Much of what you’re seeing about the Ukrainian invasion is fake
There has been a lot of disinformation or propaganda coming out of the mainstream media or spreading on social media, but that’s nothing new.
1. The tank that brutally ran over a civilian car in Kyiv? That was a Ukrainian Army 9K35 Strela-10 Surface-to-Air Missile system.
While many mainstream media sources were quick to report this as a violent Russian soldier attempting to murder peaceful citizens, many knowledgeable internet users were quick to point out that the vehicle was actually a Ukrainian Army 9K35 Strela-10 Surface-to-Air Missile system.
2. The pic of Ukrainian president Zelensky fighting the front lines is from 2021.
Old photographs of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wearing military garb have been shared on social media, with users wrongly claiming that it shows the president fighting after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022.
3. Video of “Ghost of Kyiv” MiG-19 shooting down Russian su-35 was from digital combat simulator:
All over social media and television, people are talking about him. The mysterious “Ghost of Kyiv”, an ACE fighter pilot that shot down 6 Russian fighter jets over the course of just 24 hours, a practically unattainable stat.
4. “Ghost of Kyiv” identified as Samuyil Hyde is actually a picture of Internet Prankster Sam Hyde.
NeverTrump Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) fell victim to internet pranksters over the weekend, retweeting the viral hoax that the “Ghost of Kyiv,” an alleged Ukrainian fighter ace, was a man called “Samuyil Hyde.” Tricksters are quick to spread memes naming American comedian Sam Hyde as the culprit in media events such as mass shootings. In this case, Rep. Kinzinger fell for a poor photoshop of Hyde into a cockpit along with an ethnic spin on his name.
5. Photo of two children (one with a pink teddy bear) is from 2016.
A photo of two children watching Ukrainian soldiers roll past atop two tanks have been falsely linked to the 2022 invasion by Russia. However, Reuters has traced the photo back to 2016.
6. Photo of Ukrainian wife saying goodby to her soldier husband is from movie.
“So heartbreaking” scene was actually from a 2018 moive:
7. Snake Island “martyrs” were not killed after saying “Go f**k yourself” to Russian sailors.
The 13 Ukrainian border guards who were reportedly massacred while defending a small Black Sea island after telling a Russian warship to “Go f–k yourself” may still be alive, officials said.
“We [have a] strong belief that all Ukrainian defenders of Zmiinyi (Snake) Island may be alive,” the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) said in a statement Saturday.
Possible video of the Ukrainian soldiers arriving in Crimea:
8. “Her blood is on his hands” photo is from 2018 gas explosion.
9. Video of Russian attack on Ukraine is from 2015 video of Tianjin, China
A clip of a nighttime explosion in a built-up area was filmed in 2015 in a storage facility in the port city of Tianjin, China. The clip was miscaptioned by social media users in February 2022, with claims that the video was filmed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine:
10. Video of father saying goodbye to daughter as he goes to fight the Russians is from Russia.
The original video was taken by a local in the city of Gorlovka in the Russian-controlled Donetsk region on February 21, 2022, about twenty-four hours before the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, and had not been declared repatriated:
11. Miss Ukraine didn’t take up arms—though she likes playing airsoft.
It makes you wonder what would necessitate such a fervent disinformation campaign.
