In an embarrassing flub, a Russian state-owned news outlet accidentally ran a pre-prepared article saying Russia defeated Ukraine.
"Ukraine has returned to Russia," the article, published by news agency RIA Novosti, said, even though the two countries are still fighting.
The article went on to say that although Ukraine would not necessarily "be liquidated," it would be "reorganized, re-established and returned to its natural state of part of the Russian world. … The West sees the return of Russia to its historical borders in Europe. And he is highly indignant at this, although in the depths of his soul he must admit to himself that it could not be otherwise."
Although the news agency quickly deleted it, according to The Scotsman, they weren't quick enough. Pakistan's Frontier Post got a hold of it and translated it into English, which has been posted on Twitter by Daily Beast columnist Julia Davis:
And according to Insider:
A copy of the original RIA Novosti article can be seen on the WayBack Machine, a tool that documents changes across websites over time. The article had an 8 a.m. timestamp and was scheduled to run on February 26, according to the archive.
