Tucker Carlson was not added to Ukrainian government ‘kill list’ over Putin interview

Context

On February 6, 2024, American talk show host Tucker Carlson announced he was to interview Russian president Vladimir Putin - an interview that aired a couple of days later - making Carlson the first Western journalist to do so after Russia invaded Ukraine two years ago.

Following the announcement, a claim spread on social media that the Ukrainian government had sanctioned Carlson over the interview by adding his name to an official Ukrainian government “kill list.” 

The claim has appeared on X (formerly Twitter), Telegram, and TikTok.

Carlson’s name has been included on a list hosted by the Myrotvorets Center. However, the center is - by its own account - an independent non-government research center and the list hosted on the center’s website does not incite violence against the listed persons.

In fact 

The Myrotvorets Center describes itself as non-government but states that it does not object to information on the site being used by Ukraine’s Security Council, Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Border Guard Service, and Armed Forces in operational and search activities. According to the U.S. State Department, the center “reportedly maintains close ties to the country’s [Ukraine’s] security services.”

According to its website, the center was created by a group of scientists, journalists, and specialists with the purpose of researching “elements of crimes” against the national security of Ukraine, humanity, and international law. 

On its website, the center hosts a so-called “purgatory” list, a compiled list of names of people believed to have acted against Ukrainian security interests in a variety of different ways. Each entry concludes with the words that the entry should be considered a statement that “this citizen committed a deliberate act against the national security of Ukraine, the peace, the security of humanity and the international legal order, as well as other offenses.” Anybody can suggest additions to the list. 

The classifications of the people listed range from Russian mercenaries and war criminals to helpers of Russian occupiers, provocateurs, and anti-Ukraine propagandists. 

Carlson appears on the list for allegedly being a “helper of the Russian invaders and terrorists”, an “anti-Ukrainian propagandist”, and for spreading “war propaganda”, among other things. 

According to the website, Carlson's entry was last modified on August 6, 2023, suggesting the Myrotvorets Center added his name to the list long before the Putin interview. 

The center asks law enforcement authorities to consider the information provided on the site. It does not explicitly incite to any form of violence against named individuals. There have been reports of people receiving threats or being killed shortly after their names appeared on the list.

When asked about the list and the Myrotvorets Center, the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice told Logically Facts that the issue was “outside the competence” of the Ministry. 

Logically Facts has contacted the Myrotvorets Center and Ukraine’s Ministries of Defence and Internal Affairs and will update this article if and when we receive a comment.

The verdict

Tucker Carlson’s name was added to the Myrotvorets Center’s purgatory list long before his interview with Putin. The Myrotvorets Center does not explicitly incite any form of violence against individuals named on the list, and the center is a non-governmental organization. Therefore, we have marked this claim as false.