Verdict: False

There is no evidence for this claim.

Fact Check:

Facebook users have been sharing a video claiming that Ukraine captured a Russian naval vessel. The video’s caption reads, “Official Declaration- Ukraine Seizes Russian Warship! Putin’s Admiral Taken Hostage!”

This claim, however, lacks evidence. If Ukraine had a captured Russian warship, media outlets would have covered it, yet none have. There is no evidence media outlets also reported on the capture of a Russian admiral.

There is also no visual evidence that Ukraine has seized Russian warships. Out of the Russian naval losses documented by Oryx and WarSpotting, websites that track military losses in the Russian-Ukrainian war, none of them have been captured. (RELATED: Does This Video Show Volodymyr Zelenskyy Dancing With A Rocket Launcher?)

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a non-partisan think tank that publishes campaign assessments of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has not published any reports that the Ukrainians captured a Russian warship. In its Aug. 16 report, it stated that Ukraine was creating a ‘grain corridor.”

“Ukrainian Monitoring Group on Sanctions and Freedom of Navigation of the Institute of Black Sea Strategic Studies Head Andriy Klymenko stated on August 16 that Ukraine is implementing strategies to create a ‘grain corridor’ without Russia and had submitted a map of possible routes for the ‘grain corridor’ to the International Maritime Organization in mid-July.[11] The Ukrainian Navy announced the creation of temporary traffic routes for civilian ships going to and from Ukrainian Black Sea ports beginning on August 8,” the report reads.

Misinformation around the Russian-Ukrainian war is not new. Check Your Fact previously fact-checked a video claiming that 68 Leopard tanks were destroyed.