Original article (in Albanian) was published on 17/9/2024; Author: Pustina Patris
Claim: Trump’s attacker worked as a mercenary in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion
Verdict: Missing context
Following a failed assassination attempt on former president and presidential candidate Donald Trump on September 15, a claim has been circulating on social media alleging that the attacker, Ryan Routh, was a mercenary with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
Routh is accused of going to Trump’s golf resort in Florida on Sunday, armed with an SKS rifle. The FBI found the firearm, two backpacks, and a GoPro camera.
As reported by the BBC, Routh frequently posted on social media urging foreign fighters to travel to Ukraine to battle Russia. He described himself as a ‘volunteer coordinator’.
In 2023, Routh was interviewed by The New York Times for an article about Americans volunteering to aid in the war in Ukraine. He stated that, despite having no military background, he traveled to Ukraine after the Russian invasion with the goal of recruiting Afghan soldiers to fight there.
However, he did not engage in any fighting. In 2022, the 56-year-old was rejected by the Ukrainian Foreign Legion because he lacked military experience. The Legion informed the BBC that Routh ‘has never been a part of the Legion, nor associated with it… in any capacity’.
A volunteer from the Legion described Routh as a chaotic presence who ‘was doing more harm than good’. This volunteer indicated that Routh was in Ukraine in April 2022.
Routh’s attempts to recruit large numbers of people from around the world to fight for Ukraine were considered ‘unrealistic,’ according to Oleksandr Shaguri, an officer in the Foreign Coordination Department of the Ground Forces Command. He told CNN that ‘the best way to characterize Routh’s messages is—delusional ideas’.
Rolling Stonereports that volunteers linked to the Ukrainian Foreign Legion began publicly warning about Routh during the summer: ‘Warning regarding Ryan Routh: He is not, and has never been, associated with the International Legion or the Armed Forces of Ukraine… He is misrepresenting himself and deceiving many people.’
The Ukrainian military has denied any connection to Routh.
‘The American citizen Ryan Routh has never served in the International Legion of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and he has no ties to the unit,’ the International Legion’s Defense Intelligence unit stated in an official announcement. ‘The rumors circulating in certain media are untrue.’
