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PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

War & conflict fact checks

Explore claims publishers have checked about war & conflict. Read their original ratings and follow the evidence.

5,837 published reviews in this topic

dpaWar & conflict

Video belegt Inszenierung des Ukraine-Kriegs.

Publisher’s rating: Es handelt sich nicht um eine Propaganda-Inszenierung des Kriegs in der Ukraine, sondern um Dreharbeiten für einen Kurzfilm. Sie fanden im Jahr 2023 in Lettland statt.

The video was presented on Facebook as proof that scenes of the war in Ukraine were staged. The dpa review examined whether the footage showed a deceptive production of war scenes in Ukraine. It reports that people dressed and equipped like soldiers are seen entering a building and encountering explosions, but identifies the activity as filming for the short film “Hoffnung” (“Надія/Nadiya”) in Sigulda, Latvia—not the creation of fabricated war material. The review attributes information about the production to Ukrainian director Artyom Kotscharyan, who discussed it with Latvian public media. It also reports that Ukrainian press coverage identified actress Marina Bilous as the film’s lead and that the film was expected to be released in May 2023. These details place the footage within a film production in Latvia rather than a staged event in Ukraine. To check whether the Facebook clip matched the reported production, the review compared its scenes with footage in a Latvian video report. It says the same scene appears in both videos from different camera angles, with matching movements and clothing, and that the filming location matches both inside and outside the building. This scene-level correspondence is the review’s direct evidence linking the disputed clip to the short-film shoot.

dpaWar & conflict

Pas nadat op 3 april 2022 het Oekraïense Azov-bataljon in Boetsja aankwam, verschenen er beelden van lijken in de straten.

Publisher’s rating: De beweringen zijn vals. De eerste foto’s en video’s van lichamen op straat in Boetsja kwamen al op 1 april 2022 aan het licht. Er is overweldigend bewijs dat de lichamen daar al sinds half maart lagen. Boetsja was toen nog geheel onder Russische controle. De New York Times heeft zelfs weten vast te stellen welk Russisch regiment verantwoordelijk is voor het bloedbad en publiceerde beeldmateriaal van verschillende moorden.

Belarusian Investigative CenterWar & conflict

Польских офицеров в Катыни расстреляли фашисты

Publisher’s rating: Это фейк, Владимир Путин признал, что в этом преступлении виноват Сталин. За эти годы по «катынскому делу» были рассекречены около четырех млн документов, а польской стороне передан 1 млн листов. Так что вопрос о том, кто стоял за этим убийством, был давно закрыт.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Recent visuals of the conflict between Israel and Palestine as a result of which innocent children are being affected

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The claim concerns a social-media post presenting a video report about Israel and Palestine as recent, alongside a Hindi caption that loosely translates as “Why such oppression towards innocent children in Palestine.” FACTLY examined the clip itself and concluded it was genuine footage, but not a recent report: it was a portion of a Republic Bharat broadcast from 2021. That difference in timing is central to the finding; the clip does not establish that the events shown are recent. FACTLY describes how it traced the clip: it observed Republic Bharat’s logo and the adjacent phrase “Ye Bharat ki baat hai,” then searched YouTube using keywords. That search led to Republic Bharat’s original report from May 2021, and the viral video was identified as a small portion of that 42-minute report. The review says the program’s anchor, Syed Suhail, was reporting on the violent Israel-Palestine crisis and its damage on both sides. Thus, the investigation supports the video’s older broadcast provenance, rather than the post’s implication that it depicts current events.

dpaWar & conflict

Les sans-abri américains sont attirés pour combattre aux côtés de l'Ukraine avec des promesses de salaires mensuels.

Publisher’s rating: Il n’existe aucune preuve permettant d’établir que l’affiche en question proviendrait d’un organisme ukrainien officiel. L’ambassade d’Ukraine aux États-Unis, point d'entrée pour les Américains souhaitant rejoindre les rangs ukrainiens, a déclaré à la dpa que ni elle, ni le ministère ukrainien de la Défense n’avaient lancé une telle initiative. D’autres éléments remettent par ailleurs en cause l’authenticité de l’affiche.

