Fact checks

Russian propaganda continues efforts to disrupt mobilization in Ukraine Russian media, Telegram channels, and bots on the social media platform X are circulating a photo of an ATM, allegedly taken in a Ukrainian city. The image shows an error message on the screen reading: "Your card will be retained by the ATM. For details, contact your military enlistment office." This is fake news. The ATM screen image was digitally altered using graphic editing software. The error code shown on the screen — ST200944 — is real, but it appears in an unrelated ATM error photo that has been circulating online…

Russian sources have circulated fake ads, falsely claiming to be from Ukraine's Ministry of Defense and 3rd Assault Brigade Russian media outlets posing as Ukrainian, along with Telegram channels and bots on the social platform X (formerly Twitter), have been sharing what appears to be an Instagram ad for a supposed "18-24 contract" from the 3rd Assault Brigade. The image features a young man in work clothes carrying a military-style backpack, with the caption: "Back pain again and the foreman still isn't paying?" and a link prompting users to "submit an application." The brigade's logo is also included, suggesting the…

Russia has fabricated an audio track of an interview with the commander of the Third Army Corps Russian Telegram channels are circulating a video featuring the commander of the Third Army Corps, Andrii Biletskyi. In the video, he allegedly claims to have been present during the transfer of fallen soldiers' bodies and states that the Ukrainian authorities deliberately avoid identifying the bodies to avoid paying compensation to the soldiers' families. This is fake news. Biletskyi has never said that the Ukrainian government intentionally avoids identifying fallen soldiers. The video was edited using artificial intelligence. An audio file mimicking Biletskyi's voice…

Russians have faked a video featuring Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna Russian Telegram channels are circulating a video with the logo of the Freedom TV channel. In the clip, an audio commentary is supposedly given by Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Olga Stefanishyna. She allegedly tells journalists that she wants to legally ban women of childbearing age — specifically those aged 18 to 27 — from leaving the country, supposedly to "preserve the gene pool." This is fake news. First of all, Freedom TV broadcasts in Russian and is aimed at providing truthful information about the…

Russians faked a Fox News article Russian Telegram channels are circulating a screenshot allegedly showing a news article from the website of the U.S. news channel Fox News. The headline reads: "Zelenskyy showed up at the NATO summit wearing a suit and hoping to get Trump's attention but failed again." This is fake. No such article exists on the official Fox News website or its social media pages. None of the articles on Fox News discussed the attire of the Ukrainian president. A few pieces do show photos of Volodymyr Zelensky wearing a suit, but only in the context of…

Russia continues its attempts to discredit Ukrainian defenders Russian Telegram channels are circulating a screenshot of a post from a local Kharkiv media outlet. The headline falsely claims that a Ukrainian soldier hit two elderly women at a pedestrian crossing. The message accompanying the screenshot names a serviceman from the 80th Air Assault Brigade as the alleged perpetrator. This is fake news. The screenshot is a doctored version of an article from the "Sho?! Novyny" outlet. The original report clearly states that the suspect in the incident is a woman, not a soldier. The Main Department of the National Police…

Russian propaganda is attempting to discredit Vasyl Maliuk A video has been circulating on TikTok showing a luxury sports car with Ukrainian license plates. The caption claims it is a McLaren 720S supposedly driven by the sons of Vasyl Maliuk, head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU). This is false. First, it is not even publicly known if Maliuk has any children, let alone sons. Details about his family are not available. Second, the same car appears in other TikTok videos, where it is identified as belonging to Viktor Mandziak, a Ukrainian blogger and fitness trainer. In one video,…

Russian media outlets, bots on X (formerly Twitter), and Telegram channels continue efforts to sow division in Ukrainian society amid the ongoing repatriation of fallen service members. This time, they circulated claims that Ukraine has only accepted the bodies of 1,212 defenders, allegedly because agreements were reached with their families to waive financial compensation. As supposed "evidence," they shared a screenshot of an article from the mobile version of Deutsche Welle's website with the headline: "Ukraine has accepted the bodies of 1,212 AFU soldiers; their families have declined financial compensation." This is fake news. Deutsche Welle has never published such…

Russian propaganda has faked a report about "40,000 bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers" in Russia Russian media outlets and Telegram channels are circulating reports that Russia is allegedly holding the bodies of 40,000 dead Ukrainian soldiers. These reports claim to reference U.S. news outlet Politico and allege that Ukraine refuses to receive the bodies to avoid paying compensation to the soldiers' families. This is fake news. Politico has not published any such report. The source of this false story is the Russian outlet Life.ru, which included a link to Politico's website in its publication, but no such article exists on…

Russia has forged an ISW video clip Russian media outlets are spreading a falsified video bearing the logo of the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), featuring purported comments by American political analyst William Kristol. The video claims that following Ukraine's large-scale drone attack on Russian strategic bombers on June 1, 2025, Ukrainian soldiers began surrendering en masse. The supposed Kristol quote likens the situation to the Vietnam War, suggesting that military success failed to boost morale due to troop exhaustion. This is a fabrication. The video in question does not exist on ISW's official website or its…