Shayan Sardarizadeh Profile picture
Senior journalist at BBC Verify | disinformation, conspiracy theories, verification, AI, open source investigations, extremism | shayan.sardarizadeh@bbc.co.uk

Feb 24, 2022, 153 tweets

Lots of videos and images alleging to show Russian attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities going viral on social media already. It is customary for old or false footage to go viral during a conflict, so please try to verify or check the source of the footage you see before sharing.

Over the next few days, we will be trying to verify viral footage and debunk as many falsehoods as we possibly can in relation to the conflict in Ukraine. If you come across videos, images and claims online that you suspect may be false, please DM (open) or email me (in my bio).

This video claiming to show "Russian jets targeting Ukrainian military assets" is old and unrelated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

H/T @AuroraIntel

There is no evidence or any verified reports indicating Russian strikes in any region of Moldova.

This video, claiming to show "Russian military paratroopers landing in Ukraine" with nearly 400,000 views, was in fact taken during Russia's Vostok 2018 military exercises.

H/T @wallaceme

This image claiming to show "Russian troops hoisting a flag on a public building in Kharkiv" was in fact taken in 2014 and not during the current conflict.

H/T @KianSharifi

This video does not show the shooting down of a "Russian fighter jet" in Ukraine. It is from 2011 when Libyan rebels shot down a government warplane bombing Benghazi.

By my colleague @alistaircoleman

This video, shared by the former Ukrainian ambassador to the US with 150,000 views, was not taken in Mariupol this morning.

This video with 100,000 views, shows the tragic Beirut explosion in 2020 and has nothing to do with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

H/T @AuroraIntel

@AnmolAlphonso and the good people at @boomlive_in have actually found the earliest version of this video appeared in 2016.
boomlive.in/fact-check/pol…

This clip does not show Russian air force entering Kyiv. It shows preparations for a military parade flypast in 2020. The sound of an air raid siren has been dubbed over the original audio to make it look more plausible.

It's day two of war in Ukraine and more misinformation.

This video with 223,000 views does not show Ukrainian air force shooting down a Russian fighter jet. This is Digital Combat Simulator (DCS).
@AuroraIntel debunked a version circulating yesterday but it refuses to go away.

This video with 250,000 views is old footage and unrelated to the current Russia-Ukraine war. It was debunked by the indefatigable @hoaxeye last night.

A TikTok video claiming to show a face off between Russian and Ukrainian troops has racked up 18 million views, but it's from the conflict in 2014, not now. It was fact-checked by @DevikaKhandelw8 from @LogicallyAI.

This video is old and does not show exchange of fire between Russian and Ukrainian troops. It was debunked by @hoaxeye.

This Facebook video doesn't show the destruction of Russian equipment in Ukraine through a drone aircraft's gunsight. It's from Syria in 2020. This version sees the image flipped, perhaps in an attempt to prevent verification through reverse image search tools.

Morning. It's day three of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A fake Telegram account claiming to be President Zelensky is posting dubious messages (left). President Zelensky's real Telegram account is verified, and includes his latest video from an hour ago in Kyiv (right).

This video with 530,000 views is from the 2014 Euromaidan protests and unrelated to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was circulating on day one of the war but has gone viral again on day three.

H/T @KianSharifi

A false claim that pictures of a wounded woman in Chuhuiv, which was on the front page of several leading European newspapers, was in fact an old image from 2018 has been trending since last night. The images are genuine. Read this thread by @hoaxeye.

This image from 2016 is being used in relation to the current war. There are many real videos and images from the last three days that document the courage and resilience of Ukrainians during this invasion. Why use an old one?

More on the viral image in the tweet above from NPR's @dailydyl and why senior current and former politicians such as Congressman Adam Kinzinger and former Swedish PM Carl Bildt shouldn't be sharing it with millions of people.

This video from the deadly 2015 Tianjin blasts in China has been shared on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter and Instagram in relation to the Ukraine war. It's one of those videos that pops up every time there's an explosion, missile attack or conflict. It will probably reappear soon.

This TikTok video with 27 million views shows men in military fatigues shouting and laughing in Russian as they parachute over farmland. But it was shot in 2015 by a member of the Russian armed forces and is therefore unrelated to the war in Ukraine.

