Fact checks

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…

Propagandists used AI to create four images and deepfakes, presenting them as a single person Russian state media, Telegram channels, and bots on social media platform X have circulated images of a supposedly deceased girl at the front, named Olena Savelieva. Propagandists claim she previously appeared in Ukrainian TV reports under various identities: a soldier named Mariana with the call sign "Vidma" ("Witch"), a "native of Odesa" named Kseniia, and "a displaced person from Toretsk" named Olesia. As "evidence," Russians present screenshots from different Ukrainian TV segments. They also claim that Ukraine fabricates fake stories about Russian aggression and hires…

Propagandists are spreading articles by a fictitious author in fake English- and French-language media outlets Russian media and propaganda Telegram channels are spreading disinformation about a supposed new mobilization practice allegedly introduced in Ukraine. According to their claims, Territorial Recruitment Centers (TRCs) are supposedly hiring civilians -- either for payment or in exchange for exemption from conscription -- to report on male neighbors, coworkers, or even strangers to military authorities. Propagandists allege that a black market of such "volunteers" exists and that Ukrainian authorities are deliberately turning a blind eye. These claims are being attributed to so-called "Western media" outlets,…

Russian propagandists have produced a staged video in an attempt to discredit Ukrainian defenders Russian media, Telegram channels, and bots on social media platforms X and TikTok are circulating a video allegedly showing a wounded Ukrainian soldier. An unidentified voice off-camera claims that as a result of "friendly fire," "three are KIA (killed in action), one is WIA (wounded in action)." At the end of the video, a man in military uniform asks, "How can we fight this war if there's no coordination at all?" and adds, "Listen and think," implying that joining the army is supposedly not worthwhile. This…

Russian propaganda has once again twisted the truth, using the tragic aftermath of its own attack on Ukrainian civilians to fabricate lies about Ukrainian Armed Forces Russian pro-war Telegram channels are falsely claiming that a 17-year-old named Nikita Solonichenko died by suicide at a training center of Ukraine's 92nd Mechanized Brigade in Kharkiv. They allege that he was a contract soldier who took his own life due to bullying by older servicemen. This is a complete fabrication. In reality, Nikita Solonichenko was one of the victims of a Russian missile strike on Kryvyi Rih on April 4. That evening, Russian…