Fact Check: Did Russia Foil Ukraine's Tucker Carlson 'Assassination' Plot?

Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with Vladimir Putin led to fewer revelations from the Russian president than many expected, with Putin saying afterward that the former Fox News host failed to ask him “tough questions.”

From the start of the interview, Carlson was made to listen to Putin talk for 30 minutes about Russian history, including an inaccurate and unchallenged retelling of Germany’s invasion of Poland in World War II.

Despite the lukewarm reception the interview received, a claim circulated online this week suggested Carlson’s conversation was of such significant envy to Ukraine that Kyiv had plotted an assassination attempt against him that was stopped by Russian authorities.

The Claim

A post on X, formerly Twitter, by Today News Africa reporter Simon Ateba, on February 26, 2024, viewed 13.6 million times, said: “BREAKING – ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF TUCKER CARLSON: A man has just been arrested in Moscow, accused of being paid by Ukrainian intelligence to plant an explosive device on TUCKER CARLSON’s vehicle and assassinate the prominent American journalist while he was there to interview Putin.”

Another post by entrepreneur Mario Nawfal, also posted on February 26, 2024, viewed 4.3 million times, said: “🚨 TUCKER CARLSON ASSASSINATION PLOT FOILED

“Russian forces reportedly arrested a man for a planned attack on Tucker, allegedly orchestrated by Ukraine’s Intelligence.

“The plot allegedly involved an IED targeting Carlson’s vehicle at the Four Seasons hotel.

“The suspect reportedly admitted to receiving $4000 for the attack’s execution after being caught.

“Source: INTEL-DROP.”

Former national security adviser General Mike Flynn also commented on the claims, on February 27, 2024, writing, “If you believe the CIA was behind this Ukrainian intelligence planned assassination attempt of @TuckerCarlson give me a thumbs up.

“I wouldn’t put anything past those running these intelligence agencies, things have gone that wrong with all of them. God help us. There must be severe reforms of these organizations and some of those leading them in the past and now must be held to account for their actions. There can be no more of this utter nonsense.”

The Facts

Flynn’s and Nawfal’s posts led to the source of the claim, a website called The Intel Drop, which previously shared misleading news about the war in Ukraine.

In March 2023, The Intel Drop was linked to a dubious claim that a Russian precision air strike had destroyed an underground NATO command center. An investigation by Newsweek found no authoritative or reliable evidence to corroborate the claim, which Russian state-linked sources had disseminated.

Its story about a Tucker Carlson assassination plot is similarly dubious.

In an article published on February 26, 2024, The Intel Drop included a video conversation with a man named “Vasiliev Pyotr Alexeievich….recruited by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.”

The man said he was paid $4,000 to pick up an explosive device and place it under a car at the Four Seasons Hotel in Moscow, adding that while he did not know who the target was at the time, he now understood it to be Carlson.

“Vasiliev” said that he was foiled at the “preparation stage” and apologized for what happened.

The video was posted on the YouTube channel @SpecialForces443 on February 25, 2024. All of the content on the channel, which includes the interview with “Vasiliev,” was uploaded on February 25. The other videos on the channel are pulled from other Russian media sources, including one video that has been online elsewhere since 2021.

It does not appear to be affiliated with any Russian security authority. The timing of the interview’s upload, along with all the other videos on the channel, seems unusual at the very least.

The Intel Drop article also includes a photo of a phone strapped to a box, meant to look like a phone-activated bomb, although the source of the image is not attributed to any Russian authority or security service.

The Intel Drop includes no other sources to support the claims in the video, nor is there any information elsewhere that confirms its provenance. It does not say who the man was arrested by, whether he has been charged, or where he is being held.

Had Russia actually managed to foil a plan by Ukrainians to kill an American target, it seems unlikely that news would disseminate through one relatively obscure, suspicious website.

While Carlson may have found some new popularity in Russia, there are no other sources apart from The Intel Drop that credibly show Russian authorities foiled a Ukrainian assassination attempt against him.

It’s not the first time this month that misleading claims about Ukrainian plans to kill Carlson have appeared online. Following Carlson’s interview with Putin, Alex Jones said that the former Fox News host had been added to a “Ukrainian kill list.”

This was inaccurate. While Carlson is listed on something called the Mirotvorets list, an NGO open-sourced database of persons deemed to have promoted anti-Ukrainian narratives or acted to destabilize Ukraine’s national security, the list does not advocate violence toward those on it.

The Ruling

False.

No evidence supports the claim, propagated by a pro-Russian website called The Intel Drop, that has shared other misleading anti-Ukrainian conspiracy theories.

The claim was based on a video interview hosted via a YouTube channel that uploaded all of its content, including the interview, only a few days ago.

There is no other source to corroborate the claims in the video. Based on the balance of evidence, nothing suggests this claim should be treated with any credibility.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek’s Fact Check team

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