This video of President Zelensky drinking tea with Ukrainian soldiers with 2.8 million views wasn't taken this morning, rather a week ago, before the war began. Mr Zelensky has been regularly addressing the nation via videos posted to his verified social accounts during the war.

It's day four of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This video of a paratrooper crashing into a residential building is not from Ukraine. It was filmed in Rio de Janeiro and posted to TikTok last year; fact-checked by @Seana_Davis from @ReutersFacts.

This video with nearly 1 million views is from the military tactical shooter video game Arma 3 and unrelated to the war in Ukraine.

India's Republic TV and some blue tick accounts were misled by a meme indicating an Air India passenger plane was flying over Ukrainian airspace, which has obviously been closed since the war began. Read this thread by @RizviUzair from @AFPFactCheck.

This image of Mayor of Kyiv Vitali Klitschko has gone viral on Instagram claiming to show him on the front line. But the photo was posted by Mr Klitschko on Instagram in March 2021, showing him at the Desna training center in the Chernihiv region.

Spotted by @Nikki_Presenter

This video with over 900,000 views has been presented as a Ukrainian girl confronting a Russian soldier. It actually shows Palestinian girl Ahed Tamimi confronting an Israeli soldier in 2012. Twitter has labelled it as "out of context".

It's day five of war in Ukraine.

Fake TikTok livestreams about Ukraine have become a huge issue on the platform, generating money for those who mislead users. Read this thread by @abbieasr on how a fake video and old audio track were used in a livestream.

Conspiracy theorists have seized on a clip of Ukrainian MP Kira Rudyk's interview with Fox News - "We not only fight for Ukraine, we fight for this new world order for the democratic countries" - as evidence the war in Ukraine is part of the bid to establish a "new world order".

A fake Anonymous video message vowing to empty the bank accounts of Russian citizens on 3 March was shared by the Kyiv Independent, forcing the outlet to issue a correction. Anonymous also confirmed the message was fake, saying: "We do not steal from the people."

There's a bizarre claim by CNBC Arabic's verified account that in retaliation for allegedly being left to fight Russia alone, President Zelensky unfollowed everyone on Twitter! That'd be news to Mr Zelensky, as a simple check shows he's never followed anyone on Twitter.

It's day six of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

A fake CNN report about actor Steven Seagal, a dual US-Russian citizen, fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine spread so widely that Joe Rogan fell for and shared it with his 14.7 million followers on Instagram. It's a hoax.

An image showing Ukrainian men holding carboard cutout guns has gone viral in conspiratorial circles, with claims the Ukraine war is a "media fabrication". The image is from trainings held by the Ukrainian military in early Feb for civilan volunteers willing to defend themselves.

This meme of a dog weeing on an image of President Putin is fake and unrelated to the Ukraine war. It first appeared in relation to a Brazillian politician but has since been used as a meme to poke fun at a variety of politicians, including Mr Putin.

A ludicrous claim that non-existent American "Bernie Gores" was the first casualty of both the Taliban takeover and Ukraine war, meaning the war is fake or something, refuses to go away despite being debunked days ago.

Read this thread by @ddale8.

This video has racked up hundreds of thouands of views on multiple platforms as evidence the Ukraine war is a "hoax made by crisis actors". A director asks a crowd to run and scream in fear. But there are two problems: There's a British union flag visible, and it's from 2013.

We're nearing the end of day seven of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This video claiming to show "Russian helicopters patrolling in the direction of Kyiv" today has racked up 250,000 views on Twitter and even more on TikTok. But it first appeared online before the Ukraine war.

A viral image claiming to show Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska fighting Russian forces on the frontline was actually captured in 2021 during rehearsals for a Ukrainian military parade, and doesn't show Ms Zelenska.

It was fact-checked by @SadeghiMckenzie from @USATODAY.

Ukrainians are not selling used Russian tanks on eBay. No-one's selling tanks on eBay. It's a joke.

H/T @debunker

Vladimir Putin's troops are not carrying out precision strikes against US-owned bioweapons labs in Ukraine, and they certainly aren't saving hundreds of millions of lives.

It's day eight of the war in Ukraine.

A clip from a CNN report has 2 million views on Facebook with claims Russia's sending nuke-capable jets to Venezuela in case war breaks out with the US. The CNN report is from 2018 about Russian military drills, fact-checked by @Seana_Davis.

