Did "Spetznas" snipers fatally shoot the World Economic Forum's head of the Centre for Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains, Kiva Allgood, on April 26, 2024? No, that's not true: There is no credible evidence that this happened. In addition, the website where this claim appeared has a record of publishing fabricated content.
The claim appeared in an article published by Real Raw News on April 30, 2024, titled "Spetznas Snipe WEF Member in Ukraine" (archived here) which began:
A two-man Spetznas sniper team operating behind enemy lines in Ukraine has assassinated a World Economic Forum (WEF) member who conspired with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Western governments to destabilize Russia's economy, according to a translated Ministry of Defense debriefing report shown to Real Raw News by FSB agent Andrei Zakharov.
Per the report, WEF 'war criminal' Kiva Allgood, the foundation's head of Advanced Manufacturing and Supply Chains Office, was shot once in the head Friday afternoon while standing outside the Ministry of Finance building in Kyiv.
Users on social media only saw this title, description and thumbnail:
(Source: RealRawNews.com screenshot taken on Thu May 2 16:51:58 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories did a search using keywords on Google News, visible here (archived here), which found no credible documents or reporting to corroborate the claim. "Spetznas" is an apparent reference to Russia's "special designation" forces, with the word more commonly spelled Spetsnaz.
The only April 26, 2024, post (archived here) on the World Economic Forum's (WEF) verified X account did not report the death of Allgood. Instead, it mentioned Kristalina Georgieva, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, who was to co-chair WEF's Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development event.
Allgood was active on her LinkedIn account on April 26, 2024. She commented on the post seen in the screenshots below.
(Source: LinkedIn.com screenshot taken on Thu May 2 17:00:58 2024 UTC)
(Source: LinkedIn.com screenshot taken on Thu May 2 17:00:58 2024 UTC)
Lead Stories reached out to the World Economic Forum for a statement regarding this claim. This fact check will be updated if a response is received.
Additional Lead Stories fact checks that mention the World Economic Forum can be found here.
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.
