Does this video show former U.S. Marine Corps intelligence officer and analyst Scott Ritter inviting Russian followers to subscribe to his Russian Telegram channel? No, that's not true: The video of the alleged invitation to follow him on his new Telegram channel is taken from a 2022 interview that Ritter gave to The Real News Network, in which he made no mention of Telegram. The Russian audio on TikTok does not correspond to what Ritter said in the interview.
The claim originated from a video (archived here) posted on TikTok by optimistka00 on November 6, 2023, with the caption (translated from Russian to English by Lead Stories staff): "Dear Russian friends! For the last time I would like to address you with a message of support, as I am the only Western journalist cheering for Russia!"
The audio of the TikTok (translated from Russian to English by Lead Stories staff) continues:
My dear friends from Russia! I am now addressing you. I know you watch my programs and share my opinion in many ways. Thank you for that. I want to give you the good news. From today, I have a Russian Telegram channel, 'Scott Ritter in Russian.' From now on all my content will be posted with a Russian translation every day. Sign up. The link will be in the description under this video. Thank you.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Thu Nov 9 06:33:20 2023 UTC)
Scott Ritter, often quoted by Russian propaganda outlets, spoke to Dimitri Lascaris in a special interview for The Real News Network on November 4, 2022, where he commented on the Ukrainian counteroffensive and the Russian strategic objectives, expressing his views on why, according to him, Ukraine will lose the war.
According to the transcript of the interview available on The Real News Network website, in the footage shown on TikTok, Ritter says: "Well, let's just start with basic strategic objectives. Let's look at the Russian strategic objectives first. First and foremost, Russia is seeking to get Europe and the United States to buy into the notion of a negotiated new European security framework. It's something that Russia put on the table prior to invading Ukraine. If people remember back to December 17, I believe, of last year, Russia submitted two draft treaties, one to NATO, one to the United States ..."
The audio in English is still partially audible in the TikTok, but the superimposed dubbing in Russian says something completely different, giving the false impression that Ritter is promoting his new Telegram channel in Russian.
Ritter's X (formerly Twitter) account shares a link to his Telegram channel, where all the content is posted in English, not Russian.