The review investigated an image shared online that purported to show a recruitment poster in a New York City subway. The poster addressed people tired of living on public assistance and showed a man sleeping on subway seats; social-media users interpreted it as Ukraine offering homeless Americans monthly payments to join its forces. The review distinguished that allegation from the separate fact that foreign volunteers can enlist in Ukraine’s International Legion. To assess whether the poster was official, the investigation looked for it on the social-media channels of the Ukrainian embassy in the United States and on the International Legion’s websites. It reported that it could find no photograph of the poster in those places, and noted that the circulating image appeared to be the only available version. The review also contacted the embassy: its spokesperson said neither the embassy nor Ukraine’s Defense Ministry had produced material marketing recruitment of U.S. citizens into the Legion, and said the posters were false. The review found that some poster details could have been assembled from publicly available information on the Ukrainian government’s Fight for Ukraine website, including a phone number and slogan. It therefore said those details did not establish who made the image. It also reported that official enlistment guidance required military experience, an age of 18–60, and a clean criminal record—conditions at odds with the poster’s suggestion that anyone could join. The investigation did not establish the poster’s creator, but found no evidence that it was an official Ukrainian recruitment campaign.

dpaWar & conflict

Met deze poster worden werkloze Amerikanen gerekruteerd voor het Oekraïense internationale leger.

Publisher’s rating: Er is geen bewijs dat het affiche van officiële Oekraïense instanties afkomstig is. De Oekraïense ambassade in de VS, aanmeldpunt voor Amerikanen die zich bij het legioen willen aansluiten, bevestigde aan dpa dat noch de ambassade noch het Oekraïense ministerie van Defensie dergelijk rekruteringsmateriaal voor Amerikaanse burgers gepubliceerd heeft. Ook andere overheidsbronnen uit Oekraïne bevestigen dit.

dpaWar & conflict

Video beweist dass alles was man aus der Ukraine sieht inszeniert ist.

Publisher’s rating: Die - durchaus inszenierten - Videoaufnahmen stammen von den Dreharbeiten einer Kurzfilmproduktion über den Krieg, die 2023 in Lettland stattfanden. Solche Filme sind kein Beweis für eine Inszenierung des Krieges in der Ukraine.

The claim concerns a short video showing Ukrainian soldiers, explosions and a camera crew. It was shared with the assertion that everything seen from Ukraine has “a set and a sequence.” The review distinguishes what the footage can establish from that much broader conclusion: it identifies the clip as staged filming, but says that this does not show that real war footage from Ukraine is staged. [S1]

dpaWar & conflict

Deze video toont hoe de oorlog in Oekraïne in scène wordt gezet.

Publisher’s rating: De video toont filmopnames van een korte film over de ervaringen van een jonge Oekraïense vrouw in de oorlog. De opnames vonden plaats in Letland. Het is geen bewijs dat de oorlog in scène wordt gezet.

The video was shared with the suggestion that images and reporting about the war in Ukraine could not be trusted. The review says that conclusion overreaches: the clip shows filming for a short film, not evidence that the war itself was staged. The film, called “Hope,” follows a young Ukrainian woman who loses her loved one in the conflict and is based on a true story. The review identifies the filming location as Latvia. To check whether the shared clip showed the same production, the review compared it with a report by Latvian public broadcaster about filming at an old military base in Sigulda. It describes matching details in the footage: a narrow corridor, blue tiles and an explosion, as well as a woman wearing jeans, white boots and a black puffer jacket and holding a clapperboard. Those visual correspondences connect the social-media video to the film shoot rather than establishing that war coverage was staged. The review also identifies Ukrainian actress Marina Bilous as the lead and reports that an interview with director Artem Kocharyan said filming took place at different locations in Latvia during March. Taken together, the reported production details and the comparison with the Latvian broadcast account for the footage’s setting and origin; the clip does not support the broader claim that the war was staged.