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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

Des chars Leopard 2 avec des symboles nazis à Mannheim, en Allemagne, qui brûleront sur le sol russe.

Publisher’s rating: Les images en question ont été retouchées. Dans la vidéo d’origine, qui circulait déjà sur internet en mars 2022, il n’y a pas de chiffre visible sur le flanc des chars.

The claim was based on a short video circulated on social media from late February 2023, said to show Leopard 2 tanks with the Nazi-associated marking “14/88” in Mannheim. Its caption asserted that tanks with Nazi symbols would burn on Russian soil. The review identifies the video as edited and says the marking was not visible in the original footage. [S1: « Une version plus longue de la vidéo avait déjà été partagée en ligne en mars 2022, notamment sur YouTube et Reddit. Il ne s’agit donc pas d’images récentes. »; « Aucune des vidéos de mars 2022 ne montre les nombres 14/88. »] To check the footage, the review compared the later clip with longer versions shared online in March 2022 and footage used in a German SWR report about Coleman Barracks in Mannheim. It points to the same car hood visible in the clips as evidence that they show the same recording, while the earlier versions do not show “14/88.” The review therefore concludes that the symbol was digitally added, rather than present on the tanks in the original video. [S1: « On retrouve également la vidéo dans un reportage de la chaîne allemande SWR diffusé le 11 mars 2022. »; « On remarque par exemple le même capot de voiture, depuis laquelle a été filmée la vidéo. Le symbole 14/88 a donc été ajouté par la suite. »] The video’s location was connected to a report on Coleman Barracks, a US military installation in Mannheim, where residents observed more military vehicle traffic early in the war in Ukraine. But the review says the tanks’ destination is unknown and finds no indication they were German Leopard 2s. It notes that an online suggestion that they were US-made Abrams tanks was unconfirmed by the US military. Thus, the footage does not establish the claimed tank type, Nazi markings in the original recording, or a destination in Russia. [S1: « Ce dernier portait sur la caserne Coleman, une installation militaire américaine située à Mannheim, dans le sud-ouest de l’Allemagne. »; « La destination de ces chars reste inconnue. »; « Rien n’indique en tout cas qu’il s’agisse de tanks allemands Leopard 2. »]

dpaWar & conflict

Zelensky heeft gezegd dat de VS hun zonen en dochters moeten sturen om te sterven om de NAVO te verdedigen.

Publisher’s rating: Fundamentele context ontbreekt bij deze uitspraak van Zelensky. Hij zegt niet dat de VS hun zonen en dochter moeten sturen als ze hem willen steunen. Hij spreekt van een hypothetisch scenario: namelijk wat een escalatie van de oorlog in Oekraïne voor de VS zou kunnen betekenen.

The viral clip came from a press conference Zelensky held in Kyiv on 24 February 2023, a year after Russian troops entered Ukraine. In the clip, he discusses US sons and daughters being sent to fight and potentially die in connection with NATO. But the surrounding exchange changes the meaning: journalist Ian Pannell of ABC had asked what Zelensky would say to Americans who believed their country was giving Ukraine too much support. The review says Zelensky described that declining support as dangerous, rather than asking the US to send troops to Ukraine. In the fuller answer, Zelensky sets out a hypothetical sequence: if Ukraine were to lose because support weakened, Russia would invade the Baltic states, which are NATO members; the US would then have to send its sons and daughters to fight, and they might die. The review concludes that this was a warning about what an escalation could mean for the US, not a call for Americans to be sent to Ukraine now. The review also identifies a translation problem in the viral clip. The simultaneous English interpreter says “their sons and daughters” where, according to dpa’s own translation from Ukrainian, Zelensky said “our sons and daughters.” The review says the phrase “that will happen” was also lost in the simultaneous translation. These details help explain why the short clip could sound like a direct demand when the longer answer was conditional and focused on a hypothetical future conflict.

