US is not orchestrating a takeover in Ukraine

Conspiracy theorists have floated falsehoods about the United States’ supposedly nefarious activities in Ukraine, including a new baseless claim that the U.S. is trying to take over the beleaguered nation.

An April 16 video on Facebook says, "America (is) trying to overthrow the Ukraine government, just as the shadow government has infiltrated and overthrown the US government."

The 13-minute video also includes debunked Russian talking points that are disinformation, such as calling attacks in Ukraine false flags that have been made to look as if they were carried out by Russia.

The video was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Far from trying to overthrow the Ukrainian government, the U.S. has provided more financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine than any other nation since the outbreak of war, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy’s Ukraine Support Tracker, Bloomberg reported. As of March 27, the U.S. total stood at $8.2 billion, far oustripping the total for all Eureopean Union countries combined, which was around $3.2 billion.

On April 13, the U.S. announced an additional $800 million in military assistance for Ukraine. On April 21, Biden announced another $800 million "to further augment Ukraine’s ability to fight in the east — in the Donbas region."

Another important indicator that the U.S. is not orchestrating a takeover: The U.S. has not sent combat troops to Ukraine. By comparison, when the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003 to oust its leader, Saddam Hussein, tens of thousands of U.S. troops were deployed to Iraq.

Recently, the U.S. has sent troops to Europe — increasing the number there from 60,000 to more than 100,000 — "as a result of Russia’s military buildup around Ukraine and subsequent invasion," the Washington Post reported in early April. The newspaper noted that in the 1950s, during the Cold War, the U.S. had more than 400,000 troops in Europe. 

Featured Fact-check

Viral image

stated on March 17, 2024 in a Facebook post

Image shows “chaos unfolds on Senate floor — Chuck Schumer rushes out.”

The goal now "is to make sure that we continue to reassure our allies and partners, especially those that are on the eastern flank and especially our allies that are in the Baltic area, the Baltic region," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in early April. 

The U.S. has provided weapons, ammunition, vehicles and protective equipment to Ukraine since August 2021, according to the U.S. Department of Defense. That has included anti-armor and anti-aircraft missiles; drones that can "crash into a target with explosives;" and counter-artillery radar systems and counter-mortar radar systems, according to the Washington Post.

The video does not provide any support for its claim that a "shadow government has infiltrated and overthrown the US government," and we were unable to identify any evidence that would support the claim. Years-old claims about a so-called "deep state" are baseless.

A Facebook video says, "America (is) trying to overthrow the Ukraine government just as the shadow government has infiltrated and overthrown the US government."

The U.S. has provided more financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine than any other nation since the outbreak of the war. On the flip side, the U.S. has not sent combat troops to Ukraine.

We were unable to identify any evidence to support the claim that a shadow government has infiltrated and overthrown the U.S. government.

We rate this claim False.