Did a viral photo capture the bodies of Russian soldiers mashed together into a rectangular piece of flesh "for easy transportation"? No, that's not true: The image showed previously frozen but then thawed pet food left in the streets of
Publication: War
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Anti-Zelenskyy Graffiti Did NOT Appear In The Hague On June 28, 2023
Is graffiti of a hanged Volodymyr Zelenskyy in The Hague, Netherlands, as of this writing? No, that's not true: The image was created by an art group that posts their work on Instagram purportely in random locations worldwide, but there i
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber Flying To US West Coast From Miami In Missile Defense Relocation
Does the video and caption in a social media post accurately portray a B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber flying over Miami as part of the moving of "missile defense systems" to "locations on the U.S. west coast"? No, that's not true: The footage
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Activision Did NOT Post Tweet Mocking Russian Military
Did "Call of Duty" game maker Activision post a tweet mocking the Russian military, apologizing to gamers for using Russia as an antagonist and saying it should have built games around a more competent army, such as that of Cuba or Laos?
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NATO Did NOT Change Its Air Force Status To ‘Combat’ From ‘Air Police’ Over The Baltics
Did NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announce on June 26, 2023, that the international military alliance would change the status of the air force mission protecting the skies of the Baltic states to a "combat" role?" No, that's not
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Biden Did NOT Declare ‘War On Russia’ On Or Before June 17, 2023
Did President Joe Biden declare "war on Russia" as of June 17, 2023? No, that's not true: This video post is missing context as the footage, taken from a March 2022 event of Biden speaking to the House Democratic Caucus, was edited. The t
Logically→ No, this video does not show Russian forces destroying Leopard tanks
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ukraine Did NOT Tell Elon Musk To Delete Tucker Carlson’s Twitter Account In 72 Hours
Did Ukraine demand Elon Musk delete Tucker Carlson's Twitter account within 72 hours, threatening consequences if the demand was not complied with? No, that's not true: the claim originated on a Russian Telegram channel known for satirica
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: AI Drone Did NOT Kill Human Operator In Air Force Simulation — An Air Force Official Misspoke
Did an artificial intelligence (AI) drone kill its operator in a U.S. Air Force simulated test? No, that's not true: Although a report of a conference stated that the Air Force conducted such a test, the official who gave the details late
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Lindsey Graham Did NOT Say ‘Killing Russians Is The Best Money We’ve Ever Spent’
Did Sen. Lindsey Graham publicly proclaim that spending U.S. resources on "killing Russians" is "the best money we've ever spent"? No, that's not true: Graham's words from two different sentences have been run together into what amounts t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show June 6, 2023, Explosion At Nova Kakhovka Dam In Ukraine — It’s November 2022 Footage
Does a black-and-white video show a nighttime explosion at the Nova Kakhovka Dam on the Dnipro River in Kherson Oblast, Ukraine, causing flooding downstream on June 6, 2023? No, that's not true:. This footage was widely circulated before
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Ukraine’s Commander-In-Chief Did NOT Disappear In May 2023 Or On June 3, 2023
Did Commander In Chief Of The Armed Forces Of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyy disappear during the battle of Bakhmut in May 2023 or on June 3, 2023, as the country was moving forward with its counteroffensive plans? No, that's not true: The cla
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Mexican Cartel Member With U.S.-Made Javelin Anti-Tank Missile — It’s Another Type of Missile
Does a video on Mexico's Milenio Television channel show a Mexican cartel member carrying a U.S.-made Javelin anti-tank missile? No, that's not true: Raytheon Technologies, which makes the Javelin, told Lead Stories that the video shows a
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Of A Woman At An ‘International Airport’ Does NOT Show The Wife Of Russia’s Belgorod Region Governor Fleeing Country
Does a photo shared on social media during the May 22, 2023, attack on the Russian region of Belgorod by two paramilitary groups show the wife of the region's governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, at an "international airport" with her "belonging
