Misinformation is often spread regarding Russia's war in Ukraine to sway public opinion about support for Kyiv and put pressure on western governments.
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00:00Old false claims resurface about Ukrainian kickbacks to US politicians.
00:09An image doing the rounds on social media allegedly shows a list of US politicians,
00:14including President Joe Biden, who have received bribes in return for support for Ukraine.
00:19Texts accompanying the list claims that a Ukrainian official released the names,
00:24as well as the amounts that each person has supposedly received.
00:27Biden has allegedly received $92 million, for example, while former Speaker of the House of
00:33Representatives Nancy Pelosi has taken home $86 million, and former Senator Mitt Romney
00:38has received $71 million. Regardless, the claims are false. There's no evidence that
00:44any of the individuals mentioned have received any illicit payments from Ukraine so that they
00:48push for support for Kyiv against the Russian invasion. And it's also implausible that a
00:53Ukrainian official would release the statistics and incriminate the very politicians the country's
00:58relying on for financial aid. Searching for earlier instances of the claims on X shows
01:03that it originates from at least as far back as 2023, and has been shared on various occasions
01:08since then. Other fact checkers from reputable news organizations debunked the claims those
01:13times as well, and there's no reason to believe the situation has changed since then.
01:17Pro-Russian propaganda and other Ukraine detractors are often keen to spread false
01:22or misleading claims about support for Kyiv to sway public opinion and, in turn,
01:27put pressure on Western governments. As of the 30th of September 2024, the US's Ukraine response
01:33funding totals nearly $183 billion since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022,
01:40according to official Ukraine oversight figures. Here in Europe, as of January, the EU says it's
01:46made available more than $140 billion in financial, military,
01:50humanitarian and refugee assistance in the same period.