Top Factchecks and Disinformation News
Latest Statements
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![Olga Skabeyeva]()
Olga Skabeyeva
Russian talk show co-host
“People rallied, with bloodshot eyes, pronounced these words, looking me in the eye: ‘Death to the enemy, death to Russia, death to you’.”
Read more...The main response by members of the Ukrainian delegation was to sing the national anthem and say the Ukrainian national slogan. No one wished death to Russia or the reporter. -
![RT]()
RT
“…the proportion of people who want friendship between Russia and Ukraine remained the same over the past 10 years. This is despite a campaign of anti-Russian propaganda in Ukraine and numerous infringements of Russian speakers’ rights which have been taking place since the 2014 replacement of the lawfully-elected Ukrainian government with a pro-Western regime in the course of violent protests known as ‘Maidan’.”
Read more...Attitudes: Russians actually hold a more negative view of Ukrainians than the reverse. Pollsters from both countries know why. The "negative tint of propaganda" directed at Ukraine, they say. -
![Daily Express]()
Daily Express
British tabloid newspaper
“Latvia election result sparks EU crisis warning as pro-Russia party sweeps to success”
Read more...While it garnered the most votes, the Harmony party actually lost votes and one seat compared to past elections, and needs a coalition to rule. Also, the party has been rebranding by distancing itself from Russia prior to the election. -
![Anonymous]()
Anonymous
Operational Officer, DNR Special services
“Stemming from the technical characteristics of the devices, the administration of which worked despite the [fact that] the convoy’s electronic jamming system was turned on, the conclusion can be made that the devices were transferred from foreign intelligence.”
Read more...Russian media reports alleging a Western hand in the assassination of Aleksandr Zakharchenko, former head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, fail to offer conclusive evidence. -
![RIA Novosti, October 5, 2018]()
RIA Novosti, October 5, 2018
Russian state-owned news outlet
“Several dozen people gathered on Friday in the center of the capital of Ingushetia, Magas; the situation in the city is calm, RIA Novosti’s correspondent reports.”
Read more...Video recorded in Magas the previous day showed several hundred people protesting and something that sounds like gunfire could be heard. A photo from the Friday protest against a border change also shows what appears to be at least several hundred people. -
![Valery Maximenko]()
Valery Maximenko
Deputy Director of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service
"Oleg Sentsov has stopped his hunger strike, giving a written statement on that. He has also agreed to start eating.”
Read more...A Russian prison official announced Oleg Sentsov would end his hunger strike after 145 days. What he did not say is that Sentsov faced a force-feeding regimen that he expected would begin imminently. -
![Alexander Kurennoi]()
Alexander Kurennoi
Spokesperson of the Russian Prosecutor General's Office
"All these cases have been branded ‘likes and reposts cases’ … We must draw the line here - we do have [criminal cases opened] for reposts, because reposts mean information is uploaded, but no criminal cases have been opened for ‘likes.’"
Read more...Normally, “liking” things on social media would not lead to a criminal case for extremism, but because of some social network’s settings, liking posts automatically led to them being displayed on one’s page. In at least one instance this led to a criminal charges for “extremism.” -
![Valdimir Putin]()
Valdimir Putin
President of Russia
Some media outlets are “pushing through a theory that Mr. Skripal is some sort of a rights activist. He’s plainly a spy. A traitor to his homeland. There’s such a thing – being a traitor to the homeland. He is one … Imagine, if there’s a person in your country who betrayed it. How would you treat him? He’s plainly scum.”
Read more...From little fish to Russian spy, the Western media has never attempted to beatify Sergei Skripal, despite Putin’s claim to the contrary. -
![Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)]()
Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeyev)
Bishop of Russian Orthodox Church and Head of the Department of External Affairs of the Russian Orthodox Church
“The Ukrainian authorities want to completely seize the Ukrainian Church, to outlaw it, and for this purpose various kinds of bills are being created. For example, there is such a bill that says the Ukrainian Orthodox Church should be renamed ‘the Russian Church in Ukraine’.”
Read more...The Ukrainian patriarch suggested changing the name of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate to accurately reflect its affiliation. He did not advocate violence against the Church. -
![Margarita Simonyan]()
Margarita Simonyan
Chief Editor, RT and Rossiya Segodnya
“The international company Ipsos is researching RT’s audience at our request. According to the company’s data, over the course of the last two years our audience has grown by one-third. 100 million people in 47 countries are now watching RT every week. RT’s Website in Arabic has beaten all other Arabic language channels, including the famous Al Jazeera and Al Arabyia, in terms of the number of visitors. Our Spanish Website is outpacing the BBC and CNN in Spanish.”
Read more...While RT in English is facing a credibility crisis, the Russian state media outlet’s audience in Arabic and Spanish languages is growing. However, Simonyan’s numbers are not entirely accurate.
