On March 15, 2023, a screenshot of the Russian language service of “Radio Liberty” was disseminated on social media (1,2.) According to the caption, US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland cancelled her unplanned visit to Georgia. In the post descriptions, Facebook accounts wrote that Nuland didn’t have time to bake a “Chebureki” (pie) and that her cookies are harmful to health, alluding to her visit to Kyiv in 2013 when she distributed cookies to protesters at the Maidan.
The screenshot distributed in the name of “Radio Liberty” is fabricated. “Myth Detector” contacted the Russian-language service of the outlet, which denied the fact of publishing such information. The information that Victoria Nuland cancelled her visit to Georgia cannot be found in open sources either.
“Myth Detector” contacted the Russian-language service of Radio Liberty. According to their information, the distributed screenshot does not belong to the outlet, and it is fabricated.
The photo of Victoria Nuland used in the screenshot was attached to a completely different content material on the Radio Freedom website and was published on December 3, 2022. Nuland noted that Putin did not use nuclear weapons against Ukraine because of strict warnings from other countries.
Information that Victoria Nuland cancelled her visit to Georgia is not found in open sources.
Against the backdrop of ongoing protests in Georgia, which were related to the adoption of the law on agents in the first reading, the name of Victoria Nuland appeared on propaganda platforms manipulatively in the context of Maidan events. In 2013, Victoria Nuland visited the Ukrainians who gathered on the Maidan demanding the country’s western aspirations and offered them cookies. Nuland was then the US Assistant Secretary of State.
The distribution of sweets by Nuland was used by the Kremlin’s propaganda media to push the narrative that the Maiden events were orchestrated by the US.
The protests in Tbilisi on March 7-9 against the adoption of the draft law “On the transparency of foreign influence” by the Parliament of Georgia in the first reading, and its dispersal were compared to the Maidan events by various Russian propaganda platforms. Nuland’s photos taken on the Maidan were published in an altered format, showing “Mtsvadi” [Georgian national dish] instead of cookies.
“Myth Detector” has fact-checked with a screenshot about Victoria Nuland attributed to “Radio Liberty” in the past as well; see in detail:
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