Is there a serious problem with "massive" illegal fishing by Ukrainians in the Czech Republic? No, that's not true: data provided to Lead Stories from the national association about fishing activity in the country don't show anything like this. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on August 20, 2024. The caption of the video in…

Did CNN Prima News scaremonger in reporting on a fire at the Ukrainian nuclear power plant of Zaporizhzhia? No, that's not true: The event on August 11, 2024, was reported by all major world media outlets and followed by the International Atomic Agency in Vienna, the intergovernmental organization that closely monitors the plant, located in a territory occupied by Russia…

Did the Czechs buy Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicles because Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told them to and Ukraine needs them at the war front? No, that's not true: The purchase of the vehicles was carried out in accordance with Czech laws and had been planned for years to modernize the Czech Army's equipment and fulfill its NATO obligations. A…

Does the Czech government plan to create a confederation of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Ukraine to boost the states´ defense strengths and their alliance against Russia? No, that's not true: There are no plans for such a step and no top Czech politician has publicly indicated such an intention, according to publicly available information. Also, the presence of Ukrainian…

Does the appreciation of the Russian ruble against the U.S. dollar prove that Western sanctions against Russia are not working? No, it doesn't: Economists argue that the relationship between sanctions and exchange rate developments is not one-to-one and that the effectiveness of sanctions cannot be inferred from the exchange rate. In some cases, sanctions can paradoxically strengthen the sanctioned country's…

Is there a deep Israeli state that runs the world, and are the assassination attempts on leaders like Trump or Fico the result of that? No, that´s not true: there is no evidence that such shadowy organization controls society.The claim appeared in a video (archived here) published on TikTok on July 14, 2024. The text overlaid over the video says…

Did Filip Turek, a candidate of the Czech non-parliamentary parties coalition Prisaha and Motoriste Sobe, who won a seat in the European Parliament in the 2024 elections, get the highest percentage of preferential votes in the history of the Czech Republic? No, that's not true: Another candidate received a higher percentage of such votes in the 2004 European Parliament elections,…

Is corporal punishment the best way to establish parental authority and raise physically and psychologically resilient children? No, that's not true: Various studies have repeatedly shown that educational methods involving physical punishment have a negative impact on human development. The evidence also suggests that such methods do not reduce defiance or aggression and do not promote long-term positive behavior in…

Is the Czech government lying about the start of the Czech ammunition initiative, where the Czech Republic offered to procure or mediate the purchase and finding of shells for Ukraine? And do the Czech media not provide enough information about the system? No, that's not true: The Czech President and Prime Minister publicly announced the ammunition initiative to other countries…

Can unused ballots discarded at polling places be used to tamper with election results? No, that's not true: Voters can discard unused ballots in bins after casting their vote, but there is a safe system in place and several measures to prevent discarded ballots from being used in any illegal way, a spokesperson for the Czech Interior Affairs Ministry explained…

Does paying by card when traveling abroad protect Czechs from additional costs or Czech companies with euro bank accounts from currency exchange costs when exporting goods? No, that's not true: Payments by card abroad still involve transactional costs charged by banks or other providers, and for companies, to have a foreign currency account is also more expensive than having a…

Has Russia been accused by the Czech authorities, without any evidence, of being responsible for blowing up two ammunition depots in the Czech village of Vrbetice in 2014, killing two people? No, that's not true: After ten years of investigation, prosecutors stated that the number of pieces of evidence and their detailed evaluation sufficiently substantiate the conclusion that two Russian…

Did the Czech government coalition refuse to condemn the assassination attempt of Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico? No, that's not true: All top government representatives condemned the act publicly, but the coalition lawmakers did not support an oppositional party proposal to include an extraordinary vote on condemning the act, during a parliamentary session. The claim appeared in a video (archived…

Did Czech President Petr Pavel say that the planned military logistic center in Mosnov, in the northeastern part of the Czech Republic, will serve as a base for foreign soldiers? No, it's not true: Mosnov, planned to be operational in seven years, will primarily serve the needs of the Czech army, as repeatedly stated by the Czech army and political…

Did Russia liberate most of the Czech Republic, compared to U.S. troops, whose credit for liberating the country from the Nazis is minimal? No, that's not true: The troops who liberated most of what is now the Czech Republic were Soviet, not just Russian, and included other nationalities, including Ukrainians, from what was then the Soviet Union. Also, U.S. troops…

Did the Czech Republic deal with Greece to buy ammunition banned by international conventions? No, that's not true: Czech and Greek officials said that the ammunition in question - to be sent to Ukraine as part of its initiative to help the war-torn country replenish its ammunition supplies - is used to generate smoke screen, a legal use of the…

Did the Czech president secretly send parts of the treasure of St. Vitus Cathedral to Germany, including the Coronation Cross of Bohemia, a relic from the 14th century and one of the most valuable items in the treasury? No, that's not true: Czech President Petr Pavel only ceremonially opened the exhibition in Dresden, but the treasure was lent by the…

Did the Czech President's and government's decision to procure ammunition for Ukraine from sources outside the European Union lead to the Czech Republic dropping from "fourth to twelfth place" in the ranking of the world's safest countries? No, that's not true: In the 2023 Global Peace Index, the country dropped from eighth place a year ago, to twelfth in 2023,…

Is a picture of Ivan Korcok, a pro-Western Slovak presidential candidate defeated by Peter Pellegrini in the April 6, 2024 runoff vote in Slovakia, holding on to George Soros' back, authentic? No, that's not true: The photo has been digitally altered. The original image was taken from Alexander Soros' social media account and shows him with his father, George Soros,…

Do Articles 106 and 107 of the United Nations Charter authorize Russia's invasion of Ukraine under the premise of denazification? No, that's not true: The Charter allows the use of force by U.N. member states only in the case of self-defense or with the consent of the Security Council, and articles 106 and 107 address transitional security arrangements. The claim…