VOA Fact Check
Fact check videos
Latest fact checks
-
“… [T]he water that is coming out of our taps is safe for human consumption, and it is safe for the residents. We treat water that comes from Lake Chivero and Lake Manyame thoroughly to make sure that we don’t put in our system water that is contaminated or that is harmful to the residents.”
Zimbabwe has a weak water filtration system that frequently allows the spread of waterborne diseases. Multiple investigative reports and studies by independent researchers have exposed Zimbabwe’s inability to produce clean, safe water. -
“They [enemies] consistently say that the Islamic Republic has lost its regional proxies — this is yet another mistake! The Islamic Republic does not have any proxy forces.”
Iran operates or coordinates with more than 100 militant groups in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and beyond to advance its foreign policy interests. -
"Preliminary: after a collision with birds, due to an emergency situation on board the aircraft [Baku-Grozny flight of Azerbaijan Airlines], its commander decided to go to an alternate airfield — Aktau was chosen."
Multiple shrapnel holes in the plane’s fuselage and its altitude at the time of incident contradict the bird theory. Azerbaijan accused Russia of hitting the passenger jet with a missile. The pilot did not decide to fly to Aktau; Russian airports denied the airliner an emergency landing. -
"[W]e need to continue to further expand military and military-technical cooperation with allies and partners who are ready and willing to work with us, which includes most countries around the world."
Five ex-USSR countries maintain military alliances with Russia. Moscow also is engaged in transactional military partnerships with China, Iran, India, and North Korea. By comparison, NATO has 32 members. -
"It was Igor Kirillov who exposed the American biological laboratories in Ukraine that developed biological agents for selectively targeting people belonging to specific ethnic groups, including Slavs."
Igor Kirillov had overseen the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine and regularly spread disinformation about the West developing bioweapons prior to being killed on Dec. 17. -
"Now the cooperation [with China] presents more value in terms of trade, investment. This relationship doesn't come with a lot of strings attached like we have had with many other parts of the world."
Analysis shows that China is burdening poor African countries with debt while taking collateral in the form of natural resources. Through ''debt trap diplomacy,'' China has become the single largest shareholder of African resources and infrastructure. -
"Let me stress once again, so that no one accuses us of nuclear saber-rattling: this is a policy of nuclear deterrence."
Source: Kremlin.ruBy VOA Fact Check estimates, top Russian officials made 135 public nuclear threats between February 2022 and December 2024. Vladimir Putin made 27, ranging from direct threats to ordering nuclear strike simulations and changing nuclear posture. -
"Is it a coincidence that the Congo has become an experimental laboratory where populations have become guinea pigs to allow the World Health Organization, the #BillGates foundation, American European pharmaceutical firms and American biolabs to test viruses and other dirty things?"
Russia has been pushing disinformation campaigns targeting U.S. health campaigns in Africa. Egountchi Behanzin, a French Togolese activist, has been exposed in several investigations for discrediting U.S. and Western health campaigns in favor of Russia. -
"[T]he figures announced with regard to losses on both sides, it is obvious that they were presented in the Ukrainian interpretation … Ukraine’s losses are multiple times higher than those of Russia.”
Donald Trump's casualty figures align with July-October Western intelligence, defense, and military sources, differing from Ukrainian estimates. All Western data indicate Russia has suffered greater military losses than Ukraine in the conflict. -
“Syrian security sources have, however, confirmed that ‘Hama is completely safe, with armed forces stationed around the city.’”
By the time Iran’s Press TV portrayed reports of successful rebel advances in Hama as Western propaganda, the Syrian army already lost the city.