Posted on 04/08/2022 9:45:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Online users claimed Lt. Gen. Roger Cloutier, an American NATO officer, was recently captured in Ukraine. That’s false. He hasn’t been in Ukraine since July 2021.
It has been nearly six weeks since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine. As of April 3, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded 1,417 Ukrainians killed and 2,038 injured across the country. Gruesome images from Bucha and stories of deadly attacks in Mariupol have dominated news reports around the world.
On April 7, Ukraine appealed to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for more weapons to help in its fight against Russia. NATO is an international organization of 30 member states.
Putin has historically been against NATO's involvement in Eastern Europe, specifically in former Soviet Union States. Ukraine became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991, and is not a member of NATO.
Since the invasion, NATO has said they will not send troops to Ukraine nor police any no-fly zone, because doing so could escalate that conflict with Russia. Individual member countries are supplying anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, as well as equipment and medical supplies.
Despite the fact NATO has said they will not send troops, online users shared a rumor that NATO’s Allied Land Commander and U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr. was in Ukraine recently and was captured by Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol.
THE QUESTION Was U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr. captured in Ukraine by the Russian Army?
THE SOURCES North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
NATO Allied Land Command Facebook and Twitter accounts
LinkedIn account profile for Lt. Gen. Roger Cloutier
Google Maps
THE ANSWER
This is FALSE.
No, U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Cloutier was not captured in Ukraine. A NATO spokesperson told VERIFY Cloutier has not been in Ukraine since July 2021.
WHAT WE FOUND
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Roger L. Cloutier Jr., who also commands NATO's Allied Land Command, refuted claims he was captured in Ukraine in the comment section of a post on his LinkedIn page.
In response to one person asking if he could comment on reports that he and others were captured by the Russian military, Cloutier wrote: “These rumors are completely false.” VERIFY reached out to Cloutier on LinkedIn, but did not receive a response.
On April 5, Cloutier was hosting NATO’s Land Operations Working Group in Izmir, Turkey, NATO told VERIFY in an email. He was never captured and is “alive and well,” the email said. Cloutier assumed command of NATO’s Allied Land Command in August 2020. U.S. military officers can serve as NATO commanders.
Cloutier’s last visit to Ukraine was a visit to Kyiv in July 2021, NATO told VERIFY. That was prior to Russia’s invasion.
Photos of Cloutier speaking at the event in Izmir on April 5, 2022, can be seen on the official Facebook and Twitter accounts for NATO’s Allied Land Command.
VERIFY also confirmed the group photo posted to the Allied Land Command's social media account was taken from Comhuriyet Boulevard in Izmir by comparing the buildings in the background of the photo to images on Google Maps.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Linkedin BWAAAHHH!!! Note believe the Ruskies till we see this colonel/general whatever the hell he is in PERSON (and even then it could be BS and a Deepfake)!
NAS thinks we are all going to believe a SM post?
LOL:-)
“But why would the Russians promote such a story anyway? It makes no sense............”
Well, what evidence do you have that “The Russians” promoted this story?
I have yet to see any. I read a lot of sources and none of the Russians one believed this or shared this.
If some kiddo from slovenia post this why do people get to say “The Russians”
I noticed you yourself posted this story in another thread, and your source was a website called “Iamamalaysian”.
So are you claiming that “the russians” are promoting this without any evidence at all?
Somebody is, possibly their allies............
OK, so you admit there is no evidence whatsoever that the Russians believe or promote this, but you asked “WHY ARE THE RUSSIANS PROMOTING THIS” as if it is totally true that they are.
It seems to me that if it’s a positive for the Russian side, they or their allies, North Korea for example, are the source of the story possibly.
Whether or not it’s true is a different question.
And of course there’s always the possibility that it was a teenager in Bucharest with too much time on his hands................🤔
“But why would the Russians promote such a story anyway? It makes no sense............”
So that you don’t believe anything coming out of Ukraine.
I haven’t seen any sign that Russians believe or promote this.
How is it positive for them if it is readily proven false?
It is negative for them if it is laughably false.
So if this is negative for them, by your own logic it is done by Russia’s opponents to discredit them.
Unless you think your obscure source website for this claim, “iamamalaysian.com”, is hugely read and widely believed and promoted
It’s just one website that carried the story, one out of many. I had no particular reason to choose it over any of the others, since they were all essentially the same................
GC doesn't apply to foreign fighters...Russia made that clear a while ago.
This dirtbag just called the General a Neo-Nazi and was not called out on it.
Frankly only a nut would believe this story. Amazes me that this is given any credence at all here.
Having a top US General on the front lines in Ukraine is about as plausible as old Joe picking up a rifle there himself. It make zero sense on all levels. An Embarrassingly silly story.
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