This video claims to show a Ukrainian man throwing an explosive item at a Russian tank. It's actually a clip from an 11-minute Airsoft video uploaded to YouTube in January. Twitter has labelled the clip "out of context".

H/T @hoaxeye

This video has gone viral on multiple platforms, spread widely by pro-Kremlin accounts. It claims to show a Ukrainian corpse moving, hence proving the war in Ukraine is a hoax or "Western propaganda".

But the clip is from a climate change protest in Vienna in early February.

A video of a young girl and boy putting on blood makeup has racked up millions of views on multiple platforms as evidence the Ukraine war is fake and civilian vicitims are "crisis actors".

But the video was shot in 2020 on the production set of the Ukrainian TV series Contamin.

It's day nine of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

False claims of President Zelensky fleeing Ukraine have been repeatedly spread by pro-Russian media since day one.

Here's George Papadopoulos, a former foreign policy adviser to President Trump, tweeting the same false claim.

Staying on the theme from the previous tweet, Chinese state media outlets Global Times and CGTN both had to issue corrections after falsely reporting that President Zelensky had fled Kyiv. He hasn't.

H/T @kerrya11en

This video does not show the "ghost of Kyiv" taking on and shooting down a Russian fighter jet. It is Digital Combat Simulator (DCS).

It's 10 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.

There've been genuine videos of protests in Moscow against the war in the last few days, but this isn't one of them. This video is from a Janurary 2021 rally following opposition leader Alexei Navalny's arrest upon his return to Russia.

A viral TikTok video claiming to show two Ukrainian soldiers saying goodbye to their partners continues to make the rounds on several platforms despite being debunked by @SamPutterman from @PolitiFact days ago.

It's a clip from the 2017 Ukrainain film The War of Chimeras.

This TikTok video with 2.7 million views dubs the audio of gunfire over a jet taking off, claiming to show the war in Ukraine.

The footage is old and the plane is one of Blue Angels, the flight demonstration squadron of the US Navy; fact-checked by @billdmccarthy of @PolitiFact

This TikTok video claims to show intense fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, racking up 7.3 million views.

It was taken in 2014 in the Chechen capital, Grozny, during a deadly attack by an armed jihadist group.

1) A clip of President Putin's meeting with Aeroflot employees today has gone viral after ridiculous claims by some verified accounts, who should know better, that he was behind a green screen or the meeting was CGI because "his hand groes through the mic".

2) This is an illusion caused by a low-res video and Twitter's compression. Check high-res videos/images of the meeting and there's nothing unusual about the mic and Mr Putin's hand.

The same conspiracies were spread about this Joe Biden video last year.

3) As if the green screen and CGI conspiracy theories weren't bad enough, there's another one, pushed by @nexta_tv, claiming President Zelensky "trolled" Mr Putin tonight by mocking his "hand through mic" clip.

This clip of Mr Zelensky is from the end of his Friday address.

It's day 11 of the Ukraine war.

Russian state-owned outlet Sputnik claimed clashes at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant could have been over Ukrainian "docs on nuclear weapons".

Head of the @iaeaorg said four days ago there was no evidence Ukraine was working on nuclear weapons.

US officials have admitted no such thing.

This TikTok video has generated 6.2 million views, claiming to show an air strike from the war in Ukraine. It's from the military video game Arma 3.

TikTok has so far drawn the highest viewership of false and misleading videos in this war.

We're into day 12 of Russia's invasion.

A supposed leak of a phone call between President Putin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, during which they admit the invasion is not going to plan, is making the rounds. It's a fake clip.

A good thread on it.

A war is taking place on Ukrainian territory, started by Russia.

This video of a Ukrainian tank on a residential street has 3.8 million views on TikTok, claiming to show scenes from the current war against Russia. It first appeared online in 2014.

TikTok misinformation has been completely out of control during this conflict.

It's day 13 of war in Ukraine.

All but two of this TikTok account's supposed Ukraine war livestreams are old clips dubbed with the sound of gunshots, racking up nearly 28 million views in total.

Most of these clips were taken from videos of Ukrainian military trainings in 2017.

It's day 14 of the Russian invasion.

A doctored image of President Zelensky holding a shirt bearing a swastika has been spread by pro-Kremlin accounts. The real image was posted by Mr Zelensky to Instagram ahead of Euro 2020 in June.

