The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has formally demanded an apology from the American conservative broadcaster Fox News after the channel falsely identified Kyiv as a Russian city during a recent broadcast. The error occurred during a segment featuring Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and remained on screen for around 20 minutes before being corrected.
Spokesman for the Ministry, Georgiy Tykhyi, condemned the misrepresentation and called on Fox News to publicly apologise and investigate how such a damaging error was allowed to air. In a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Tykhyi wrote, “If it was a mistake, not a conscious political statement, an apology should be made and an investigation conducted into who made the mistake.” He also tagged the official Fox News account.
The incident occurred late in the night during the broadcast of a religious service led by Patriarch Kirill. For nearly 20 minutes, the label “Kyiv, Russia” was displayed on the screen, effectively misrepresenting Ukraine’s capital city as part of the Russian Federation — a serious error amid an ongoing full-scale invasion and occupation by Moscow that has claimed thousands of Ukrainian lives and displaced millions.
Although Fox News eventually corrected the label to “Kyiv, Ukraine,” the delay raised questions among Ukrainian officials and observers about the motivations behind the mislabeling, especially given the channel’s close ideological ties to US Republican figures who have often expressed sympathies towards the Kremlin.
While the broadcaster has yet to issue an official apology or clarification, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry is treating the incident as more than a careless technical oversight. Kyiv views such errors as not only insensitive but also dangerously misleading in the context of continued Russian aggression, where information warfare plays a key role in shaping international perception.
This is not the first time Fox News has drawn criticism for content seen as aligning too closely with Kremlin narratives. The error feeds into long-standing accusations that the channel has downplayed or distorted aspects of Russia’s war against Ukraine, further heightening concerns over how global media platforms report on issues of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
To date, Fox News has not responded publicly to Ukraine’s demand.