Belarusian Investigative CenterWar & conflict

Украинцы не хотят бороться за Крым и Донбасс

Publisher’s rating: Фейк. По данным за ноябрь 2022 года, опрос социологической службы «Рейтинг» показал, что только 9% украинцев готовы смириться с потерей Крыма и территорий Донбасса, которые Россия контролировала до начала вторжения.

dpaWar & conflict

De Roemenen installeren hun luchtverdedigingssysteem aan de grens met Moldavië.

Publisher’s rating: De video toont militaire voertuigen die trainen voor een militaire parade die 1 december 2022 was in het midden van Roemenië. De beelden zijn dus niet recent en ze zijn ook niet bij de grens met Moldavië opgenomen.

The claim concerns a video of Romanian military vehicles travelling on a public road, presented by some Facebook users as evidence that Romania was installing an air-defence system at its border with Moldova. The investigation identifies the footage as vehicles preparing for Romania’s 1 December national-day parade, not a recent deployment at that border. It places the parade activity in Alba Iulia, in central Romania. To trace the footage, the review says it searched for a screenshot using reverse image search and found the video on Twitter, where some posts suggested it was filmed on 27 February 2023. It then searched TikTok using “parada Alba Iulia 2022” and “1 decembrie,” locating a version posted on 30 November 2022. The review also checked the location against Google Maps and Street View, identifying an OMV station, a stadium behind it, and a distinctive building visible in the footage. A red advertising sign matched the Street View image from July 2022. The review further reports that Romanian authorities said the vehicles were travelling to training for the 1 December parade in late November 2022. The Defence Ministry identified the systems in the video as HIMARS and GEPARD. The footage therefore does not substantiate the claimed border installation, even though the review notes that one of the systems shown, GEPARD, is an air-defence system.

dpaWar & conflict

Oekraïense media gebruiken oude foto uit India als bewijs dat Russische trein vernield is.

Publisher’s rating: De Oekraïense media beweerde niet dat een foto van een brandende trein een Russisch transport toont. Een screenshot van een Oekraïens artikel is bewerkt.

The investigation examined a social-media screenshot suggesting that Ukrainian media had used an old photograph of a burning train in India to depict a Russian train. It found that the Indian image came from a 2016 article about a train set on fire in Andhra Pradesh. The exact-title search brought up that Indian article, whose title, image and publication date matched the screenshot’s Indian-article reference; other photographs of the incident also supported the image’s Indian provenance. The review then checked what the Ukrainian articles actually showed. Searching their exact title located several Ukrainian reports about an explosion on a Russian railway line reportedly used to transport fuel for the war. The articles were published in early September 2022, rather than on the January 25, 2023 date shown in the circulated screenshot. The review says none of those articles used the Indian photograph: they used an image from a video recorded in early September. The video was also present in a press release from Russian authorities. Those authorities said a freight train derailed in Yakutia on September 3, 2022, and that an investigation into the cause had begun. Thus, the articles’ image was traced to Russian-authority material about that incident, while the screenshot combining the Ukrainian article with the Indian train photograph was altered.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Visuals of Khalistan terrorists chopping off hand of a man

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The post linked a video of assailants attacking a man’s hand to recent pro-Khalistan activity in Punjab, claiming that Khalistan terrorists had carried out the attack. FACTLY examined that same video and reported that it showed three assailants chopping off a man’s fingers—not his entire hand—in a separate incident in Mohali. The review says the attack was reported on 8 February 2023 and was revenge for a murder six months earlier. The account cited in the review points to the victim and the attackers’ stated motive. Deputy Superintendent of Police Harinder Singh Mann told The Indian Express that Gaurav and two others attacked Hardeep Singh, suspecting that Hardeep had been involved in the murder of Gaurav’s brother. FACTLY also reports that police registered an FIR against the three men at Phase-1 police station under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including sections 365, 34 and 379-B. The review distinguishes the Mohali attack from the pro-Khalistan events that prompted the video’s circulation. It describes a 23 February clash at the Ajnala police station in Amritsar, after which the video was shared with a link to pro-Khalistan activity. But, according to the review, the incident depicted in the video had already been reported in Mohali, and police did not identify a connection to pro-Khalistan activity. The evidence presented therefore supports the review’s conclusion that the video was misattributed.