FACT CHECK: No, Zelenskyy Did Not Say He Did Not Know Who Blew Up The Kerch Bridge
A video shared on Twitter claims Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy said he did not know who blew up the Kerch Bridge.
WHO EXPLODED THE CRIMEAN BRIDGE?
Journalist: Who blew-up the Crimean Bridge?
Zelensky: “I don’t know.”
The body language and smile are amazing. pic.twitter.com/ugHctsyhvw
— Jason Jay Smart (@officejjsmart) July 18, 2023
Verdict: False
Zelenskyy was discussing Ukraine obtaining the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), not the attack on the Kerch Bridge.
Fact Check:
Ukraine attacked the Kerch Bridge on July 17, damaging part of the bridge, according to The Washington Post. Ukraine attacked the bridge in October 2022, which damaged the bridge then as well, the outlet reported.
The Twitter video claims that Zelenskyy said he did not know who damaged the Kerch Bridge. The tweet reads, “WHO EXPLODED THE CRIMEAN BRIDGE? Journalist: Who blew-up the Crimean Bridge? Zelensky: ‘I don’t know.’ The body language and smile are amazing.”
However, the video is captioned incorrectly. The actual video takes place five days before the Kerch Bridge attack. Through a keyword search, Check Your Fact found another video from July 12 where a reporter asks Zelenskyy about ATACMS during the NATO summit.
– Коли Україна отримає ATACMS?
– Не знаю, рішення ще немає pic.twitter.com/UcqwHjBNB0— Oleh Novikov (@olehbatkovych) July 12, 2023
Jimmy Rushton, a Kyiv based analyst, also debunked the claim on Twitter. (RELATED: Did More People Move Out Of Florida Than New York And California?)
This was in response to a question posed to Zelensky about the provision of ATACMS to Ukraine, at the NATO summit, July 12th.
It had nothing to do with the Kerch Bridge. Stop lying. https://t.co/eLSQmirAYl
— Jimmy Rushton (@JimmySecUK) July 18, 2023
“This was in response to a question posed to Zelensky about the provision of ATACMS to Ukraine, at the NATO summit, July 12th. It had nothing to do with the Kerch Bridge. Stop lying,” Rushton tweeted.
