Supposed CNN tweet about hotel is altered

A screenshot of what looks like a tweet from CNN’s verified breaking news Twitter account shows a building surrounded with rubble and a description that places the photo in Ukraine. 

"These are the remains of the once famous ukrainian resort hotel Peace after the air attack by russian bombers," reads the purported and poorly-edited tweet, which is accompanied by three Ukrainian flag emojis and the hashtag #StandingWithUkraine.

Another Twitter account, sharing the screenshot, suggested that CNN was using false information to help Ukraine. 

"The Ukrainian Mir Hotel, which, according to CNN journalists, was ruthlessly bombed by the Russian Armed Forces," the tweet says. "Oh no, wait. This is the Serbian resort Zvonachka-Banya, awaiting reconstruction. By the way, they are looking for an investor. Send CNN a thank you for the ad."

This post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

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Matt Dornic, a spokesperson for CNN, told us the screenshot of what looks like a CNN tweet is fake. 

"CNN did not publish that photo or text as it relates to our coverage of the war in Ukraine," he said. 

We couldn’t find evidence that CNN tweeted this or used the hashtag #StandingWithUkraine. It’s not on Twitter, and even if an account deletes a tweet, an echo remains in Google search results where you can see part of what a tweet said even if the link is dead. No such trace exists for this one. 

Searching for any tweets about hotels from this CNN account, the most recent is from January and concerns the death of comedian Bob Saget. We also found no news stories about Hotel Mir in Kyiv on CNN’s site. On March 12, the network reported that Russian missile and airstrikes had caused damage in the north and south of Kyiv, including the hotel Ukraine, about 100 kilometers north in the city of Chernihiv. 

Doing a reverse image search for the building in the tweet, we found a link to a 2020 YouTube video titled "Hotel Mir, Zvonacka Banja 2020." It shows drone footage of the building, which is in disrepair. 

We rate claims that this tweet is authentic False.