Russian propaganda spreads fake about pro-Ukrainian activist spitting at J.D. Vance's daughter's stroller

Russian media outlets, Telegram channels, and bots on X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube have been circulating a video bearing the Al Jazeera logo. The video falsely claims that an Al Jazeera employee, while closely analyzing footage of a conversation between U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance and pro-Ukrainian activists in Cincinnati, Ohio, noticed that one of the protesters allegedly spat into the stroller carrying Vance's daughter.

The video further suggests that U.S. media outlets are deliberately ignoring this supposed incident.

However, this is entirely false. No such video exists on Al Jazeera's official website or social media platforms.

Propagandists created this fake video by editing real footage from an Al Jazeera report on J.D. Vance's family, dated July 30, 2024, and a CNN clip of his meeting with activists. Using video editing software, they degraded the footage quality and converted it to black-and-white to seamlessly insert the supposed spitting incident -- an event that never actually occurred.

This fake was manufactured against the backdrop of tensions between Ukrainian and U.S. political leadership following a February 28 meeting at the White House. After that meeting, Vice President Vance went on a ski trip to Vermont.

Later, on March 8, he engaged in a conversation with pro-Ukrainian activists while walking in Cincinnati, Ohio. Authentic video from that encounter shows a substantive discussion where activists remained civil and did not display any aggression toward Vance.

The goal of this fabricated story is to discredit Ukraine and its leadership in the eyes of Western audiences, as well as those who support the country.

Russian propaganda has also been spreading false claims about an alleged Ukrainian advertising campaign encouraging children to report family members to the SBU State Security Service for speaking Russian.

Andriy Olenin