“Living corpses” in Bucha, Ukraine, tattoos of Putin in a hospice, Hitler on the cover of “Vogue”, “bought” World Cup fans in Qatar – the most blatant false claims of 2022 in retrospect by the DW fact check team.
< p class="sharing-item toggler">
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the information war also unfolded – with large-scale disinformation campaigns and targeted propaganda and conspiracy theories, especially in social networks. Also, the NewsGuard team, which has been fighting disinformation for years, identified 311 websites that publish pro-Russian disinformation to justify Russia's war of aggression. No wonder, then, that the DW fact check team in 2022 was also largely concerned with the false reports about the war in Ukraine. But there were also curiosities in subject areas such as health, sport and the environment that we got to the bottom of.
No, there were no “living corpses” in Butscha
The images of civilians killed in Bucha, a town near Kyiv, caused horror around the world in early April. Hundreds of bodies littered the streets after Russian soldiers left the city in late March. The Ukrainian side spoke of a “deliberate massacre” by Russian soldiers. And Russia countered with an outrageous accusation: the videos from Bucha were a “staged production and provocation.” The appropriate narrative spread in the social networks at lightning speed, the corpses were only performers who even move, as a video should show.
A viral video from Butscha: An optical illusion caused by the raindrop led to speculation about an alleged hand movement
But a DW image analysis of the video with an alleged “living corpse” in a higher resolution showed: The impression of the hand movement is only created by a drop of water on the windscreen of the car from which the street in Bucha was filmed.
Independent digital forensic scientists were also able to confirm this. Research by the New York Times also showed that satellite images from the US company Maxar showed that the bodies had been lying on Yablunska Street in Bucha since March 19, and in some cases even since March 11. These recordings clearly contradict the Russian account, according to which the bodies only appeared after the Russian troops had withdrawn on March 30. Denying one's own alleged war crimes and labeling evidence as fakes has become a proven strategy of Russia in the war.
No, the “ghost of Kyiv” was not an exceptional fighter pilot
< p>After Ukrainians got over their initial shock from the Russian invasion, many sought solace in the news of the military victories of the Ukrainian armed forces. Particularly popular were the stories about the so-called “ghost of Kyiv” – a fighter pilot who allegedly single-handedly destroyed around 40 Russian planes and whose identity remained secret. Many users, including ex-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, shared videos and photos intended to show the “ghost of Kyiv” – most of which turned out to be fake.
The so-called noise analysis of the image showed that the pilot's head, his badge on his arm and the Ukraine flag in the background were added later
< p>Particularly curious was a manipulated image of the mysterious Ukrainian pilot, which actually showed an Argentine lawyer from Buenos Aires. Ultimately, the leadership of the Air Force of Ukraine also declared that the “Ghost of Kyiv” is “a legend created by the Ukrainians” and “a collective picture of the pilots of the 40th Aviation Brigade”.
No, “Ukrainian Nazis” didn't riot at the World Cup in Qatar
In keeping with the allegedly necessary “denazification” of Ukraine, which Putin repeatedly uses as justification for the attack, many pictures and videos are circulating online that allegedly show “Ukrainian Nazis” – most recently during the World Cup in Qatar. A video featuring the Al Jazeera logo and design claims three drunk Ukrainians were arrested in Doha after spreading Nazi symbols and giving a Nazi salute.
Ukrainians are said to have painted the Hitler salute next to the World Cup mascot in Qatar
Both Al Jazeera, as the alleged author, and the DW fact check team were able to prove that the said video is a fake. The presence of Ukrainian men in Qatar is implausible as they are currently not allowed to leave Ukraine between the ages of 18 and 60 and the country has not even qualified for the World Cup. The video does not provide any official information on the alleged arrest and consists of archive images and video sequences that have no direct relation to the story told. For example, the police officers in the video are not wearing the uniform that, according to the Qatar Interior Ministry, is being used for the World Cup.
Other international media such as the BBC, CNN and DW have already had a similar experience to Al Jazeera , when pictures, screenshots, videos or posts with mostly pro-Russian, anti-Ukrainian or anti-Western narratives were distributed under their names.
No, no Putin tattoos were done in a German hospice
< p>Get a free tattoo from Vladimir Putin, Sergei Lavrov or other Russian politicians and then take them with you like some kind of living voodoo doll? This is exactly what allegedly happened in a German hospice, according to an English-language web video that is very similar in design to a DW article.
But the story is fictitious and the video is a fake that was edited from several old videos, as the DW fact-checking team found. In the hospice in Dülmen shown in the fake video (also used older footage from 2017), when asked by DW, the claims that the residents would get tattoos were described as “absurd” and “deliberate false information”.
We superimposed DW's original video template over the fake video, so slight differences are evident. In addition to the position, especially the font of the placemarks.
A series of grammatical errors and graphic inconsistencies also unmask the video as a fake production under the DW branding.
No, there was no “Vogue” cover with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun < /h2>
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a Nazi – that is one of the main narratives of disinformation surrounding Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine. After the US magazine “Vogue” published an article with several pictures including a cover about the Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska and her husband Volodymyr Zelenskyj at the end of July, a photo collage shared thousands of times appeared on social media, suggesting that it was in the magazine in 1939 for Fashion and Lifestyle gave a photo session dedicated to Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun.
