● Relatively few Americans (14%) believe false claims about Ukraine – fewer than those who believe false claims about COVID-19 vaccines (18%). Still, as many as 50% of our respondents report being uncertain about the veracity of at least one false claim regarding Ukraine.

● Misperceptions about COVID-19 are by far the strongest overall predictor we have identified of holding misperceptions about Ukraine. Nearly half (45%) of respondents who hold at least one misperception about Ukraine also hold misperceptions about COVID vaccines. In contrast, fewer than one in ten (8%) of those who marked all false Ukraine claims as inaccurate believed any false vaccine claims.  

● Republicans are 5 percentage points more likely than Democrats to believe false claims about Ukraine; the partisan gap is three times larger (15 points) for COVID-19 vaccine-related false claims.

● The most widely-used source of news about Ukraine is social media, cited by 37% of respondents. Of these respondents, 16% hold at least one misperception about Ukraine. In comparison, 25% of respondents cite social media as a source of news about COVID-19. Twenty percent of these respondents hold at least one COVID vaccine-related misperception.

● Americans feel much warmer toward Ukraine than toward Russia, by an average of 60 degrees on a 100-point feeling thermometer (77 vs. 17 degrees). The gap is considerably smaller (+37) among respondents who hold at least one misperception about Ukraine (64 vs. 27 degrees). The gap is also notably smaller for Republicans (+59 degrees warmer for Ukraine) and Independents (+56) than for Democrats (+69).

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