Top Fact Checks
Latest Statements
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![Sputnik News]()
Sputnik News
Russian state-owned media outlet
“The Friday airstrikes of the US-led Coalition have completely destroyed a hospital in the Syrian city of Hajin in the eastern Deir ez-Zor province, Ikhbariya broadcaster reported.”
Read more...The original ‘report’ of destruction emerged from Islamic State media, was picked up by Syrian media and later the Russian state media outlet. The hospital in question was still standing as of December 9. An explosion was reported in the hospital that day, but what caused it is unclear. -
![Vladimir Putin]()
Vladimir Putin
President, Russia
"This poor girl is in jail, our Butina, she is facing 15 years imprisonment, for what? When I heard that something was going on with her … first I asked all the heads of our special services, who is this? No one knows anything about her at all; the only person who knows something about her is in the Federation Council; she was perhaps working for one of the deputies there, that’s all.”
Read more...Vladimir Putin’s claims are false: Maria Butina is reportedly known in Russian intelligence circles and the country’s Foreign Ministry has demonstrated uncharacteristic interest in her fate. In making her guilty please, Butina said she was acting voluntarily and with no coercion. -
![Ria Novosti]()
Ria Novosti
Russian-language news agency
“American intelligence agencies have accused Russia of ‘interfering with elections’ of 2016, as well as links with Donald Trump. This is denied both in the White House and in the Kremlin.”
Read more...U.S. intelligence agencies said there was an influence campaign. Congressional committees are investigating. A special counsel is conducting a criminal investigation. The White House has not "denied" Moscow interference, although President Trump has made seemingly contradictory statements. -
![Dmitry Peskov]()
Dmitry Peskov
Russian Presidential Press Secretary
"Any statements about Russia’s alleged involvement [in the French Yellow Vest protests] are nothing but slander."
Read more...As the Yellow Vest protests gripping France entered their fourth week, French officials have announced plans to investigate Russian involvement. And while a hint of a Kremlin fingerprint may be found, the protest movement appears to be, by and large, a domestic affair. -
![Russian Embassy in Canada]()
Russian Embassy in Canada
Official Russian Foreign Ministry Twitter Account
“#Famine in 1930's in USSR was common tragedy for Ukrainians, Russians, Kazakhs, other Soviet people. Stating that it was ethnically targeted(#Holodomor) is wrong & misleading. History shouldn't be rewritten & distorted for sake of politicised ‘blame Moscow, #Russia’ narrative” (sic)
Read more...While the Russian Embassy’s statement included facts, it portrayed the Soviet man-made famine as simply a “tragedy” rather than a deliberate policy by Moscow. -
![Alexandr Rogers]()
Alexandr Rogers
Commentator
“Khodorkovsky's puppets [Novaya Gazeta] are fulfilling an order from the West, trying to sabotage Russia's defense industry. But that is not the same as writing fake news about ‘hundreds of dead‘ from the non-existent ‘PMC [private military company] Wagner’.”
Read more...All three claims are groundless: Novaya Gazeta has no ties to Khodorkovsky, PMC Wagner exists, and Russian PMC veterans confirmed the loss of hundreds of their comrades in an appeal to the International Criminal Court. We found connections to “troll factory.” -
![Tatiana Golikova]()
Tatiana Golikova
Russian Deputy Prime Minister
“We, as a country, do not have the worst indicators, but still there is a downward trend. It's disturbing. Currently, 14% of men and 26% of women in Russia are obese.”
Read more...The portion of the adult population suffering from obesity in Russia is 1.5 times higher than the world average but significantly lower compared to some G20 countries. -
![Patrick Lancaster]()
Patrick Lancaster
Patrick Lancaster, Video Blogger in Donbas
“If someone looks at a map of the areas that he’s put martial law in affect, these are all of the pro-Russian areas, the areas that either he did not vote in the 2014 election because they were part of their own new country, Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republic, or that Poroshenko lost.”
Read more...Donbas-based Video blogger Patrick Lancaster appeared on RT’s Going Underground TV show to argue that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko rolled out martial law in “the pro-Russian” regions that he lost in the 2014 elections. The facts show otherwise.
Disinformation News and Analysis
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Disinfo Interview
Working in Russian Troll Factory Pushed Reporter to ‘Edge of Insanity’
