Is most of Ukraine safe enough, with discos and full shops, for refugees to return to? No, that's not true: Russian missiles and drones are regularly fired at civilian targets in the capital Kyiv and across the country, resulting in civilian casualties in locations far removed from frontline fighting. The wartime economic condition means refugees may not find Ukraine a…

Is Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala related to the Czech entrepreneur Tomas Fiala, who does business in Ukraine? No, that's not true: The government office denied that the two are related and said that Petr Fiala is not even acquainted with the businessman. Fiala is a relatively common Czech surname. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok…

Does the Czech Republic cover travel expenses for Ukrainian refugees visiting relatives in their home country? No, that's not true: The Czech government has approved a bill that extends the temporary protection status for Ukrainian refugees, and also introduces help in purchasing tickets and covering some other travel expenses for refugees who decide to return to Ukraine permanently, despite the…

Is the Czech government reneging on its promise to wean the country off its dependence on Russian gas because some traders have started buying gas that is likely of Russian origin in late 2023? No, that's not true: the Czech Republic has shifted nearly all natural gas purchases to producers in Norway and the Netherlands using pipelines in Germany to…

Did Czech Defense Minister Jana Cernochova leave the country vulnerable by dispatching all Czech weapons to Ukraine? No, that's not true: Cernochova stated, both on a Czech state television program and in parliamentary discussions, that the country had depleted only the military resources earmarked for Ukraine. Furthermore, the Czech Republic is set to receive military equipment and financial support from…

Is Ukraine the most corrupt country in the world? No, that's not true: Ukraine ranks among the top third most corrupt nations in the world in terms of perceptions of public sector corruption, and yet it ranks above 54 countries in one leading corruption index and above 61 countries in a second index. The story appeared in a video (archived…

Is the population of Ukraine down to 19 million people in November 2023 because 4 million people left the country in the last two months? No, that's not true: The population of Ukraine in November 2023 was 37 million. According to the latest available data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, there are over 6 million refugees outside…

Does Ukraine send pregnant women to the frontline to fight Russians? No, that's not true: Pregnant women and women on maternity leave or caring for small children or children with special needs are exempted from registering for military service. They also have the right to be released, if already serving in the military, when they get pregnant or under other…

Are Czechs filling up with costly diesel imported from the U.S. that's produced from cheap Russian crude oil? No, that's not true: The diesel imported into the Czech Republic by the Czech state-controlled fuel distributor CEPRO, which is also in charge of the state emergency reserves, is produced in Louisiana. U.S. sanctions currently forbid U.S. refineries and importers from importing…

Did Czech President Petr Pavel say that sooner or later Ukraine will lose the war and Russia will win? No, that's not true: It's not Pavel's real voice in the TikTok video, and the video description admits it. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) by @pepekarna on TikTok on October 4, 2023. It shows Pavel saying (translated to…

Did Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine, sing the Russian national anthem as seen in a TikTok video? No, that's not true: The video has been edited. In the original footage from November 2022, Zelenskyy can be seen and heard singing the Ukrainian national anthem in newly liberated Kherson. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) on TikTok where it…

Is Switzerland planning to deport tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees? No, that's not true: The government has taken note of a provisional strategy elaborated by the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) in collaboration with cantonal (provincial) authorities, that outlines how Switzerland will deal with refugees once it is safe for them to return home and the procedure of lifting…

Does Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, hold a Russian passport that Russians found in the apartment and she and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have in Yalta, Crimea? No, that's not true: The photo on her purported Russian passport shown in a social media claim comes from an Instagram post from March 20, 2023, while the passport states it was…

Did the Czech government spend 100 billion Czech koruna to care for Ukrainian refugees? No, that's not true: The government claims it spent a third of that amount to care for Ukrainian migrants following the 2022 Russian invasion of their territory, and it points out that a third of the migrants currently work, paying taxes and adding to the overall…

Did the United Kingdom send Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jets to Poland to interfere with the upcoming general elections in Poland? No, that's not true: The UK was sending the jets to Poland for a joint NATO exercise with other NATO member states like Spain and Italy. The claim appeared in comments on a video (archived here) which was…

Does the Czech Republic get Russian gas through Germany? No, that's not true: The Czech Republic successfully eliminated its reliance on gas imports from Russia in the first quarter of 2023, according to the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade. Deliveries via Germany consist of liquefied gas (LNG) from Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as gas from Norway. The…

Did former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson perform a Nazi salute during an event at Ukraine's Lviv University? No, that's not true: A photo showing Johnson with an arm raised in a Nazi salute is digitally altered and was intended as satire. It has been propagated across social media by anti-Ukraine proponents who claim it is real. The original photo…

Does Germany owe the Czech Republic for unpaid war reparations? No, the Czech Republic and Germany agreed to close the issue of WWII reparations in 1997, when both countries agreed not to burden their relationship with political and legal issues from the past. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published by TikTok on September 8…

Did the government stage an incident in which Czech men are accused of randomly attacking two Ukrainian women on the streets? No, that's not true: The police caught one of the attackers shortly after the incident and put him in custody. Also, there is no evidence that one of the victims allegedly "made a miraculous recovery," as claimed in posts…

Are most of the Ukrainian war refugees seeking temporary protection in the Czech Republic men who might be fit for battle? No, that's not true: As of April 1, 2023 more than three quarters of Ukrainian refugees in the country were women, children, and senior citizens. The claim appeared in a video (archived here) where it was published on TikTok…