Top Fact Checks
Latest Statements
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![Tamara Pletneva]()
Tamara Pletneva
Chairperson of the State Duma’s committee on family, women and children
"Why do they [women] get less [than men] for the same work?”
Read more...Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets says the salary of women in Russia is 70% that of men. If so, the "wage gap" in the country has grown larger recently. -
![TASS]()
TASS
Russian state news agency
“Two Russian jets Sukhoi-27 have forced a US B-52 bomber to move away from the Russian border, the Defense Ministry told the media on Thursday.”
Read more...Russian state media claims two Russian Sukhoi-27 jets “forced” a U.S. B-52 bomber flying over the Baltic Sea to move away from the Russian border. But the U.S. Air Force says the Russian aircraft never “chased” the U.S. bomber away. -
![Yuriy Lutsenko]()
Yuriy Lutsenko
Prosecutor General of Ukraine
“Unfortunately, from the first meeting with the U.S. ambassador in Kiev, [Yovanovitch] gave me a list of people whom we should not prosecute.”
Read more...Lutsenko did not claim to have received a paper list, only that the Ambassador “voiced” a list of people. He gave no details and provided no evidence. -
![Vladimir Solovyov]()
Vladimir Solovyov
State TV Host
“Speaking of telephone justice in Russia, it used to be like that here. The current situation must be assessed in detail … If we study the percentage of verdicts and serious cases, we’ll discover that it’s not an accident that Russia has the lowest prison population in the entire history of our state, 400,000 people or something like that. America has the highest, by the way.”
Read more...TV host Vladimir Solovyov has used U.S. efforts to provide transparency on corruption under Putin to criticize the U.S. prison system. While he is right that the raw numbers paint the U.S. prison system in a dim light, his claims regarding the end of “telephone justice” in Russia are unclear. -
![Anatoly Antonov]()
Anatoly Antonov
Russia's Ambassador to the United States
“There is no first strike concept in the Russian [military] doctrine. There is a clear reference in our doctrine when and under which circumstances we can use our nuclear weapons: when there is an attack on the Russian Federation, when there is a threat for the existence of the Russian Federation as well as our allies.”
Read more...Russia’s declared military doctrine permits a nuclear response to a conventional attack. But a rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal determines the real military doctrine. -
![Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs]()
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
"… Maidan authorities, who under the guise of fighting the ‘aggressor’ violate fundamental rights of their own citizens and try to ruin traditional multi-faceted ties between the peoples of Russia and Ukraine, will obviously leave not a good memory, and the court of history will inevitably pass a harsh sentence for them."
Read more...Russia’s Foreign Ministry says history will “pass a harsh sentence” on Kyiv for the termination of a bilateral friendship treaty. But while Moscow has tried to blame Kyiv for violating the agreement, it is Russia which has clearly acted to violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity. -
![Crimean Museums]()
Crimean Museums
Nations gallery -- Bakhchysarai, Crimea
“There are no legal, cultural or historical reasons to hand these items over to Kyiv."
Read more...Following the annexation of Crimea, the status of a collection of gold items lent to a Dutch museum prior to the Russian seizure remains in limbo, with both Kyiv and the local museums laying claim to the priceless artifacts. -
![Kamil Bekyashev]()
Kamil Bekyashev
Vice President of the Russian Maritime Law Association
“Indeed, the NSR [Northern Sea Route] passes not only within Russia’s territorial waters, nevertheless, our country has the legal right to regulate navigation along the entire route.”
Read more...New Russian rules to regulate navigation of military ships and vessels along the Northern Sea Route contradict the UN Convention on Law of the Sea. Aspects of the existing Russian regulatory regime for commercial ships also restrict freedom of the seas. -
![Dmitry Kravchenko]()
Dmitry Kravchenko
Head of the missionary department of the Ekaterinodar and Kuban dioceses of the Russian Orthodox Church
“They begin with English lessons. These guys, as a rule, come from the United States; they are native speakers, which is how they attract, but after a few lectures they start including some religious topics in their texts.”
Read more...Kravchenko’s claim is the opposite of what Russian authorities have accused the two Americans of doing. The Mormons legally entered Russia for “religious activities” but are accused of giving English language lessons instead. Experts said these accusations are fabricated. -
![Maria Zakharova]()
Maria Zakharova
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
“Our country has repeatedly historically reaffirmed its role as a state that is the guarantor of stability and security, a party that brings peace, not aggression. The Second World War and the role of the Soviet Union in it are a global example of this.”
Read more...The Soviet role in World War II is part of the historical record and predates the current Russian Federation. More recent history shows Russia not only as destabilizing influence in Europe but an occupying power in Crimea and questionable initiatives in Syria and Africa. -
![Dmitry Peskov]()
Dmitry Peskov
Russian Presidential Press Secretary
“Most importantly, none of these previously started investigations have brought anything but laughable results.”
Read more...Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has claimed the results of Mueller investigation into alleged Russian election meddling are “laughable,” despite more than 30 indictments, several guilty pleas and convictions. -
![RT (Russia Today)]()
RT (Russia Today)
State-owned media outlet
“‘Behind me is toothpaste CNN said doesn't exist in #Venezuela’ – Max Blumenthal explores markets outside #Caracas”
Read more...CNN didn’t say that toothpaste doesn’t exist or isn’t available in Venezuela. More importantly, a video from the state-run subsidized market doesn’t disprove the reality of critical shortages of basic goods in the country. -
![Anatoliy Makarov]()
Anatoliy Makarov
Russia’s Ambassador to Bulgaria
“The archive materials...are accessible to the Bulgarian archive services and researchers, including for the originals, a part of them was returned to Bulgaria in 1949 and 1958 during the Soviet Union. Now, however, the originals cannot be handed over in accordance with Federal Law No. 64 of April 15, 1998 ‘On Cultural Valuables Displaced [to the USSR] as a result of World War II and Located on the Territory of the Russian Federation.’ But I will repeat again, access to them is open for the Bulgarians.”
Read more...The Russian ambassador speaks the truth when he says Russian law prevents Moscow from returning the Bulgarian archives. However, international law states the archives should be in Bulgaria. And the ambassador is wrong when he says the nation’s documents are readily available to Bulgarians. -
![Maxim Oreshkin]()
Maxim Oreshkin
Minister of Economic Development, Russia
"Trump is addressing those problems, which truly concern the majority of citizens. That’s why even though he lost New York and California, the majority of voters cast their ballots for him."
Read more...The Russian minister’s statement is false - Donald Trump received 2.87 million less votes nationwide in the U.S. 2016 presidential election than his political rival Hillary Clinton, but won the White House via a tabulation of the state-by-state electoral votes, receiving 304 vs Clinton’s 227
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