Fact-checked by @danieljevon from @snopes.

This TikTok video claiming to show scenes from the war on the streets of Kyiv has 9 million views. It is an old clip from an independence day military parade in the city.

Another day, another fake TikTok livestream with millions of views.

This video, with 2.3 million views, is not a livestream of war in Ukraine. It's not real. The clip was created using CGI and has been circulating online for months; flagged by @abbieasr.

A completely false story about Leonardo DiCaprio donating $10m to Ukraine was published by an obscure Polish website and found its way to dozens of major news outlets who didn't bother to run some basic checks before publishing it, spotted by @JaneLytv.

It's day 15 of war in Ukraine.

1) After yesterday's deadly attack on a Mariupol maternity hospital, a false claim began trending on Russian Telegram that a non-preganant crisis actor played the role of two pregnant women there.

It was echoed by the Russian embassy in UK today.

2) Let's take their claims one by one.

Marianna Podgurskaya, the woman they claim to be a crisis actor, is indeed a beauty influencer who actually lives in Mariupol. Multiple recent images show she's heavily preganant, which is why she'd be at a maternity hospital yesterday.

3) The claim she was acting the role of two pregnant women yesterday is simply preposterous.

A look at high-res images of the other woman featured in their claims shows she looks nothing like Ms Podgurskaya.

These are two different women.

4) Another claim is Mairupol maternity hospital had long been empty, non-operational and taken over by far-right Azov battalion.

@O_Rob1nson found this post on the hospital's Facebook page from 2 March in which it demands fuel to continue operating the hospital. It wasn't empty.

Every claim made by pro-Kremlin accounts and the Russian embassy in the UK is false.

But those false claims are all over the internet, inclduing on 4chan. Ms Pogurskaya will likely be a target for online trolls for some time, on top of the disaster she's already endured.

Twitter has now removed two of the three demonstrably false tweets by the Russian embassy in UK, saying they violated its rules.

It's day 16 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

This video claims to show the war in Ukraine and has drawn 24 million views on TikTok.

It shows an Airsoft game and is unrelated to the current war.

It's day 17 of war in Ukraine.

This viral image claims to show a Ukrainian farmer capture and tow a Russian fighter jet. The picture was taken in Croatia in 2011 after a military jet was towed to Zagreb for a national event.

Fact-checked by @ReutersFacts.

This meme is being circulated by conspiracy groups as evidence Ukrainian refugees are "crisis actors".

The three images were captured by an AFP photographer in 2016 in Aleppo, Syria. They show three different men taking a child to safety after a government air strike.

"Fake war" conspiracists have seized on this moment from a BBC report in Bucha to claim the damage seen in the footage is CGI and a "cartoon man" has been placed there.

That's a traffic mannequin. Here's a stock image of one in Vinniytsia, which isn't very far from Bucha.

It's day 18 of war in Ukraine.

WARNING: GRAPHIC

1) A video of a dead soldier chained to a post first appeared in pro-Russian separatist online circles three days ago with claims Ukrainian forces had chained one of their fighters to stop him from deserting to the Russians.

2) The same video has now gone viral in pro-Ukrainian communities claiming the opposite: that the soldier was chained by the Russians to stop him from defecting to Ukraine.

"Chained soldier" is an old war propaganda trope and makes no sense both militarily and strategically.

A Russian commentator claims a woman accompanying President Zelensky during a hospital visit is combat doctor Inna Derusova, who died from Russian shelling on day one of the war.

A simple search shows she's actually military doctor Tetiana Ostashchenko, not dead.

H/T @GrumpyOW

It's day 19 of the Russian invasion.

A video of Paris under attack has been viewed millions of times and shared with various claims. @lemondefr spoke with the director, who's clarified he wasn't asked by the Ukrainian government to make it.

The Russian embassy in the UK is claiming Ukraine and the US spread bat coronaviruses around the world via migratory birds.

We looked ino Moscow's claims about Ukrainian labs last week. There's no evidence to back up any of their outlandish claims.

bbc.co.uk/news/60711705

It's day 20 of Ukraine war.

Fake accounts of Russian journalist and state TV protester Marina Ovsyannikova have popped up on social networks. The biggest one got 13,600 followers on Twitter before being removed. Created last week, its handle initially was "JuanArrendondo_".

