More than four hundred lives, including those of children, have been lost and 1.7 million people forced have been forced to flee Ukraine in the wake of the Russian invasion, but many netizens refuse to believe that the crisis is real. Many on social media termed the Russia-Ukraine war, which started on February 24, as a “hoax”.
The amount of misinformation and fake news is usually high during crises, such as the present Russia-Ukraine conflict. However, the denial of the existence of the conflict altogether is outright foolish and only aids in spreading confusion among the public.
Among the many images that are being shared to claim that the Russia-Ukraine war is a hoax is a photo that shows an actor being smeared with fake blood. Some netizens cited this to claim that they were Ukrainian actors putting up makeup to claim that a war is being fought in Ukraine. However, the photo, shot in 2020, is completely unrelated to the current conflict and is from the sets of a Ukrainian TV series, Contamin.
Another fake video, which was shared by verified Twitter user @arunpudur according to Newschecker, was widely shared to claim that the war is a hoax. The video 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...
Russian military command has been lying for the fifth month in a row about battlefield “successes,” claiming that Russian forces are advancing west of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region. However, this...