State TV host Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most-visible Kremlin propagandists, seemed to fall for the gag on Russia-1.
An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin fell for a joke on live TV that circulated in the wake of the death of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.
A Bell 212 helicopter transporting Raisi, 63, and Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, 60, crashed in heavy fog over mountains in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province on Sunday. All eight passengers aboard the helicopter were killed in the crash, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
Iran has yet to offer a cause for the crash, but it hasn’t said it was sabotage that brought down the aircraft.
Not long after the reports emerged, a reporter for a French TV station mistakenly reported as a rumor a joke on Telegram and X, formerly Twitter, that Raisi’s helicopter had been piloted by a Mossad agent named “Eli Kopter.”
State TV host Vladimir Solovyov, one of the most-prominent figures in Kremlin-backed media, appeared to fall for the joke during a live broadcast on channel Russia-1.