Have a look at the number of fake Instagram accounts that come up when you type Marina Ovsyannikova's name. Her genuine Facebook account links to one private Instagram account (last picture), the rest are all fake.

Doctored images of two damaged cars are making the rounds with claims they belonged to Chinese expats and were vandalised by Ukrainians over Beijing's stance on the war.

First image was taken in the US and the second in China, both in 2017; fact-checked by @AFPFactCheck.

It's day 21 of Russia-Ukraine war.

A terrible deepfake of President Zelensky calling on Ukrainian troops to lay down their arms has been uploaded to the hacked website of Ukraine's 24 TV channel.

Not only is it so cheaply made, but Mr Zelensky sounds Russian in it!

President Zelensky has uploaded a video to refute the fake video of him in the tweet above or that he ever called on his troops to lay down their arms. TV24's hacked website still has a screenshot of the fake video along with a transcript of it.

As a matter of principle, I never post or link to fake or false content. But @MikaelThalen has helpfully whacked a label on this Zelensky one, so here goes.

I've seen some well-made deepfakes. This, however, has to rank among the worst of all time.

It's day 22 of Russia-Ukraine war.

a) How does this account know this but reporters based in Russia don't?!

b) If they'd "made clear" that they'd "disobey" President Putin's orders, they wouldn't be in the job.

We reported a deepfake of President Zelensky yesterday.

There's now a deepfake of President Putin announcing peace with Ukraine making the rounds, labelled as "manipulated media" by Twitter. It was made as a joke in the first few days of war, but has now resurfaced.

It's day 23 of Russia-Ukraine war.

A fake BBC News chyron featuring @thehuwedwards was used to create this meme. Anyone who's ever watched a BBC News bulletin would be able to tell it's fake.

Never mind the facts. The meme has 11,300 retweets and 71,600 likes.

It's day 24 of Ukraine war.

The story about three Russian cosmonauts boarding the ISS wearing yellow suits is likely just a coincidence.

Suits for space missions are typically chosen months in advance and the Russians had worn the exact same suits before.

It's day 25 of Russia-Ukraine war.

Pro-Kremlin accounts widely share claims that President Zelensky wears the Iron Cross on his shirt in public, saying it proves he and his government are "Nazi sympathisers".

But that's the emblem of Ukraine's armed forces, not the Iron Cross.

It's day 26 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

US conspiracy theorist Jack Posobiec claims this video, with 716,000 views, shows Russia's alleged use of a Kinzhal hypersonic missile on 19 March.

The same video was posted to Telegram on 24 February.

1) Pro-Kremlin accounts won't leave beauty influencer Mariana Vishegirskaya alone.

The Russian Telegram channel that originally accused her of being a "crisis actor" posing as a pregnant woman at a Mariupol maternity hospital is now accusing her of receiving aid from Russia.

2) Download the video, zoom in and it quickly becomes clear that lady is not Mariana Vishegirskaya.

Exactly as was the case before, the new baseless claim about Ms Vishegirskaya is now spreading on major social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

3) Here's a thread by @marcowenjones on the new false claim about Ms Vishegirskaya being spread on Twitter.

They're falsely claiming again she and the lady being carried on a stretcher, who sadly died along with her baby, are the same.

It's day 27 of Ukraine war.

This photo of a nine-year-old girl went viral last week with claims she was fighting in Ukraine, and was tweeted by Donald Tusk.

Her father has clarified it was symbolically taken near Kyiv two days before the war began.

Fact-checked by @AnaFaguy.

The Russian embassy in South Africa is the latest to claim US-funded biolabs in Ukraine are used to experiment with dangerous pathogens to spread "ethnicity-based pandemics" via migratory birds.

These are absurd, unserious statements.

It's day 28 of Ukraine war.

A claim went viral on Russian social media that a Canadian sniper nicknamed "Wali", who'd gone to Ukraine to fight, had been killed by Russian forces.

He spoke to @globalnews yesterday confirming he's "alive and well" in Kyiv, spotted by @JaneLytv.

Alexei Didenko, a member of the Russian Duma and deputy head of the LDPR party, says "a clear Ukrainian trail is emerging" in the spread of Covid-19 with "bats and rodents" being used to spread "genetically selective viruses" specifically "interested in the Russian people".

It's precisely one month since Russia invaded Ukraine.

