The ‘fakenews’ of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and how to identify them

Every major news event generates significant news coverage, but it also promotes the spread of false news or fake news that manages to confuse the public.

The Russia-Ukraine War has generated endless false posts on social networks that are shared and given as valid, even by the media.

Russia against fake news?

Last Friday, March 4, Vladimir Putinapproved a law that provides up to 15 years for those who spread false information about Russian forces in the conflict with Ukraine. Although this would actually be a way to silence the opposition media in Russia.

According to France 24, those found guilty will face fines or several years. Everything will depend on the “gravity” of the information disseminated.

“Literally, starting tomorrow, this law will force to punish -and very harshly- those who lied and made statements that discredited our armed forces”notes the chairman of the Duma Viacheslav Volodin.

famous image of women

The photo of a woman injured after a Russian bombing went around the world and was featured in several publications. However, Russia denounced the image as fake and that the injured woman is an actress.

Two photographers took the image of the woman and confirmed that it is current (taken on February 24, the day of the explosion), according to the BBC. The victim of the explosion was identified as Olena Kurilo, a 52-year-old teacher who had to deny that the image of her that made her famous was false.

“I never thought this could happen. I only managed to think for that second: ‘My God, I’m not ready to die’”, he told the press, according to La Nación.

The first lady of Ukraine

A publication that is making the rounds on social networks is the one that shows an alleged photo of the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, dressed in military uniform ready to participate against Russian troops.

The AFP agency reported that this image is false, that it is a photo from the Alamy agency showing a Ukrainian soldier at the military parade on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of Ukraine’s Independence Day.

NATO sending tanks to Ukraine

Another video that became popular on Facebook is one that shows the supposed arrival of tanks -by train- in Ukraine thanks to NATO to deal with Russian troops.

But the images do not correspond to Ukraine, but to Canada, they would be up to ten years old and have been used for other fake news related to war conflicts.

Russian planes shot down

It is common for these days of confrontation to publish images of alleged attacks, for example, such as this photo of a Russian plane allegedly attacked by Ukraine, which not only went viral on social networks, but was also used in the world press.

The image is actually from the aviation website Air Team Images and taken by Carl Ford in Fairford, UK, on ​​July 24, 1993.

How to verify a news?

Fake news floods social networks and in order not to fall into disinformation, it is important to take these recommendations into account:

Image quality

Is the video pixelated? Is the image of low quality? 2022 has already arrived and with it, better quality equipment. That is why it was most likely filmed several years ago.

Attention to details

Look at the weather, now in Ukraine it is winter so seeing a video or image of summer can be false.

Very large emotional reaction?

Be wary of those that cause you a strong reaction, because it can be invented just to generate those sensations.

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