Russian United Nations representative Vasily Nebenzya spoke about Russia supplying weapons to Texas to use in its border dispute with the Biden administration.
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Russia's United Nations Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya addresses the U.N. Security Council on Oct. 25, 2023. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)
No, Russia is not supplying weapons to Texas in border dispute
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A spokesperson from the Russian Mission to the United States told PolitiFact that Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s representative to the United Nations, never spoke about Russia supplying weapons to Texas.
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No credible news reports quoted Nebenzya saying this.
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Learn more about PolitiFact’s fact-checking process and rating system.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Biden administration are feuding intensely over federal access to the state’s southern border. But Russia has not stepped in to provide artillery, as some social media posts claim.
One TikTok video that gained more than 42,000 likes featured screenshots of what looked like a news article with the headline, "Russia to supply weapons to Texas if needed to Fight Biden Border Heist."
TikTok identified these posts as part of its efforts to counter inauthentic, misleading or false content. (Read more about PolitiFact's partnership with TikTok.)
The Jan. 27 article the TikTok video highlighted was first published on "The Hal Turner Radio Show" website. The show has shared false claims and conspiracy theories before.
The original article claimed that "Russia may supply heavy weapons to Texas so as to defend itself and its Border from any attempt by Biden to forcibly re-open the Texas Border to illegal aliens."
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The article cited no supporting evidence, but quoted Russian diplomat and United Nations representative Vasily Nebenzya as saying, "It is important to understand that by supplying weapons to Texas, Russia does not become a party to the conflict."
Evgeny Uspenskiy, a spokesperson from the Russian Mission to the United Nations, told PolitiFact in an email that the "information is fake" and Nebenzya never said the statement attributed to him in the article.
We searched Google and the Nexis news database and found no credible news articles about Nebenzya making such a statement, nor did we find any credible reports about Russia supplying Texas with weapons.
We rate the claim that Nebenzya spoke about Russia supplying Texas with weapons False.
RELATED: Razor wire and a blocked Border Patrol. What’s going on in Eagle Pass, Texas?
Our Sources
TikTok post (archived), Jan. 31, 2024
The Hal Turner Radio Show, Russia to Supply Weapons to Texas if needed to Fight Biden Border Heist, Jan. 27, 2024
PolitiFact, Hal Turner Radio Show, accessed Feb. 5, 2024
FBI, Internet Radio Host Hal Turner Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Threatening Three Federal Appeals Court Judges in Chicago over Decision Upholding Handgun Bans, Dec. 21, 2010
Email exchange, Evgeny Uspenskiy, Head of media and communications at the Russian Mission to the United Nations, Feb. 2, 2024
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No, Russia is not supplying weapons to Texas in border dispute
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