This datagraphic tweeted by Ukraine's National Guard is both inaccurate and ill-judged.

The number of air strikes carried out during the Syrian war is in the tens of thousands, with many towns and cities totally destroyed.

A video of Artem Bonov, a Ukrainian neo-Nazi, has gone viral in Russian social media with claims he's deputy chief of Kyiv police.

The full list of deputy heads of Kyiv police can be found online and Bonov is not among them, neither has he ever held a post in Kyiv police.

It's day 30 of Russia-Ukraine war.

This video with 350,000 views claims to show Russian troops mistakenly blowing themselves up, misleading many. The blast is taken from the video of a jihadi being hit in Syria in 2015 while recording a piece to camera.

Fact-checked by @hoaxeye

It's day 31 of war in Ukraine.

This video has been going viral in pro-Ukrainian circles with claims it shows Ukrainian forces shooting down four Russian helicopters. The footage is from the military video game Arma 3.

It's day 32 of Russia-Ukraine war.

"Fake war" conspiracists claim this CNN report of a firefighter in Lviv wearing a suit bering Edmonton on the back shows the report is not from Ukraine.

But Edmonton firefighters confirm the suits were donated to Ukrainians by them.

It's day 33 of war in Ukraine.

This video of a Slovak opposition MP pouring water on Ukraine's flag is being shared with claims "Slovakia stands with Russia".

It shows a rowdy debate on 8 February, before the war, on a defence pact with the US, fact-checked by @ReutersFacts.

It's day 36 of Russia-Ukraine war.

This document posted by a major Anonymous account claims to show a Russian order to film propaganda videos on Ukrainians mistreating prisoners of war.

But the signature on it was taken from a Russian website that offers advice on signatures.

It's day 38 of Russia-Ukraine war.

A viral tweet by Ukrainian MP Lesia Vasylenko claims to show fighter pilot Natalia, 28, who she says has died during battle.

It actually shows Olesya Vorobey, a Ukrainian soldier who won a beauty contest in Luhansk in 2016.

It's day 39 of Russia-Ukraine war.

1) Dozens of Russian embassy and government accounts as well as pro-Kremlin activists are claiming videos coming out of Bucha are fake or staged because the bodies can be seen moving or sitting up.

So, Let's take their claims one by one.

2) It's important to note we do not know at this stage what exactly happened to those civilians lying dead on the streets of Bucha. That requires a separate investigation. We are merely focusing on Russian claims that the videos are fake or the bodies are actually alive.

3) First is the claim a dead civilian's arm is moving, showing them to be alive.

Slow down the video, as @AuroraIntel has, and you can clearly see there's either a spot or a raindrop on the screen, looking as if the body's moving in low-res clips.

4) Then there's the claim about the body moving in the wing mirror.

A slowed down version shows the buildings in the background being distorted by the wing mirror. Add social media compression and the video gives the impression the body is moving.

WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES

5) And lastly, both civilians claimed to have been alive in those two videos have also been photographed by Sergei Supinsky. Photos of their bodies are available via AFP and Getty Images.

Do they look alive to you?

WARNING: GRAPHIC

6) In this high-resolution video featuring Wladimir
Klitschko you can see the body in the wing mirror video along the red and yellow pavement we debunked earlier. Again, a dead civilian, not a "crisis actor", as Russia claimed.

It's day 41 of Russia-Ukraine war.

Russia's @iaeaorg enovy Mikhail Ulyanov repeats the false claim that no bodies were found in Bucha until 3 April.

Satellite images show bodies in Bucha on 19 March and video of corpses on Yablunska Street was posted in the evening of 1 April.

It's day 42 of Ukraine war.

A Russian Telegram channel came up with an idea last night: Maxar's satellite images from Bucha were not really from 19 March as they claimed, but 1 April. It then retracted to say the images were from 31 March, but now isn't sure about that either.

It's day 43 of Russia-Ukraine war.

A clip has gone viral in pro-Kremlin circles claiming to show Ukrainians setting the scene in Bucha to film "staged" civilian bodies.

But Ukrainian forces are clearly just checking the bodies to ensure no explosives are planted on them.

It's day 44 of Russia-Ukraine war.

No Pentagon official has ever said President Zelensky and George Soros are cousins and this supposed osint account with over 30,000 followers is utter rubbish.

