Did Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video, say the Caspian Sea was the territory of Belarus and promise to find all Belarusians who launched their rockets from the shores of the Caspian Sea? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found this video has been manipulated. This claim has been published by different TikTok accounts in Russian. On April 7,…

Have three priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate been physically attacked in March 2022 and January 2023 in Ukraine, as part of a systematic effort to intimidate and harass them? No, there is no evidence to support the claim: The specific cases cited as examples in a recent Belarusian TV show are missing context or provide…

Did Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko decide to break off ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin? No, that's not true: The video fragment was taken from Lukashenko's speech during VI All Belarusian People's Assembly in February, 2021. When giving the speech, Lukashenko referred to the opposition initiative "Intensive reform package for Belarus," which lists the goals of the opposition political organizations,…

Is Netflix producing a movie titled 'Zelenskyy', where all the actors are Black? No, that's not true: There is no publicly available information that such a movie is in production as of May 24, 2023. The actor Daniel Kaluuya is not reported to be involved in a movie by that title. The video (archived here) was published on TikTok.com on…

Was Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko replaced by a twin during his visit to an air defense command center on May 15? No, that's not true: the images presented in the video were altered. The story appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by @bigkross50 on May 18, 2023. It opened: Shock! Lukashenko's double put Belarusian Army on…

Did an LGBT parade take place in Ukraine on May 9, 2023, instead of a Victory Parade? No, that's not true: no parade, neither military nor LGBT, took place in Ukraine on that day. The claim appeared in a video (archived here), published on TikTok on May 8, 2023, by the pro-Russian account @proritsatel.tm after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had…

Did Russia's President Vladimir Putin launch a missile attack on Ukraine that hit Europe, and was he expected to broadcast live to communicate the results of the new war? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no credible reports of such an attack. No announcement of an upcoming live broadcast by President Putin was published on the Kremlin's official website.…

Did the President of Ukraine get detained in The Hague instead of the Russian President? No, that's not true: Neither the president of Russia nor the president of Ukraine was detained in The Hague. On March 17, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he has yet to be arrested. On May 5,…

Did Poland's President Andrzej Duda say that Ukraine has already lost the war with Russia, and he sees no point in assisting Ukraine because Russia is too strong? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no such information on the official website of the president of the Republic of Poland, where all the president's remarks are collected. No such statement…

Did Belarusian troops march chanting insults at Putin? No, the footage is from 2021 and shows the march of the Ukrainian military in preparation for the Independence Day parade on August 24th. The video (archived here) displaying this claim was originally published by @hereiswherewedestroythem on the Tiktok on April 28th. This is what the post looked like on TikTok at…

Were people in the Crimean peninsula stuck in traffic on the Kerch bridge after a fuel depot blast in the Russian-occupied city of Sevastopol on April 29, 2023? No, that's not true. The footage recently circulated on social media is from October 2022. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on April 30, 2023, by the…

Is the United States preparing for a nuclear war in Europe by deploying a guided-missile submarine to the Middle East? No, that's not true: There is no evidence nor has it been reported that the United States is currently preparing for a nuclear war in Europe or elsewhere. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok by…

Did the British weekly New European publish a special issue cover with a cartoon of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sitting on the lap of Dalai Lama and saying: "I'll suck it if you pay me"? No, that's not true: The illustration has not appeared in any issue of The New European. On April 18, 2023, the cover in English with…

Does this photo show the son of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Nikolai Peskov taking the military oath? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found the person taking the oath in the photo is not Nikolai Peskov, also known as Nikolai Choles. It is the son of the fifth president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, Oleksii Poroshenko. On April 23, 2023, this…

Does a video circulating on social media show Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the hands of enemy forces, about to be executed? No, that's not true: The person in the video is an actor impersonating Zelenskyy in a YouTube miniseries, meant to be satirical, mocking the Ukrainian president. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) posted on TikTok by the account…

Did Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video, say the Caspian Sea was the territory of Belarus and promise to find all Belarusians who launched their rockets from the shores of the Caspian Sea? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found this video has been manipulated. This claim was published by different TikTok accounts in Russian. On April 7, 2023,…

Did Polish tv show a map in 2023 'dividing' Ukraine among neighbor states? No, that's not true: a recent news report on national Polish tv did not show such a map. The clip is taken from a old news report aired on Polish public television in 2014. It showed a Russian politician's old proposal to divide Ukraine, shrinking its territory…

Did the Ukrainian Parliament submit a bill banning filming in cemeteries? No, that's not true: The screenshot distributed under the masthead of the National News Agency of Ukraine (Ukrinform) is fabricated. Lead Stories found no such information on Ukrinform's official website (archived here), and no such bill has been registered on the Ukrainian Parliament's website. This claim has been published…

Did a collapse in the value of the American dollar cause the United States to reconnect Russia to the SWIFT financial messaging system? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that the United States or SWIFT has announced such a decision, as of this writing. On February 28, 2022, the United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Canada…

Does a video on TikTok show a priest from the Orthodox Church of Ukraine performing a "satanic" dance to celebrate Easter? No, that's not true: The man seen in the video is not a priest but a Ukrainian actor. The video was recorded during the filming of a miniseries in 2020. The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here)…