Who slipped? How fake report on ‘Russian soldier deaths’ in Ukraine set MSM on fire

A Forbes report on alleged Russian army casualties in Ukraine citing a dodgy Russian website has sparked a media and Twitter storm. Some said Russia had “finally slipped” with the leak on its troops in Ukraine; others were baffled by the “fake publication.” RT decided to investigate.

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“Two days of Western officials retweeting a Forbes report quoting a Ukrainian web-site quoting a non-existent Russia news web-site re Ukraine,” she added.

“The main problem here is, of course, where was the Forbes online editor when the story was published, why nobody bothered to check sources?”

http://www.rt.com/news/313653-russia-ukraine-soldiers-fake-forbes/

 

Thanks Tom.

And thank you to all the folks that came to my rescue!

 

RT could not immediately confirm the identity of the contact – something which apparently did not stop Western news outlets from citing the claims.

This is not the sole example of unverified information related to the Ukrainian conflict appearing on the web. However, few such “leaks” make it to big media.

In one of the instances, US ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt was caught posting unverified images on his Twitter feed in September 2014. The photos, which he said showed US-Kiev military exercises in Ukraine, had already been published in July 2014 and in October 2013.

In another case in April, Pyatt claimed that Russia’s military was continuing to expand its presence in eastern Ukraine. As proof, he posted a picture of a Buk-M2 missile defense system that he said was stationed in Ukraine. However, it turned out to be a two-year-old photo from an air show near Moscow.

http://www.rt.com/news/313653-russia-ukraine-soldiers-fake-forbes/