Facebook posts that list more than 30 reasons in the world economy as to “why Ukraine matters” contain accurate data.
Origin
On Jan. 3, 2022, a Facebook user posted more than 30 purported reasons as to why Ukraine matters. It was copied and pasted many times in what’s known as copypasta. The viral posts came at a time when hundreds of thousands of Russian troops appeared to be on the brink of invading Ukraine. The signs of a potential conflict led to NATO allies telling their citizens to leave Ukraine. The situation also led to warnings of “devastating economic and trade sanctions” for Russia, should it go through with the action.
Some readers may have seen that The New York Times published a story on Feb. 19 with the headline, “Why Ukraine Matters: What to Know About the Crisis With Russia.” However, that article appeared to have a very different focus than the social media claims.
For this story, we will look at the truthfulness of the more than 30 individual claims that were listed in the viral Facebook posts.
The Viral Posts
One of the many Facebook posts with the copied-and-pasted text read as follows:
Why does the Ukraine matter? Just a little info on the natural resources, economy, geographic location, and size of why it’s important to Europe and the global supply chain.
How the nation of Ukraine ranks:
- 1st in Europe in proven recoverable reserves of uranium ores;
- 2nd place in Europe and 10th place in the world in terms of titanium ore reserves;
- 2nd place in the world in terms of explored reserves of manganese ores (2.3 billion tons, or 12% of the world’s reserves);
- 2nd largest iron ore reserves in the world (30 billion tons);
- 2nd place in Europe in terms of mercury ore reserves;
- 3rd place in Europe (13th place in the world) in shale gas reserves (22 trillion cubic meters)
- 4th in the world by the total value of natural resources;
- 7th place in the world in coal reserves (33.9 billion tons)
Ukraine is an agricultural country:
- 1st in Europe in terms of arable land area;
- 3rd place in the world by the area of black soil (25% of world’s volume);
- 1st place in the world in exports of sunflower and sunflower oil;
- 2nd place in the world in barley production and 4th place in barley exports;
- 3rd largest producer and 4th largest exporter of corn in the world;
- 4th largest producer of potatoes in the world;
- 5th largest rye producer in the world;
- 5th place in the world in bee production (75,000 tons);
- 8th place in the world in wheat exports;
- 9th place in the world in the production of chicken eggs;
- 16th place in the world in cheese exports.
- Ukraine can meet the food needs of 600 million people.
Ukraine is an industrialized country:
- 1st in Europe in ammonia production;
- 2nd in Europe and 4th largest natural gas pipeline system in the world (142.5 bln cubic meters of gas throughput capacity in the EU);
- 3rd largest in Europe and 8th largest in the world in terms of installed capacity of nuclear power plants;
- 3rd place in Europe and 11th in the world in terms of rail network length (21,700 km);
- 3rd place in the world (after the U.S. and France) in production of locators and locating equipment;
- 3rd largest iron exporter in the world
- 4th largest exporter of turbines for nuclear power plants in the world;
- 4th world’s largest manufacturer of rocket launchers;
- 4th place in the world in clay exports
- 4th place in the world in titanium exports
- 8th place in the world in exports of ores and concentrates;
- 9th place in the world in exports of defense industry products;
- 10th largest steel producer in the world (32.4 million tons).
The link at the end of the post appeared to perhaps go to a source for the information. However, it simply led to a website that cited the original Jan. 3 Facebook post.
As of Feb. 21, we are looking into all of the more than 30 claims listed in the “why does Ukraine matter” Facebook posts and will update this story when our research has been completed. We expect to update the reporting by Feb. 22, so we advise readers to check back at that time.
In the meantime, our rating is “Research In Progress.”
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Is the ‘Why Ukraine Matters’ Facebook Post Truthful?
Source: Kapit Pinas
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