Was Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin killed by Russian cruise missiles in Kyiv, Ukraine, on January 3, 2024? No, that's not true: A Pentagon duty officer confirmed to Lead Stories that this claim is false. On January 1, 2024, Austin was hospitalized in Washington, D.C., due to complications from surgery and remained there as of January 10, 2024. Also, this claim is from a website that regularly publishes fabricated content often mistaken for real news.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on January 7, 2024, titled "Russian Claim: Austin Dead In Ukraine" (archived here). It began:
Criminal Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was allegedly killed in Kyiv on January 3 when Russian cruise missiles peltered a command bunker where Austin and Lieutenant General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander in chief of the Ukrainian Army, met secretly to discuss mounting an asymmetrical offensive to 'bring Vladimir Putin to his knees,' claims a Russian FSB source known for providing invaluable intelligence and the truth behind Putin's Special Military Operation in Ukraine.
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Russian Claim: Austin Dead In Ukraine
Criminal Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was allegedly killed in Kyiv on January 3 when Russian cruise missiles peltered a command bunker where Austin and Lieutenant General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander in chief of the Ukrainian Army, met secretly to discuss mounting an asymmetrical offensive to "bring Vladimir Putin to his knees," claims a Russian FSB source known for providing invaluable intelligence and the truth behind Putin's Special Military Operation in Ukraine.
Lead Stories reached out to the Pentagon about the claim concerning Austin. In an email on January 10, 2024, a duty officer responded:
This is false.
A January 9, 2024, Department of Defense (DOD) News article (archived here) reported that Austin was hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to complications from an earlier surgery to treat prostate cancer. A January 9, 2024, statement (archived here) from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center provided more details about that.
The White House was not informed of this second hospitalization for three days, which defied the protocols of the transfer of authority.
According to Reuters, which cited the Pentagon, Austin remained hospitalized in good condition on January 10, 2024, and a release date was uncertain.
Real Raw News
Real Raw News has a long history of publishing false claims in mock news stories, many of them about convictions and executions of various public figures at Naval Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. For example, the site reported former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was hanged (she wasn't); former White House Chief of Staff John Podesta was executed (he wasn't); and "the military" convicted former Attorney General William Barr on charges of treason (it didn't).
The website for Real Raw News includes a disclaimer that declares the site does not stand by the contents of the stories, calling them entertainment. Specifically, it says:
Information on this website is for informational and educational and entertainment purposes. ... We have included this disclaimer for our protection, on the advice on legal counsel.
(Source: RealRawNews.com screenshot taken Tue Aug 3 16:39:48 UTC 2021)
Lead Stories has covered claims published by Real Raw News in the past. Previous Lead Stories debunks of Real Raw News items are collected here.
