The Jerusalem Post got a tad ahead of itself with a ‘breaking news’ alert about Russia’s ambassador to the UK denying that Moscow had any role in the Skripal case, reporting instead that the envoy... had died? Sure.
“Russian UK envoy dies; Kremlin hacked computers and murdered ex-spy,” the Post announced in a “BREAKING NEWS” update.
It appears that the outlet botched the headline of a Reuters wire report about Russian Ambassador Alexander Yakovenko’s news conference in London held on Friday.
The slightly more accurate Reuters-provided headline read: “Russian UK envoy denies Kremlin tried hack computers and murder ex-spy.”
During the press conference, Yakovenko told reporters that Russia-UK relations were suffering because the British government was attempting to discredit Moscow. He added that he “didn’t accept” the British accusation that agents from Russia’s GRU military intelligence agency had tried to kill ex-double agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury last March.
While JPost’s version of the story is certainly more sensational, thankfully Yakovenko is alive and well. The botched tweet was deleted, but the headline on the website has remained unchanged for over an hour and counting.
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