It's day 47 of war in Ukraine.

Pro-Kremlin accounts claim a video shows Russian forces arresting US general and Nato allied land command chief Roger Cloutier in Mariupol in early April.

Gen Cloutier's LinkedIn shows he was in Turkey for a Nato conference just six days ago.

It's day 49 of Russia-Ukraine war.

Pro-Kremlin accounts are spreading a fake video they claim has been published by BBC News to prove the rocket strike on Kramatorsk Station was carried out by Ukraine.

The video is totally fake. Don't be misled. The BBC has made no such video.

Russian state TV is now broadcasting a fake video with BBC branding and logo that claims Ukraine was responsible for the Kramatorsk Station missile attack. It was shared by pro-Kremlin users on social media earlier.

The BBC has confirmed the video is fake.

It's 50 days since Russia invaded Ukraine.

This green filter video claims to show the Russian flagship warship Moskva on fire, but in fact it shows one of the two Tanzanian-flagged cargo vessels that caught fire in the Black Sea in January 2019.

This video is being shared by far-right figure Andriy Biletsky, formerly of Azov and now National Corps, and also others as the moment Russian warship Moskva was allegedly hit by a missile.

It actually shows a Norwegian navy missile strike test filmed in 2013.

It's day 51 of Russia-Ukraine war.

This video with 330,000 views claims to show a Russian tank being blown up by a Ukrainian anti-tank missile.

The video, filmed in Syria in 2017, shows rebel fighters destroying a Syrian military tank in northern Hama.

It's day 53 of war in Ukraine.

A fake BBC News tweet falesly quoting President Macron as saying sanctions against Russia will lead to 60 million refugees in Europe is being shared. Mr Macron has not said such a thing and BBC News never tweeted that.

Spotted by @RespectIsVital

It's day 55 of Russia-Ukraine war.

This video shared by The Sun and others with over 150,000 views claims to show heavy fighting in the Donbas overnight.

In fact, it shows a live ammunition display by the Saudi national guard in December 2013.

It's day 57 of war in Ukraine.

Russian state TV recently aired images of what it claimed to show a Russian soldier replacing the flag of Ukraine with the flag of the Soviet Union on a flagpole in Mariupol.

The incident dates back to 2015 and was filmed in Debaltseve, Donetsk.

It's day 59 of Ukraine war.

Pro-Kremlin users are currently spreading a manipulated video of President Zelensky talking to Elon Musk in early March to indicate he uses cocaine (right). There's no cocaine in the real video (left).

Spotted by @sfinn80

It's day 60 of war in Ukraine.

A viral Twitter thread falesly claims footage of President Putin at the orthodox Easter mass was pre-recorded and edited in, indicating he wasn't there.

Agency photos from the mass clearly show him at the event wearing the exact same suit and tie.

It's day 62 of Ukraine war.

A clip from a 2019 interview of President Zelensky with a Ukrainian paper has been deceptively edited to indicate Zelensky thinks cocaine use is "awesome" and part of his daily routine, but in the real version he denied taking drugs.

Via @APFactCheck

It's day 71 of Russia-Ukraine war.

Another fake video with the logo and branding of BBC News is making the rounds. It falsely claims Poland is going to send troops to Ukraine to confront Russia.

The BBC has made no such video and Poland is not about to get involved in the war.

It's day 76 of Russia-Ukraine war.

This video falsely claims to show Russian warship Admiral Makarov on fire after being hit by Ukrainian missiles, racking up millions of views on different platforms. But it was likely taken from a video game, and Admiral Makarov was never hit.

It's day 79 of war in Ukraine.

A screenshot of a fake CNN news story with a photo of the 1993 Waco siege and the Russian-preferred spelling of the Ukrainian capital "Kiev" has been shared to indicate Western media publish fake stories.

CNN never published that story.

It's day 84 of war in Ukraine.

This image is being shared by pro-Kremlin accounts and claims to reveal President Zelensky has an internal Russian passport.

But it is fake and was made with a software that generates fake Russian passports, fact-checked by @mxbernhard.

It's day 85 of war in Ukraine.

This video shared by Nexta and others claims to show the aftermath of night strikes on a railway in Lviv.

But the video dates back to 2013, when a freight train carrying chemicals exploded in Rostov-on-Don, Russia; via @ReutersFacts.