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Of Car Convoy Does NOT Show People Fleeing Belgorod, Russia After Pro-Ukraine Paramilitaries ‘Invaded’
Does a video of a long convoy of cars show residents of Belgorod, Russia evacuating their homes after Russian paramilitary groups fighting for Ukraine crossed the Russian-Ukraine border on May 22, 2023, and attacked the Belgorod region? N
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show ‘Nato Soldiers in Ukraine’
Does a viral video prove the presence of NATO forces in Ukraine in May 2023? No, that's not true: The footage, predating the Russian invasion of Ukraine, shows Afghanistan. The claim appeared in a video on TikTok on May 10, 2023. The text
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Image Of Smoke Near Pentagon Is NOT Real Photo
Was there an explosion near the Pentagon on May 22, 2023? No, that's not true: This is not a real photo but a digitally fabricated image that shows a plume of smoke near a building that slightly resembles the Pentagon, the headquarters of
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Soviet Victory Flag Did NOT Fly Over The Reichstag Building In Berlin In Early May 2023
Did a red banner resembling a Soviet flag fly in Berlin over the Reichstag building, the seat of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, on May 8, 2023 to commemorate the 1945 liberation of Europe from Nazi control? No, that's not t
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: U.S. ‘Special Forces’ Did NOT Raid ‘Regime Warehouse Filled With Drug Shortage Meds Headed To Ukraine’
Did "United States Special Forces" raid a "regime warehouse filled with drug shortage" medicine headed to Ukraine? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer told Lead Stories this article "is false." The article is also located on a we
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NATO Did NOT Sign Agreement Not To Expand Eastwards After Soviet Union’s Fall
Did NATO sign a written agreement not to expand eastwards after the fall of the Soviet Union? No, that's not true: On its website, NATO refutes the claim, and even Russia -- which historically argued that it was offered verbal guarantees
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Russian Attack On Ukraine’s Ternopil on May 13, 2023
Does a viral video show a Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Ternopil during the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest? No, that's not true: The same footage first appeared online four months before, where it was used by Russian state-control
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Putin Did NOT ‘Reveal’ That ‘Jesus Was Black’
Did Russian President Vladimir Putin display a religious icon that featured a dark-complexioned man's face to show that "Jesus was black"? No, that's not true: The video in this post shows Putin displaying a copy of a Russian Orthodox Chu
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: This Video Does NOT Show Ukraine Being Hit By Nuclear Weapon — It’s The Aftermath Of A Russian Missile Attack
Does a video posted on social media in early May 2023 show Ukraine being struck by a nuclear weapon? No, that's not true: Although the video does show the aftermath of a reported Russian missile attack in Ukraine, there is no evidence tha
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Sweden Did NOT Attack Russia With ‘Surprise Air Strike’ On May 3, 2023
Did Sweden launch a "surprise air strike" against Russia on May 3, 2023? No, that's not true: The claim comes from a clickbait video and is not supported by any other credible sources. The story originated from a post on Facebook on May 3
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Of Shirtless Person In Jockstrap Is NOT Traceable To UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
Does a photo that has been circulating online since November 2022 show British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak flashing his bare chest and wearing nothing but a white lab coat and a jockstrap? No, that's not true: This photo cannot be traced b
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Russian Missile Strike ‘Killed 200 NATO Generals, Including At Least 20 Or 30 High-Ranking American Officers’
Does a TV interview with international affairs analyst Gilbert Doctorow prove that a Russian hypersonic missile "killed 200 NATO generals, including at least 20 or 30 high-ranking American officers"? No, that's not true: Doctorow doesn't
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Moscow Aerial Video NOT Captured By Ukrainian Drones In April 2023
Does a video authentically show footage captured by a Ukrainian drone flying over Moscow in April 2023? No, that's not true: The video shared on Twitter was originally posted to YouTube in 2015 by AirPano, a virtual reality production stu
