Fact checks

Russian media outlets have been circulating a report, along with excerpts from it, supposedly from the occupied city of Sudzha in the Kursk region. The report was allegedly produced by a so-called Finnish journalist, Kosti Heiskanen. These materials claim that Ukrainian forces committed atrocities against civilians, suffered "heavy losses," and engaged in unlawful warfare tactics, including disguising themselves in civilian clothing or Russian military uniforms. This is a fabricated story. The author of these claims, "Finnish journalist" Kosti Heiskanen, entered Sudzha alongside Russian troops. His report provides no credible evidence of Ukrainian war crimes, nor does it substantiate the allegations…

Propagandists forged a news report from Al Jazeera television network Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, and bots on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube have been circulating a video bearing the Al Jazeera logo. The video falsely claims that an Al Jazeera employee, while closely analyzing footage of a conversation between U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and pro-Ukrainian activists in Cincinnati, Ohio, noticed that one of the protesters allegedly spat into the stroller carrying Vance's daughter. The video further suggests that U.S. media outlets are deliberately ignoring this supposed incident. However, this is entirely false. No such video exists on Al…

Russian propaganda has fabricated a video from Ukrainian children's TV channel Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, and bots on social media platforms X, YouTube, and Reddit are circulating an animated video featuring the logo of the Ukrainian children's TV channel PlusPlus. The video depicts a boy wearing Ukrainian-themed clothing who, upon hearing his sister listen to a Russian-language song, reaches for a phone -- seemingly to report her to law enforcement. The screen then displays the hotline number for Ukraine's State Security Service (SBU). In posts accompanying the video, propagandists falsely claim that Ukraine is broadcasting a TV ad targeting…

Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, and bots on X are spreading claims that a Ukrainian man, whom former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson met during his visit to Kyiv in April 2022, was allegedly killed near Kurakhove. According to the false reports, Johnson had a chance encounter with this man outside a shop on a Kyiv street, and propagandists now claim his name was Serhii Varchuk, suggesting he was a Ukrainian soldier who died on the front line. This is a fake. Russian sources manipulated the man's photo. Using the Forensically image analysis tool, Ukrinform's fact-checking team identified digital alterations…

The source of the disinformation is former MP Ihor Mosiychuk, who frequently posts Russian narratives Russia's state propaganda agency TASS, citing former Ukrainian MP Ihor Mosiychuk, along with pro-Russian bloggers on TikTok, Telegram channels, and social media platforms X and Facebook, are circulating information claiming that the son of Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Ruslan Stefanchuk, Oleksii, supposedly bought an elite apartment in the tallest residential building in Warsaw for $2 million. As "proof," propagandists provided a screenshot allegedly from a Polish online land registry and a photo of the apartment itself. This is a fake. Firstly, the form in the screenshot…

To create fake news, propagandists used a report from Ukrainian news outlet Zaxid.net to discredit Ukrainian forces Russian propaganda outlets have manipulated a news report from the Ukrainian media outlet Zaxid.net to falsely implicate a Ukrainian soldier in a shooting incident, aiming to discredit the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Fake screenshots of a Zaxid.net article are circulating on Russian propaganda platforms. The altered publication claims that a resident of Boryslav, Lviv region, was fined 70,000 UAH for shooting a teenager. In the manipulated subheading, Russian propagandists falsely assert that the crime was committed by a serviceman. This is a fabrication. Russian…