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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.

5,848 published reviews in this topic

PolitiFactWar & conflict

"The Russian army does not occupy Ukrainian territory."

Publisher’s rating: Pants on Fire

The supplied evidence is related reporting, not the original PolitiFact review. It addresses the substance of the claim—that the Russian army does not occupy Ukrainian territory—by describing Russian occupation and territorial control in Ukraine. In an interview excerpt, Ukrainian human rights activist Oleksandra Matviichuk says “it was not the Ukrainian army that invaded another country, it was the Russian army.” She also describes a proposed peace plan under which “Russia would even retain occupied territories.” These statements directly conflict with a categorical denial that Russian forces occupy Ukrainian territory. The excerpt does not identify the territories or provide an independent accounting of their extent. Separate reporting on Vladimir Putin’s demands says he sought Ukraine’s withdrawal from all of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia, including areas “that Russia does not occupy.” That distinction indicates that Russian control did not extend to every part of those regions; it does not support the broader denial that Russian forces occupied any Ukrainian territory. The excerpts do not describe the original PolitiFact investigation or its checking methods.