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Issue 337 Of The New European Does NOT Feature Cartoon Of Dalai Lama And Zelenskyy — It’s Fake
Did a special April 2023 (issue 337) of The New European (TNE) feature on its cover a cartoon of a scowling Rishi Sunak, U.K. prime minister, looking at Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelenskyy sitting on the lap of the Dalai Lama, who has
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Russia Was NOT ‘Reconnected Back To SWIFT’ On April 22, 2023
Did sanctioned Russian banks regain their access to the international system of cross-border money transfers in April 2023? No, that's not true: No such decision was made by the European Union or the United States, as of this writing. The
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Russian Fighter Jet Intercepting US Navy Aircraft On April 10, 2023
Does this video show a Russian fighter jet intercept a U.S. Navy aircraft and order it to leave on April 10, 2023? No, that's not true: This event shown in the video did not happen on April 10, 2023, but on July 7, 2021. The source of the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Poster Does NOT Show A Real War Recruiting Campaign Launched By Ukraine In The U.S. To Target Low-Income Populations
Does a viral snapshot of a poster portray authentic recruiting efforts of Ukraine to encourage the homeless and welfare recipients in the United States to join the fight against Russia? No, that's not true: The rumor was promoted by Kreml
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Zelenskyy Did NOT Say He Won’t Take A Call From Chinese Leader Xi Jinping
Did Volodymyr Zelenskyy announce that he would "no longer take a call from Xi Jinping?" No, that's not true: There is no evidence that the Ukrainian president made the comment about Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Lead Stories previously debun
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Photo Does NOT Show Russian ‘Retaliation Strike’ On Secret NATO Bunker
Does a social media photo show the aftermath of Russian bombing of a NATO "secret underground bunker," possibly in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The image is a screenshot from a March 2021 video showing the aftermath of explosions at an o
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Video Does NOT Show Ukraine Staging War Scenes ‘To Maintain Morale In The Ranks’
Did Ukraine stage war scenes to boost the morale of its soldiers at the frontlines by exaggerating their success? No, that's not true: A clip used as "proof" by social media users actually shows backstage footage from a real movie set loc
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Ukraine Elite Drone’ Footage Does NOT Show Bakhmut Combat On April 1, 2023
Does a video, published on social media, show "44 Russian Tanks" hit in a "Bakhmut trench" by a single "Ukraine elite Drone" on April 1, 2023? No, that's not true: The same account posted multiple items in which the narrator mispronounced
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Russian Missile Strikes On Ukraine In March 2023 NOT A Hoax
Does a social media video prove that reported Russian missile strikes on Ukraine didn't take place or were staged? No, that's not true: The video, which alternates between images of Independence Square in the capital Kyiv and BBC televisi
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: ‘Ukrainian Soldiers’ Do NOT Terrorize Woman And Child — Video Was Staged In Occupied Donetsk
Did two Ukrainian soldiers driving a vehicle with a Ukrainian flag and a Nazi-style straight-armed cross on the tailgate stop a woman driving on a rural road and argue with her because she spoke Russian -- and then as she and her child be
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Images Of ‘Arrested’ Putin Are NOT Authentic
Do viral images of Russian President Vladimir Putin actually show him being arrested? No, that's not true: The "photos" were created by AI-based software, and, as of this writing, Putin is not under arrest, despite a warrant issued by the
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: NO Evidence Taliban Sent ‘Real Tweet’ Claiming To Have ‘Second-Largest Collection Of Humvees Behind’ US
Does a "real tweet" from a Twitter account called "Taliban Public Relations Department, Commentary" proclaim that Afghanistan has the second-largest collection of Humvees behind the United States? No, that's not true: There is no proof th
Lead Stories→ Fact Check: Putin Did NOT Stop Adrenochrome Shipment Being Sent To U.S. — It’s A Fabricated Story
Did Russian President Vladimir Putin intercept an adrenochrome shipment that was in transit to the United States? No, that's not true: The claim contains a hodgepodge of conspiracy theories and it originated in an outlet known for publish