Were a restaurant patio and a bar, a fish market and a food shop opened on the premises of St. Mark's Church in London? No, that's not true: The church was deconsecrated, transformed from sacred to secular use in 1974, and was transformed into a gastronomic hub in 2019. The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published by…

Did Elon Musk pose in a T-shirt printed with folkloric-looking Ukrainians and captioned with Russian swear words? No, that's not true: The image was manipulated from a photo of Musk taken during the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. Musk had appeared wearing a shirt featuring the American rock band Tesla. The claim appeared on TikTok (archived here) on January 9,…

Is there a mandatory payment of 100 hryvnia for residents in Ukraine to access a bomb shelter during an air alert? No, that's not true: The Department of Press and Information of Ukraine's Ministry of Defence told Lead Stories that the claim is false, categorizing it as disinformation. Furthermore, Lead Stories found no evidence supporting this claim. The claim appeared…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy purchase two luxury yachts worth $75 million with the help of his close friends, used as proxies? No, that's not true: The two yachts are still for sale. The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published by belvestnik.bel121 (this account seems to have vanished) on December 1, 2023, with a text overlay (translated…

Did a caretaker of Ukrainian origin cause damage of 100,000 euros ($110,275) by breaking a statue in a gallery of modern art in Paris? No, that's not true: The sculpture in this post, by Swedish-born artist Anna Uddenberg, has been displayed in various exhibitions and remains untouched by acts of vandalism. A janitor named Valery Tarashchuk, reportedly of Ukrainian origin…

Did the Čemodāns restaurant in the Latvian capital refuse to serve Russian actress Chulpan Khamatova and was she even kicked out for communicating in Russian? No, that's not true: Both the actress and the restaurant denied it. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on the TikTok account @user9096623588115 on November 24, 2023. It was also shared by the…

Did a Ukrainian TV host "ask all unmarried women to move in with unmarried men" in order to save on energy and heating in a recent broadcast shared on social media? No, that's not true: In an email to Lead Stories, the TV channel said that such an announcement was never made or broadcast on the network. The claim appeared…

Did no officials meet German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Doha airport when he arrived for a visit to Qatar? No, that's not true: Sultan bin Saad Al-Muraikhi, Qatar's minister of state for foreign affairs, arrived to receive him. However, Steinmeier waited at the exit of the plane for nearly half an hour. The claim appeared in a video (archived here)…

Did Lithuanian, Latvian and Polish presidents receive a request to move aside due to lack of space during a group photo session at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai on December 1, 2023? No, that's not true: The leaders of the Baltic countries and Poland boycotted the group photo session to protest the presence of Belarusian President…

Did Ukrainians in the city of Zhytomyr receive leaflets inviting them to vote for current Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny as the new president of Ukraine? No, that's not true: Pictures purportedly showing such leaflets have been shared as Russian propaganda, along with the alleged candidacy of Zaluzhny in an upcoming election in Ukraine, according to…

Did Lithuanians voice their opinion on closing border crossings with neighboring Belarus? No, that's not true: The claim is based on a statement by the vice-chancellor and head of the National Crisis Management Centre of Lithuania, Vilmantas Vitkauskas, taken out of context. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok by sotniktiktok on November 22, 2023, under the…

Has CNN released a billboard advertisement in New York City saying "Kyiv is all over"? No, that's not true: A CNN representative told Lead Stories that CNN never produced such an ad, and Lead Stories found no evidence that the ad shown in videos on social media ever existed. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on the TikTok…

Did a 17-year-old Ukrainian teenager lose his life on the battlefield, fighting with the Armed Forces of Ukraine? No, that's not true: The man being referred to in a video circulating on social media, Volodymyr Sachala, was 26, not 17, when he died. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok published by okupantttt on December 7, 2023.…

Was a new law introduced by the Lithuanian government to impose a rain tax as a response to budget deficits caused by sanctions, starting at the beginning of 2024? No, that's not true: Lithuania does not have a rain tax. However, the government has enacted a new law that mandates registration for users of surface water. This regulation applies to…

Did the former adviser to Ukraine's president's office announce an "information bomb" at the beginning of 2024 that would reveal the truth about Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, while claiming the support of influential Ukrainian armed forces generals? No, that's not true: Oleksiy Arestovich announced he did not make these statements, and the video appears to be manipulated. TikTok account @belvestnik.bel121 posted…

Правда ли, что португальское правительство ограничило въезд в страну лидера белорусской оппозиции в изгнании Светланы Тихановской и усложнило условия для белорусских граждан? Нет, это неправда. Представитель португальского МИДа подтвердил, что таких ограничений не было, а Lead Stories не нашли никаких доказательств, что Португалия ввела рестрикции против белорусов. Данное утверждение появилось в видео (архив здесь), опубликованном в социальной сети TikTok 14…

Are they recruiting extras in Kyiv to support the election campaign of the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyy, and is the main requirement for extras the presence of combat experience or dress uniform? No, that's not true: The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine's Department of Press and Information emailed Lead Stories to refute the claim on…

Did Ukrainian television channel 1+1, citing Ukraine's Defence Ministry, acknowledge that over a million soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have died or gone missing? No, that's not true: The Department of Press and Information of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence told Lead Stories it was disinformation. Channel 1+1, contacted by Lead Stories, also added that no such information…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy deliver an urgent speech in which he announced his resignation? No, that's not true: A watermark on the video on social media is from a platform for creating videos with talking AI avatars, the voice is not the same and the content is satirical. No credible reports confirm such an announcement. The claim appeared in…

Did Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announce a "shovel challenge" and ask people to join him in cleaning a Ukrainian cemetery? No, that's not true: The original video showing Zelenskyy shoveling snow from a city street, posted on his official Facebook account in 2019, has been digitally altered to superimpose his video over scenes from a Ukrainian cemetery. The claim appeared…