On September 27, Bondo Mdzinarashvili, a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgian Public Broadcaster, published a statement attributed to U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. According to the post, Austin has asked the Russian military not to hunt for Abrams tanks to avoid a repetition of the situation with the German Leopard tanks:
Lloyd Austin: “The repetition of the situation with German Leopards is unacceptable, when they were hunted, I saw these calls. Play by the rules.”
Other Georgian (1,2,3,4,5) and Russian (1,2,3,4,5,6) Facebook users also spread the same post. Austin’s quote was also published by Russian-language news agencies (1,2,3,4,5).
A fake quote from U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin is circulating on social media. No identical or similar quote from Austin can be found in official sources and reliable media websites.
The quote in which the U.S. Secretary of Defense asked the Russian military not to hunt for Abrams tanks is false. As search engines show, the quote was spread on September 25 by one of the users of the social network X (formerly Twitter) (@AlbertSam786067) before it reached Facebook. The user of the social network in the post does not indicate where the U.S. Secretary of Defense made the mentioned statement; however, he replies to the author of one of the comments that he spoke about it at a press conference. During the 15th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which was held in Germany, Lloyd Austin really spoke about the assistance provided by the United States to Ukraine, but he did not make any remarks about refraining from hunting Abrams. The content and wording of the said statement is similar to information created for satirical purposes, although it is spread as a real story.
It is noteworthy that on September 21, during a working visit to the United States, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. On September 19, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that Ukraine would soon receive M1 Abrams tanks. Lloyd Austin spoke about the continuation of assistance to Ukraine in his opening remarks at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group conference at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Lloyd Austin: “Since our last meeting, the United States has committed additional security-assistance packages totaling more than $2 billion. Those packages include urgently needed air defense, ammunition, and mine-clearing equipment.”
On September 21, Zelenskyy also met with U.S. President Joe Biden. President Joe Biden announced during a White House meeting with the Ukrainian President that the U.S. will provide Ukraine with an additional $325 million in military aid.
National Security Council Senior Director for Europe, Amanda Sloat said that the new package will not include Tactical Missile System (ATACMS).
On September 25, 2023, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed that M-1 Abrams tanks had arrived in Ukraine from the United States.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: “Abrams tanks are already in Ukraine and are coming to reinforce our brigades. I am grateful to our allies for fulfilling the agreements. We are looking for new contracts and expanding our supply geography.”
About the sources:
Bondo Mdzinarashvili is a member of the Board of Trustees of Georgian Public Broadcaster and former editor-in-chief of Obieqtivi TV. Myth Detector has verified his posts and statements containing disinformation in the past.
Writer Merab Ratishvili regularly spreads anti-Western and anti-Ukrainian disinformation and conspiracy theories. Myth Detector has repeatedly verified the false information Ratishvili has spread in the past.
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