KYIV: BBC News did not publish a footage reporting that ex-army chief of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, was paid millions to leave politics and the country. A footage sharing this narrative while mimicking the UK broadcaster is fake, Reuters reported on Monday.
The footage carries a BBC News logo and quotes digital probe group Bellingcat as reporting Zaluzhnyi was paid a “$53 million compensation package” to “renounce” his “political drives” and leave Ukraine.
The fake footage surfaced on March 7th following Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has approved Zaluzhnyi’s candidacy as ambassador to the UK.
Fact Check: Fake News Video on Ukraine’s Ex-army Chief Paid to Leave Kyiv
A user shared the footage on social media and said: BBC reported that Zaluzhny was paid $53 million to stay away from politics in the country.
However, a spokesperson for the BBC said through email the video is not a BBC News footage. Similarly, the head of Bellingcat, Eliot Higgins, said on social media that they have never probed anything to do with this, it is a fake video.
Reuters said that the BBC did not produce or publish this video claiming Ukraine’s ex-army chief was paid to leave the country, nor did Bellingcat produce such a story.
