Tucker Carlson was not put on a ‘kill list’ in Ukraine for Putin interview
FILE - Tucker Carlson attends the final round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., July 31, 2022. Social media users are falsely claiming that an image from a non-governmental organization is proof that Carlson is on a “kill list” in Ukraine. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
CLAIM: Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson was placed on a Ukrainian “kill list,” and is facing sanctions by the European Union for interviewing Russian President Vladimir Putin.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. An image being cited as proof that Carlson is on such a list was taken from the website of the Myrotvorets Center, a non-governmental organization that studies threats to Ukraine’s national security. Carlson’s entry appears as part of the group’s “Purgatory” project, which tracks individuals the organization deems to have deliberately acted against the national security of Ukraine. The conservative commentator has been listed in the project’s database since at least June 2023. In addition, Carlson has not been sanctioned by the EU, officials said.
THE FACTS: After Carlson announced on Tuesday that he was in Moscow to interview Russian President Vladimir Putin, some on social media used the image to claim Ukraine wants the former Fox News host dead.
In the image, Carlson’s name appears at the top in a blue bar. His picture and a short biography are underneath. The entry, written in Russian, describes him as a “pro-Russian propagandist,” an “accomplice of Russian war criminals and occupiers” and an “attack on the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
One post on X, formerly Twitter, that shared the image reads: “This POS dictator Zelensky has put Tucker Carlson on a ‘Kill List’ for interviewing Putin. Biden has helped him with your tax dollars.” It had received approximately 33,000 likes and 19,300 shares as of Friday.
But the image is being misrepresented — it is actually from the website of an organization that maintains a database of people it considers a threat to Ukraine.
Asked whether there is any chance Carlson’s entry is part of a “kill list,” Emily Channell-Justice, director of the Temerty Contemporary Ukraine Program at Harvard University’s Ukrainian Research Institute, told The Associated Press: “No, categorically no.”
Myrotvorets says on its website, which launched in 2014, that it is “an independent non-governmental organization created by a group of scientists, journalists and specialists in the study of signs of crimes against the national security of Ukraine, peace, the security of mankind and the international legal order.”
“Myrotvorets” is Ukrainian for “Peacemaker.” As part of its mission, the organization collects information about individuals it identifies as threatening these ideas — for example, it cites traitors, militants, mercenaries and terrorists. It maintains a database of this information through its “Purgatory” project.
Channell-Justice confirmed that Myrotvorets is “not a branch of the Ukrainian government in any capacity” and that it is not asking for any particular action to be taken as a result of its work.
“Myrotvorets is an independent research organization that basically identifies people who are potentially dangerous to the Ukrainian state and its ability to exist,” she said. “So all that entry does is basically say Tucker Carlson is doing information work on behalf of the Kremlin.”
Carlson has been listed on the database since at least June 2023, months before his recent trip to Moscow. The latest version of the entry uses a different photo of Carlson and includes a longer, more up-to-date biography. In addition to its initial accusations against him, the entry now calls him a “helper of the Russian invaders and terrorists” and an “anti-Ukrainian propagandist” who has expressed “public support for Russian aggression and murder of Ukrainian citizens.”
According to the U.S. Department of State, Myrotvorets “reportedly maintains close ties” to Ukraine’s security services. On its site, the organization urges “law enforcement agencies of foreign states to cooperate” with its work.
Myrotvorets faced criticism in May 2016 when it leaked names and contact information for thousands of journalists who had reported from rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine, prompting safety concerns. A few months later, the organization published what it said was an email archive with copies of IDs and personal data of Ukrainian and international journalists, eliciting additional worry.
Despite disapproval from many in the international community, Ukrainian nationalist circles praised both releases as a tool to single out those who “collaborated” with separatists, The Associated Press reported at the time.
Myrotvorets did not respond to a request for comment about the claims spreading online.
Carlson’s interview with Putin aired Thursday evening. The interview, confirmed by the Kremlin on Wednesday, was Putin’s first interview with a Western media figure since his full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago. Carlson released a video from Moscow on Tuesday saying he would be interviewing the Russian president.
Social media users have also falsely claimed that Carlson could face sanctions, such as a travel ban, from the EU. Peter Stano, the European Commission’s foreign affairs and security policy spokesperson, denied these allegations at a press briefing on Thursday.
“Currently there are no discussions in the relevant EU bodies linked to this specific person, the name you mentioned, the American person who is in Moscow,” he said when asked about claims that Carlson could be sanctioned by the EU.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.