FACT CHECK: No, The Ukrainian Flag Was Not Raised On The Statue Of Liberty

A viral video shared on Threads purports to show a Ukrainian flag being raised on the Statue of Liberty.

Verdict: False

An artificial intelligence (AI) expert denied the video’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.

Fact Check:

The U.S. and Ukraine are prepared to sign a minerals deal, according to Reuters. The deal was put on hold following a recent blow-up in the Oval Office between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump, the outlet reported.

The Threads video, which has been viewed over 40,000 times as of writing, purports to show a Ukrainian flag being raised on the Statue of Liberty. “Meanwhile in New York,” the video’s caption reads. In the opening shot of the video, an individual can be seen planting the flag on the statue, while in a subsequent shot, the flag flies from the statue’s torch.

Besides Threads, the claim also circulated on X, the social media platform previously called Twitter.

The claim is false. Multiple comments shared on the Threads video suggest the video is not real but AI-generated.

“AI – the torch is missing. Still, I like the sentiment,” one user wrote.

“Fake AI,” another said.

Check Your Fact attempted to perform a content detection scan using the website “Deepware” but was unable to obtain any results. Threads posts are not compatible with the website and the X video is only five seconds long, making it too short to be analyzed, according to the website.

Likewise, the National Park Service, which manages the Statue of Liberty, has not issued a statement commenting on the claim. A Ukrainian flag is also not visible via live footage of the statue from EarthCam.

In addition, Check Your Fact did not find any credible news reports to support the claim. Actually, the opposite is true. On March 4, Logically Facts debunked the claim, reporting the video is AI-generated. (RELATED: Dolly Parton’s Pro-Ukraine Comment From 2022, Not 2025)

Furthermore, Dr. Walter Scheirer, an AI expert at the University of Notre Dame, denied the video’s authenticity in an email to Check Your Fact.

“This is a badly rendered AI generated video that contains numerous artifacts that would not be present in a genuine video. For instance, a logo appears and disappears suddenly on the flag, and workers on the statue seemingly blend into each other,” Scheirer said.