Publications with unverified or deliberately fabricated content spread on social networks faster than platforms and fact checkers can mark them as fake. We have collected examples of such publications to illustrate the most popular methods of information manipulation.
Video: Putin’s statement on the results of negotiations with Ukraine in Gomel
per day negotiations between Russia and Ukraine, held in Gomel on February 28, appeared on social networks video statement Vladimir Putin about the agreements reached: “Negotiations with the Ukrainian side have just taken place. And they ended absolutely successfully for the Russian side. I will briefly inform you. So, we have achieved peace with Ukraine. With Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders: with the Donetsk and Lugansk regions. We agreed that we will jointly create a large fund, with the participation of the EU and the United States, for the restoration of infrastructure in these Ukrainian regions. We also signed a five-year “road map” for restoring the independence of Crimea as a republic within Ukraine,” the video says on behalf of the Russian president. It's difficult to estimate how widely the video spread because, according to allegations some fact checkers, mostly users share this video in groups and private messages in instant messengers.
Is it true: analysis video using the Deepware platform showed that the video is most likely a deepfake. Deepfake is a technology using neural networks that allows you to create fake videos by animating a person’s face and imitating his voice. In the video with Putin's statement, four of the five algorithms are Deepware discovered elements of deepfake technologies. Even with the naked eye it is clear that Putin’s words in some places do not correspond to his facial expressions and articulation. And the gist of what was said contradicts Putin's earlier statements that caused readers have suspicions about the authenticity of the footage.
Fake
Video: battles between the Russian Air Force and Ukrainian air defense
Social media users shared video, in which for six and a half hours there is supposedly a battle between Russian MiG-29 fighters and Ukrainian air defense systems. The video received millions of views and thousands of comments.
Is it true: The video shows an excerpt from computer game Arma 3. Similar video battle simulations can be found at YouTube channel gamer Compared Comparison, who creates military simulations using the video games Arma 3 and Digital Combat Simulator. The caption Breaking News was superimposed on the video later.
Fake
Photo: new cover of Time magazine
On the Internet separated purportedly the cover of the March issue of Time magazine with the headline “History Repeating itself.”
Is it true: photo collage made by designer Patrick Mulder. It refers to the fact that Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Putin won Time magazine's Person of the Year at different times. Patrick on his Twitter demonstrateshow he created the collage. Time magazine officially denied this is also a misconception by publishing the real cover of the March 2022 issue, which, however, also came out with the headline “History Repeating: How Putin Destroyed Europe’s Dreams.”
Not true
Video: bombing of Mariupol
On the night of February 24, several social network users published video with commentary “Mariupol now.” On it, sounds similar to explosions are heard, which are accompanied by flashes against the background of residential buildings.
Is it true: video published on TikTok by user kiryshkkanew back in January 2022. According to the author, the video shows a lightning strike on a power plant. The apparent sounds of explosions are thunderclaps, which are also heard in the original video.
Not true
Video: Ukrainian drone “Bayraktar” hits Russian targets in the Kharkov region
On February 24, the YouTube channel of the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN published video with the headline “Ukrainian Bayraktar worked against Russian targets.” A few hours later, the same video (only without the UNIAN logo) was posted by Telegram channel "Insider UA", adding details that the drone destroys a unit of the 1st Tank Army of Russia. For greater credibility, the channel indicated the source of information was a deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Alexey Goncharenko. These two posts received more than 300,000 views.
Is it true: original video was posted on the Egazet YouTube channel in 2020. The description reads: “Turkish drones destroyed a column of Syrian regime tanks, armored personnel carriers and a Russian Panzir anti-aircraft missile system with active radars near the city of Maarat al-Numan.” Ukrainian sources flipped the video and cropped the frame size to hide the logo Clash Report, present in the original video.
Fake
Video: defense of Kyiv, footage from the Maidan
In the footage of this video shows fierce battles and fires on the main square of Kyiv. Some users publish This is a video with the following comments: “Unarmed Kiev residents on the barricades are burning armored vehicles with Molotov cocktails.”
Is it true: A video search showed that this is reportage Ukrainian channel TSN for February 19, 2014. The caption to the video states that the events filmed took place during protests 2013–2014, called Euromaidan. “The crew of the burnt armored personnel carrier on the Maidan was saved only by a miracle. After the unsuccessful ramming, the protesters threw Molotov cocktails at the armored personnel carrier,” says the news anchor.
Not true
Video: ace pilot Ghost of Kyiv shoots down a Russian fighter
During the hostilities, many references appeared in the Ukrainian media about the legendary Ukrainian pilot, nicknamed the Ghost of Kyiv, who shot down more than ten Russian planes in a few days. At the same time, they began to spread on the Internet video And photo of how the Ghost of Kyiv knocks out a Russian fighter in an air battle.
Is it true: urban legend about an ace pilot nicknamed the Phantom of Kyiv received spreading in the Ukrainian media over several days of conflict in Ukraine. Former Ukrainian President Poroshenko even claimedthat the pilot supposedly exists, as proof publishing his photograph. However, this video of the air battle between the Ghost of Kyiv and a Russian fighter is a video simulation created in the computer game Digital Combat Simulator with an overlaid audio track in which a woman allegedly comments on planes flying above her head. The user who posted the original video indicates in the title that the video is a simulation, which he dedicates to the Phantom of Kyiv. Apparently, this detail was not taken into account by the users who distributed this video on social networks.
Not true
Read on the topic:
- Fake news about what is happening in Ukraine
- Were the residents of Donbass subjected to genocide by Ukraine?
- Is it true that the United States promised Gorbachev not to expand NATO to the east?
- Is it true that Russia has never waged offensive wars?
- Is it true that Ukrainian statehood was created by Vladimir Lenin?
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