It's day 86 of Ukraine war.

A viral tweet claims to show Russian Orthodox Church leaders blessing an ICBM called Satan (R-36 or RS-28 Sarmat).

The image dates back to 2015, and shows church leaders blessing a Topol-M (SS-27) ICBM, not a Satan missile; via @thedispatch.

It's day 89 of Russia-Ukraine war.

Former Swedish PM Carl Bildt claims this image shows books about Ukrainian history being burnt in Russian-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine right now.

But the image was taken in 2014 at a pro-Moscow rally in Crimea.

It's three months since Russia invaded Ukraine.

This viral image is being shared to claim President Putin has started wearing a bulletproof vest in public.

A simple reverse image search shows the photo was taken in 2017; fact-checked by @Seana_Davis.

Correction: The photo was likely taken in 2010, not 2014. But the main point stands, it's old and unrelated to the current war in Ukraine.

It's day 97 of war in Ukraine.

Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and right-wing user Ian Miles Cheong claimed the Pride flag had been altered to incorporate the colours of the Ukrainian flag.

But the flag is fake and was created as a joke, via @knowyourmeme.

It's day 105 of war in Ukraine.

A fake news report and a video with the logo of the German daily Bild have been shared online to claim Ukrainian refugees had set fire to a house in Wulfen.

Bild's deputy editor has confirmed both the report and video are fake, via @AFPFactCheck.

It's day 113 of Russia-Ukraine war.

An image of Arnold Schwarzenegger is being shared with claims he's wearing a shirt in solidarity with Crimea.

But the image is doctored. The original photo was taken in 2012, before the current war and before Crimea was annexed by Russia.

It's day 118 of Ukraine war.

A video claiming to show a Russian Kinzhal missile destroy an arms depot in Ukraine is being widely shared on multiple platforms.

It was made by a CGI artist, shared in February under the title "What if Russia started nuclear war?", via @AliSwenson.

It's day 124 of Ukraine war.

Dmitry Polyanskiy, a member of the Russian mission to the UN, says the Kremenchuk shopping centre attack is a "Bucha-style Ukrainian provocation".

There's a mountain of evidence that proves beyond doubt civilian killings in Bucha by Russian forces.

It's day 125 of Ukraine war.

The Russian embassy in the UK claims yesterday's attack in Kremenchuk was a precision strike on an arms depot.

They leave out the fact CCTV footage and satellite images clearly show another Russian missile hit a shopping centre south of the plant.

Pro-Kremlin users and Russian officials have also claimed the Kremenchuk shopping centre was "empty" and "non-functioning".

There are multiple videos and images taken by local residents in the last few days that confirm the shopping centre was open and operating as normal.

It's day 171 of Ukraine war and the Russian embassy in the UK is posting misinformation again.

This clip is not evidence of a "staged" attack in Ukraine. It's from the set of a Ukrainian film about the war called Region of Heroes, fact-checked by @APFactCheck.

It's day 174 of war in Ukraine.

The Russian embassy in the UK shared a fabricated tweet by Japanese PM's special advisor and ex-defence minister Nobuo Kishi blaming Ukraine for a nuclear disaster at Zaporizhia plant.

Mr Kishi has since confirmed he never posted the fake tweet.

It's day 183 of war in Ukraine.

An image shared by Paul Joseph Watson and others claiming to show a UK billboard telling people they'll be cold in winter because Ukrainians need it more is fake.

The real version is a music billboard in Manchester, fact-checked by @Seana_Davis.

It's day 196 of Ukraine war.

A viral image shared by pro-Kremlin accounts claims to show a Ukrainian neo-Nazi wedding.

The doctored image is old and was taken in Novokuznetsk, Russia. The altered flag in it is likely the Russian imperial flag, not Ukraine's; via @fharris2011.

It's day 201 of Russia-Ukraine war.

This video is being shared today on Telegram and Twitter claiming to show explosions in Taganrog, Russia.

In fact, it shows Ukrainian strikes on Russia's Novofedorivka airbase in Crimea back in August.

A fake @DefenceHQ letter is being shared by pro-Kremlin accounts claiming Ukrainian military personnel trained in the UK lack basic skills.

In addition to grammatical errors, it uses terms like "British Royal Army", "raise the moral", "defense", "fast pacing" and "authorized".

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