Fact Check: Ukraine-Russia crisis is real, false claims of war being hoax viral

It is Day 14 of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Even as all the death and destruction and sufferings of people stranded there is real, the flow of false or misleading information about the war is not stopping. And now some outlandish theories are being shared online. There are some circulations on the social media claiming the war is a hoax, a media fabrication.

Some even go on to the extent to say that it has been exaggerated by the West in terms of its scale. Several visuals showing Ukrainians brandishing guns made with wooden material have come up to support claims of the war being a mere Western propaganda. 

Among the many images that are being circulated to claim that the Russia-Ukraine war is a hoax, one is from the sets of a Ukrainian TV series, Contamin. Netizens are using the footage from the TV series to claim their theories are right. 

Bts from set of Contamin tv series. #backstage #unitstillsphotography #onset #bts #setlife #hvozdkov #ukrainian @FujifilmX_US @_fujilove_ #fujixt30 pic.twitter.com/

— CinemaPeople (@CinemaPeople_) December 7, 2020

Shot in 2020, Contamin is completely unrelated to the current conflict. In this a video of a young woman and a young man having fake blood applied to their faces has racked up millions of views on multiple platforms. It is shared as supposed evidence that the war in Ukraine is a hoax. It also claims that civilian victims are actually 'crisis actors' - people hired to act out scenes from an attack.

Read | DNA Special: Will Ukraine become the Afghanistan of Europe?

Another fake video, shared by verified Twitter user @arunpudur was widely shared to claim that the war is a hoax. The video used to establish that the war is a hoax, shows a reporter speaking on camera while an actor in a bodybag moving in the background.

The caption read, "Miracle! Death Ukrainians coming to life after dying on social media but caught on live camera. This entire PR disaster is falling apart very fast."

More propaganda by west:
A corpse came back to life during live reporting of human catastrophe by a Polish channel@srdmk01 pic.twitter.com/

— Kshitij  (@jgdkshitij) March 1, 2022

The footage used to authenticate the false claims is actually from a climate change protest in Vienna held in February. It was reported by the Austrian newspaper Osterreich. The protest, featured bodybags to depict the dangers of carbon emissions to life on earth was actually organised by 'Friday for Future' climate activists.

And this is not all. Several photos and videos showing Ukrainians brandishing guns made with wood have come up to support claims of the war being Western propaganda. The footage actually dates back to mid-February, before the war began.

It was taken during a training course provided by the far-right Azov battalion for civilian volunteers in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv willing to defend themselves and their communities in case of a Russian invasion, reports BBC News.

The false news propaganda has also not spared Hollywood actors. An image doing rounds claimed actor Steven Seagal was seen with Russian forces near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv. The 69-year-old actor had to speak up to refute the claims. While speaking with Fox News, Steven Seagal said that he considers Russia and Ukraine 'one family' and looked forward to a 'positive and peaceful resolution' to the conflict.