Ukraine has no connection to the attempted assassination of US President Donald Trump by American citizen Ryan Root. The only link between Root and Ukraine is that he allegedly tried to buy a rocket launcher and a surface-to-air missile from someone he believed to be a Ukrainian arms dealer. However, it remains unclear whether this seller was in fact a Ukrainian citizen. Root also communicated with other illegal arms dealers in the US, as well as smugglers from Mexico who allegedly helped him escape the country after the attempt on Trump’s life. According to court documents, Root had no links to the Ukrainian government or military leadership.
Russian social media channels and propaganda platforms have been spreading claims that Ukraine allegedly “covered up an attempt to assassinate US President” Donald Trump. Trump’s son also fuelled the rumour on X (formerly Twitter), saying that Ukraine had concealed the fact that Root had tried to buy weapons there. He also claimed that this was a bigger issue than Ukraine’s alleged “lack of gratitude” for US support.
These claims are completely false. No credible source has reported that Ukraine is connected to Root’s attempted assassination of Trump in September 2024. According to The Guardian, Root’s only connection to Ukraine was his attempt to buy weapons from someone he thought was a Ukrainian arms dealer – but again, it’s unclear whether that person was actually Ukrainian. In any case, Ukraine as a state has nothing to do with the defendant’s actions.
It should be remembered that on 15 September 2024, Secret Service agents discovered Root hiding with a rifle on Donald Trump’s golf course in Florida. The agents arrested Root, and then-Republican candidate Trump was unharmed in the incident. Furthermore, court documents in the case against Ryan Root state that in August 2024 he made an attempt to purchase anti-aircraft weapons, which prosecutors say is direct evidence that the assassination attempt was linked to his surveillance of Palm Beach International Airport, where Trump arrived and departed.
According to The Guardian, Root “wrote to an online contact he believed was a Ukrainian with direct access to military weapons”, asking for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and an anti-aircraft missile so that “Trump could not be re-elected as president of the United States”. “As well as the efforts to buy the rocket launcher and missile, Routh – described as a complicated individual with multiple previous arrests – attempted to buy a .50-caliber rifle and ammunition from a dealer in the Fort Pierce area,” the publication adds. However, no credible source has confirmed that official Kyiv has any connection to Root’s case.
In addition, Root is accused of sending messages to a contact named “Ramiro” in Mexico, asking for help with smuggling and his subsequent illegal border crossing. A few days before the planned attack, Root told “Ramiro” that he would be in Mexico City after 15 September 2024, according to US authorities. It is important to note that there are also thousands of illegal arms dealers on the Internet who are not connected to the official governments of their countries and operate illegally. Thus, Russian media channels are once again attempting to portray Ukraine as responsible for illegal actions targeting the U.S. president, trying to discredit Kyiv on the international stage and completely strip Ukraine of American support.
StopFake continues to debunk similar fakes in articles such as Fake: Ukraine Seeks to Buy Uranium from Niger to Develop Nuclear Weapons and Fake: Pro-Ukrainian Rallies in the US Organized by Criminal Gangs.
