Skip to main content

PeakMetrics / Fact Checks

War & conflict fact checks

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

5,840 published reviews in this topic

dpaWar & conflict

Oekraïense soldaten schieten op woongebouw.

Publisher’s rating: Het gebouw dat wordt beschoten is geen wooncomplex, maar een politiegebouw in de stad Lutuhyne, in de Oekraïense provincie Loehansk. De beelden zijn bovendien niet recent, maar komen uit 2014. Feiten

FACTLYWar & conflict

Newspaper clipping stating Nepal recently occupied 7100 acres of Indian territory

Publisher’s rating: MISLEADING

The clipping’s headline, “7100 acres of Indian territory occupied by Nepal,” was being shared as a report of a recent event. FACTLY traced the headline to a Dainik Bhaskar article and found that it was published in 2018, rather than being a new report in 2021. The review therefore challenges the clipping’s apparent recency, not the existence of the older article. According to FACTLY’s account of the article, it reported that Nepal had acquired about 7,100 acres in West Champaran district, Bihar, and described alleged illegal encroachment in areas including Susta in Valmiki Nagar, Valmiki Tiger Reserve forests, and Shivalik hills in Govardna. FACTLY says Janasatta also reported the issue. These details describe what the older reports said; the supplied review does not establish an official finding that the land had been occupied. FACTLY says it searched the internet using the subject mentioned in the post, found the Dainik Bhaskar article, and found no recent articles about Nepal occupying 7,100 acres. It also notes that it found no official Government of India response to that report at the time. The evidence supports calling the clipping misleading when presented as recent: the identified article dated to 2018, and the review reports finding no recent coverage of the specific 7,100-acre claim.

Deutsche Presse-AgenturWar & conflict

In einem Video der ukrainischen Armee wird ein homosexueller Soldat mit seinem Partner gezeigt.

Publisher’s rating: Das Originalvideo stammt aus Großbritannien und wurde nachträglich verändert. Das vermeintliche Rekrutierungsvideo ist also eine Fälschung.

The claim concerns a video circulated in June 2022 as a Ukrainian military appeal to recruit gay men. The DPA review identifies the central footage as a soldier getting off a plane and being greeted by his partner, but says that scene is from a 2012 British short film—not a video made by the Ukrainian army. The film was produced by the Coalition for Equal Marriage, which campaigned for marriage equality for gay couples. The review describes several changes in the circulated version. Scenes showing the British flag were removed, while an emblem of Ukraine’s ground forces and a phone number were added; Ukrainian-language text replaced the original ending. It also notes that music was added and footage of the Ukrainian army was inserted, including a brief view of a uniform bearing a Ukrainian emblem. These edits make the video appear to be an official Ukrainian recruitment message, although the footage of the soldier and his partner came from the earlier British film. The DPA’s account therefore distinguishes the source of the original scene from the altered video that circulated: the scene of the couple is British footage from 2012, while Ukrainian military imagery and recruitment-related elements were added later. The review does not describe the alleged recruitment video as an authentic Ukrainian army production.

dpaWar & conflict

Russische raket in Krementsjoek sloeg in op wapendepot. Vuur sloeg over naar verlaten winkelcentrum.

Publisher’s rating: Bewakingsbeelden laten duidelijk zien dat het winkelcentrum rechtstreeks geraakt wordt door een raket, en dat er geen sprake kan zijn van overslaande brand. Ook was het winkelcentrum niet verlaten. Het was open op het moment van de raketinslag.

The claim addressed is that a Russian missile struck a weapons depot in Kremenchuk and that the resulting fire spread to an abandoned shopping centre. The review examines the 27 June 2022 strike on the Amstor shopping centre and contrasts that account with surveillance footage and other evidence about the site. It reports that the centre was directly hit and was open at the time, rather than abandoned. To assess where the strike occurred, the investigation matched features in surveillance footage shared by President Zelensky with the surroundings visible on online maps and Street View. It identifies the shopping centre’s yellow north wall, a nearby tower, trees, and shadows as location markers. From the camera’s identified position, the footage shows a missile hitting the centre at 15:51:55 on 27 June. A drone view from the following day shows the centre destroyed, while the visible portion of the neighbouring factory site is undamaged—contrary to the account that fire spread from there. The review also distinguishes this strike from a second missile impact. It describes park surveillance footage showing a second strike about eight minutes after the first, on another part of the factory site. The review says footage of that damage was circulated as evidence against the shopping-centre strike, but that it instead shows the second impact and does not refute the first. Separately, it cites evidence that businesses at the centre were operating before the attack, including a shop’s 24 June social-media post and a retailer’s report that an employee died and five staff members were hospitalized after the attack.

FACTLYWar & conflict

Video of a terrorist caught in Faridabad recently

Publisher’s rating: FALSE

The claim concerned a social-media video said to show a terrorist being caught recently at a Faridabad metro station. FACTLY’s review says Faridabad Police clarified that the footage showed a CISF mock drill there, not an arrest. The review also reports that it found no recent news reports of a terrorist being arrested at the station. To examine the video, the reviewers reverse-image-searched screenshots and found a YouTube video with similar visuals. The channel Faridabad News described the viral video as footage of a CISF-organised mock drill at a Faridabad metro station. The review separately says it found a tweet from Faridabad Police identifying the footage as a CISF mock drill. The evidence described in the review therefore identifies the video as a drill and says police attributed it to that exercise. The review’s additional observation that it found no recent arrest reports is a search result reported by FACTLY; the excerpt does not provide details of the search or the police tweet itself.