor on its social media platforms. The video was crudely assembled from various publicly available images, primarily photos of McDonald's…