This collage by alleged “Vogue” covers are circulating online
That's wrong. The photo with Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun was never printed in “Vogue” – not even on the front page. None of the 24 magazine issues from 1939 that are publicly available in the “Vogue” archive showed the couple. A spokeswoman for “Vogue” also confirmed to DW that there was no such recording either on the cover or in the magazine. In addition, you can use the reverse image search to determine that the image with Hitler and Braun was manipulated for the photo collage: On the original image, Johanna Morell, the wife of Hitler's personal physician, can be seen between the two.
No, in Because of the energy crisis, Europe is not in a medieval state
“It's time to talk about bacteria, scabies, fleas and lice, (…) because enlightened Europe seems to be returning to the Middle Ages, when people didn't wash at all,” claimed the end of April 2022 Presenter Dmitry Kiselyov on Russian state television. The reason for this was the recommendation by the German Minister for Economic Affairs, Robert Habeck, to save energy in the bathroom as well, and the demand by the head of the Federal Network Agency, Klaus Müller, not to take hot showers so often. According to Kiselyov, because of hatred of Russia and Russian gas, Europe is ready to neglect hygiene, as it did in the Middle Ages. Which supposedly comes with a parasite problem.
But even eight months later, the frightening prognosis has not been confirmed: neither at the national level in Germany nor by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control throughout the EU is there a significant increase in mites, lice or flea infestations. A clear case of propaganda without any factual basis.
Yes, climate change really exists
2022 was a year of climate superlatives: It was the hottest summer in Europe since records began. Pakistan experienced its worst flooding disaster to date, killing around 2,000 people and leaving around 20 million people homeless. The American states of New Mexico and California suffered from the most devastating forest fires to date. And these were just three examples of the extreme natural phenomena of 2022 that climate advocates consider obvious evidence of climate change.
Nevertheless, some users continue to claim (like here on Twitter): “There is no global warming, no climate change”. However, global warming and climate change have been scientifically proven for decades. In an overview, the German Climate Consortium (DKK) explains that all parts of the climate system, i.e. oceans, ice, land, atmosphere and biosphere, have warmed significantly in the past few decades – and the air on the earth's surface has already warmed up more than on a global average one degree Celsius warmer than in the pre-industrial era. “Due to climate change, the extremes are changing in terms of frequency and intensity, which means extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and stronger,” confirmed Marie-Luise Beck, Managing Director of the German Climate Consortium, when asked by DW.
And in the status report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), scientists from 195 countries write that there is increasing evidence of extremes such as heat waves, heavy rainfall, droughts and tropical cyclones and, in particular, their attribution to human influence. Globally leading researchers from a wide range of disciplines consider climate change and the human influence on it to be proven.
Caution, herbal abortion is not considered safe
The US Supreme Court's ruling that the state constitution does not grant a right to abortion paved the way for abortion bans in about half of US states. In view of the impending ban, claims increased on social networks that herbs such as parsley or fruits such as papaya could also be used to obtain an abortion. But can such herbal remedies really cause an abortion? And how safe are they?
In fact, the DW fact check team found that there are hardly any studies that have researched this sufficiently. Some women drink plants and herbs, for example as tea, eat them, insert them vaginally or even intravenously. According to the experts interviewed by DW, all of these methods are potentially dangerous because the effect cannot be calculated. Sometimes herbal abortions do happen, but they are extremely risky. A safe abortion with herbal remedies, as promised in the social networks, does not exist.
No, monkeypox is not a result of the corona vaccination
From altering human DNA to infertility in women, the fakes about the alleged side effects of the vaccines against COVID-19 were supplemented with another false claim in 2022. Monkeypox of all things, according to some users on the Internet, is said to be due to the vector vaccine from AstraZeneca, which contains weakened adenoviruses from chimpanzees – as a carrier for the DNA of the corona spike protein. But that's wrong, because monkeypox and adenoviruses from monkeys have nothing to do with each other. Monkeypox owes its name solely to the fact that it was first detected in a monkey colony, but actually comes from rodents, scientists explain in the DW fact check. Also, poxviruses are a different class of viruses than adenoviruses, also chimpanzee adenoviruses, which are the basis for the vector vaccines.
Incidentally, the World Health Organization recently decided to rename the disease monkeypox (in English “Monkeypox”) to Mpox to prevent stigmatization of those affected.
Yes, Qatar “bought” fans for the 2022 World Cup
After Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup, the country was criticized for its treatment of guest workers on stadium and infrastructure construction sites. To this day, the number of guest workers who died on the construction sites is unclear. Qatar has also been accused of violating human rights and freedom of the press. Shortly before the start of the tournament, several international media also accused Qatar of having “bought” the World Cup fans by covering the costs of flights, hotels and tickets. The Supreme Committee (SC), which is responsible for organizing the World Cup, contradicted the allegations that it had paid the fans in return for “coordinated promotion for the World Cup”. “This allegation is absolutely wrong,” it said in a statement.
In fact, Qatar but according to our research, invited selected football fans to the World Cup as part of the so-called “Qatar Fan Leader Network” program and paid them flights, hotels, match tickets and accommodation expenses. The fans we interviewed confirmed the offer. And the SC also confirmed this when asked by DW. The SC again contradicted the accusation of the expected consideration in a statement. In fact, Qatar has presented a so-called “Code of Conduct” to at least some of the fans, in which the fans should contractually commit themselves to “supporting” the World Cup in Qatar “by liking and sharing” social media posts. In return, the fans received the services mentioned, which is definitely a form of payment.
In response to the reporting, the SC explained in an email to the fan leader participants that they would receive pocket money for their trip to Qatar deleted, according to research by ARD sports show.