Top Statement Factchecks
Latest Statements
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Ramzan Kadyrov
Head of Chechnya
“America is carrying out policies against Russia, against the nation’s leadership. They know I am one of those ready to give my life for Russia, and that I have a good army capable of attacking and defending. We will see who comes out on top.”
Read more...Chechnya’s Kremlin-appointed head threatened the U.S. with his “army.” His claims are baseless: by military standards, Chechnya has no army. -
Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov
former Russian FSB officer and 'defense minister' of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic
“The militia did not shoot down the Boeing [MH17]. I only had Igla and Strela anti-aircraft missiles.”
Read more...Three years after 298 people lost their lives, Igor Girkin, aka Strelkov, still tells the lie that Russia-backed fighters in eastern Ukraine could not have shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. -
Leonid Kalashnikov
State Duma member and chairman of the Duma Committee on CIS Affairs
“The creation of such a state [‘Malorossiya’] is possible and likely inevitable, judging by what is happening in Ukraine.”
Read more...Leonid Kalashnikov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, claims that it may be “inevitable” that Ukrainian regions fall into a new entity proposed by Donetsk separatist leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko as ‘Malorossiya’ (little Russia). But neither Moscow nor Zakharchenko’s fellow separatists seem very keen, to say nothing of other Ukrainians. -
Press Service of the Russian Southern Military District
"[N]o one from the command ever met with [Viktor] Ageyev and couldn't have signed a contract with him...he signed the so-called contract...in Luhansk, where there have not been and are no active Russian servicemen."
Read more...While the Russian military denies it has troops in Ukraine and that Ageyev was on active duty, he testified that he was, as did his mother, friends and a fellow serviceman, and his ID does not show a discharge. -
Evgeniy Krutikov
Political Scientist
“The conclusion [U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) report] reached is quite dangerous, however: ‘Moscow’s long-term goal is building a military prepared to expand the range of conflict from local war through regional conflict to a strategic conflict that will lead to a nuclear exchange.’ That is to say that Russia is deliberately provoking a nuclear war.”
Read more...Krutikov’s claim that the DIA says Russia is provoking a nuclear war is false. -
Russian Embassy to the United Kingdom
“Racist posters in Kiev. Russian language equal to infection and bad IQ. Food for thought.”
Read more...Despite Russian embassy claim, no such posters have been spotted in Ukrainian capital outside of an exhibition at a Kyiv art gallery in 2015. -
Russian Defense Ministry
“That operation is considered to be one of the most successful peacekeeping missions in the world. The successful experience of the peacekeeping operation […] was subsequently used in settling other conflicts.”
Read more...Russia’s Defense Ministry misrepresents the purpose of peacekeeping in South Ossetia and omits its own recognition of the enclave as an independent country. -
Awara
Russian consulting firm
“Russia has emerged stronger than ever after these three years of economic defense. It has now achieved the unprecedented role of a quadruple superpower: industrial superpower, agricultural superpower, military superpower and geopolitical superpower. Russia now has the world’s most self-sufficient and diversified economy… .”
Read more...Russia remains heavily dependent on oil and gas, and is far from being an “industrial superpower,” let alone a “quadruple superpower.” -
Sputnik
Russian government international broadcaster
“Nevada Declares State of Emergency Over Weed Shortage”
Read more...The Kremlin-funded international broadcaster Sputnik reported that the governor of Nevada declared a state of emergency over the state’s shortage of marijuana supplies. In fact, no state of emergency was ordered in Nevada. -
Vladimir Putin
President, Russia
“Moscow is among the world leaders in the use of digital technologies in modern urban infrastructure, ahead of such mega-cities like Toronto, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Barcelona and Sydney. By the way, in certain aspects of the index, Moscow is among the top three: digital services in the interactions between the state and the citizens – actually first place, simply first place in the world. The creation of infrastructure for the implementation of innovative solutions: according this criterion, Moscow takes second place in the world. The development of new business models based on the mass adoption of advanced technologies – third place; and an education system that meets the needs of the labor market of the future – also third place.”
Read more...Russia’s president praised Moscow for earning the top three positions among the world’s “data driven” mega-cities in an assessment made by the Moscow branch of the PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting company. The fact that PwC-Russia has an ongoing long-term contract with the Russian government raises questions about the independence and objectivity of this assessment.